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European Solidarity Corps

The power of together

Short term volunteer for mushrooms eco-support

INITIATIVE ET DEVELOPPEMENT CITOYEN

Gardie, France

Description

We are looking for a mushroom and nature lover, who will work at our mushroom farm in this circular economy project called Café Vert! Our cooperative IDC's projects aim to raise awareness about the actual context we are living and to propose and create solutions to be part of a positive change in a social, cultural and environmental aspect. In this project especifically, we will reuse waste to create new life. We collect coffee waste from cafés and restaurants and we mix it with mycellieum to grow oyster mushrooms. And after harvesting, we use that new “waste” in our earth-worm farm, which is great to create new and rich soil for plants. We are looking for 2 volunteers to stay at our eco-place, and take care of the fruiting room, harvesting of the mushrooms, the hospital and the worms compost. In addition, the volunteer will help in other taks of the organization, related to the eco-place, the moving and more.

Accommodation, food and transport arrangements

Volunteer for fruiting room will stay at our eco-place, in shared rooms in mobile homes. We share common tasks of cleaning, cooking and arranging the place. All food is covered! We don’t buy artificial food and we try to eat as local and seasonal as possible. We make the shopping twice per month. Of course, we eat very, very local, eco and fresh mushrooms! The volunteer will share with one other volunteer who is a long term who takes care of the animals of the farm. We are located in Lastours, a small village about 25 mins away from Carcassonne, the nearest city. The place is very rural!!!

Training during the activity

Volunteers will learn how to grow mushrooms from coffee waste and they will learn different sustainable practices to be more ethical and respectful with the environment. They will be able to lead them after or to propose new ideas/projects around sustainability, local and organic agriculture, intercultural exchange...

Participant profile

We are looking for youngsters who want to invest themselves in a new life experience, with lots of challenges and learnings! Motivation to learn how to grow mushrooms and live in the rural area are a must! The activities are a bit of a routine, since the mushroom processes are the same, but it demands lots of observation in the details to make sure that the production will go as planned. Life at campsite is for nature lovers, and those who are looking to connect with it. Simple lifestyle, rural, resilient.


Activity dates

From 09/09/2025 to 06/11/2025


Activity location

Gardie, France


Activity type

Individual volunteering


Looking for participants from

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden


Activity topics

Environment and natural protection


Deadline for applications

No application deadline