The voluntary ecological year (FÖJ) in sports

Every year, 20 young people in Lower Saxony get the chance to take part in the voluntary ecological year (FÖJ) in sports. In this voluntary service, special emphasis is placed on the future orientation and sustainability of the offers in the sports club.

If you want to actively support environmental and climate protection and are also an enthusiastic sportsman or woman, the FÖJ im Sport is just the right thing for you.

The aim is to closely link the two areas of sport and ecology and to make the sports club or sports association more sustainable and attractive through the work of volunteers. In order to achieve this successfully, the FÖJ im Sport is offered, carried out and accompanied in cooperation with the Alfred Töpfer Academy for Nature Conservation (NNA) in Lower Saxony.

The task of the volunteers in the FÖJ in sports is to a large extent to carry out work and projects that ensure that the respective place of work and the associated club culture of the sports club becomes more ecological and greener.

Whether offering sports activities close to nature, creating a bird protection hedge on the sports grounds, organising the next major event sustainably or checking the clubhouse for energy efficiency, there are many starting points and possibilities for everyone, depending on their personal interests.

All volunteers are accompanied by 25 seminar days per year, which are tailored exactly to the work in the places of work. The topics of environmental protection/ecology and sports and exercise are treated equally and brought together in a meaningful connection. Within the framework of the seminars, each participant can receive a trainer C certificate with an ecological focus.

Nice that you are interested in a FÖJ in sports! If you can answer all the following questions with YES, then you have come to the right place and we look forward to receiving your application:

• You are between 16 and 26 years old.
• You are equally interested in environmental and climate protection as well as sport and exercise.
• You want to make a difference and start your own ecological project.
• You take one year to carry out and complete the FÖJ in Sport.

Other important general conditions you should know before you apply:

• Your working hours are 39 hours a week.
• You will receive a monthly pocket money of 300 Euros.
• In one year you are entitled to 30 vacation days.
• You participate in 25 seminar days and can obtain your instructor C license.
• The FÖJ starts on 1.8. or 1.9. of a year.

On the homepage of the Alfred Töpfer Academy for Nature Conservation you can see all the places in Lower Saxony where you can take part in the FÖJ in sport.

You and your institution are interested in the FÖJ in sports and would like to become a volunteer? Here is an overview of the most important general conditions for places of employment:

• Sports clubs, sports associations or other institutions with a focus on sports and an interest in ecological issues can become an assignment centre for the FÖJ im Sport.
• There is a mentor in the placement centre who can reliably supervise the volunteer.
• There are enough tasks for the young people (working time 39 hours/week) à Cooperation with schools or nature conservation organisations can also be established.
• The placement office releases the volunteer for the 25 seminar days and another 30 days of vacation.
• The costs for the placement office amount to 230 Euro per month. Pocket money and social security as well as educational support for the volunteers are provided by the ASC Göttingen.
• The Outreach Office attends an outreach meeting once a year.
• The FÖJ begins on August 1 or September 1 of each year.

Lena Klose

Tel.: (0175) 729 33 89
E-Mail: klose@fwd-sport.de

"The attention and thanks I received at the end of my FÖJ showed me how much my work and I as a person were appreciated this year. 
- Franziska Bock

"...that the FÖJ has given me a lot of life experience and I'm glad I decided to do a voluntary year." 
- Sarah Neubauer