Forest School Indelhausen Youth Exchange

This youth exchange is about helping to maintain a beautiful biosphere area while learning about “Waldpädagogik” (forest education)! During two weeks, you will support the forest school “Waldschulheim Indelhausen”, a place of non-formal environmental education for school classes. This is a special project for nature lovers and people interested in learning about nature protection work and how to pass on important knowledge about forests to future generations. In the mornings you will work outside (2,5 to 3h) with the foresters, helping protect the surrounding biosphere area and gaining experience and know-how about how to preserve a forest. In the afternoons you will participate to different workshops about themes such as climate change, the forest ecosystem and forest economy or biodiversity conservation. Actively preserving the forest and learning why it is essential to do it go hand in hand; this is why the workshops about forest education in the afternoons are as important as the practical work outside in the mornings! If you’re interested, you will have the possibility to co-organise workshops relating to forest education for your group.

You will be staying at the forest school from July 15 until the end of the work camp. On the first night (July 14/15), you will stay at a youth hostel located in Stuttgart. The Jugendherberge Stuttgart International offers shared rooms, common rooms, sanitary facilities and an outside area. On July 15 you will all leave after breakfast to travel together to Indelhausen. At the forest school you will be accommodated in shared rooms (2 to 8 beds). The building is quite big, there is a dining room, a common room where you can relax or play games, bathroom facilities with shared showers, as well as a gym hall, a volleyball court, table tennis tables and two climbing walls. Meals will be provided by the school, so you don't have to cook by yourself. The forest school tries its best to serve local and bio food. There will be vegetarian and vegan options but we need to know about your needs in advance! Please inform us of any dietary restrictions or allergies you may have. Lastly, be aware there is little phone reception in the forest school. Wifi is provided but quite slow – you will be able to exchange messages but streaming videos will most likely not work. Be ready for a digital detox!

The “Waldschulheim Indelhausen” is located in the small village of Hayingen in the middle of a geopark, at the southern end of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve “Schwaebische Alb” in southern Germany. This area features diverse mountainous and cultural landscapes, protected ecosystems with rare plants and animals and notable forest, meadow and orchard habitats. The surroundings are perfect for outdoors activities like hiking. It is very rural, and there are many great view-points and various old castle ruins that are worth visiting. Because Hayingen is quite far from bigger cities, the free time activities will be mainly done close-by in the nature, enjoying the beautiful surroundings and getting to know the local culture.