On an international level

As a member of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organizations, IBG has been active in the network's Environmental Sustainability Working Group (ESWG) since its start in 2012. The aim of the working group is to promote the issue of sustainability both within the network and among its affiliates, as well as to communicate it to others, and to inform and involve local project partners and volunteers. In 2017, the Alliance adopted a revised version of its Policy Paper on Sustainability, which illustrates the motivation, the understanding of sustainability and the main focuses of the network.

On a local level

Our work aims to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which address the economic, social and environmental challenges of our planet. We strive to implement sustainability in our daily work:

Organisational work

IBG is part of the self-declaration of  Bergwaldprojekt on climate-friendly behavior! What does that mean? We want to do something about climate change and commit ourselves to the following three points in our daily work:    

1. We renounce domestic flights and flights for travel up to 1,000 km.
2. We minimize our energy consumption in the office and use power from 100% green electricity.
3. We renounce meat from conventional, industrial production and use, as far as possible, only biological, seasonal and regional or fair food in our trainings and events.

Trainings & Travel reimbursements

• Meals at our trainings and seminars are usually vegan. Why? Here you can find 8 reasons why we aim to eat less meat.
• We do not reimburse travel costs for domestic flights and travel costs for cars only up to an amount of 150 Euros. For train bookings, we can reimburse you also for the costs of a CO2 offset.
• If you book your trip to a seminar or work camp with Flixbus, you can contact us before booking - we can provide many volunteers with discount vouchers for bus travel!

Work camps

• Many volunteers travel medium or long distances to reach their work camp. Therefore, we encourage all participants to think about how to offset their CO2 emissions and choose the most environmentally friendly means of transport. Here you can calculate the CO2 emissions of your trip to the Workcamp with different means of transport.
• Traveling in a sustainable way does not just mean choosing environmentally-friendly means of transport. It also means paying attention to social justice, respecting foreign cultures, and minimizing the negative impact of your journey on the environment. Here are some tips to make your trip as sustainable as possible.
• We motivate the group leaders of our workcamps to pick a motto for their camp. This means e.g. to try to avoid plastic, reduce waste, buy fair coffee, etc. (Here are some tips to pick your motto.)

Get involved!

You think the topic is important and want to get involved further? We are looking forward to your participation! You can support us in various ways:

Become an Eco-Messenger!
As an Eco-Messenger, you visit a work camp and give a small input on a topic of sustainability; for example, water, consumption, mobility, upcycling, etc. We will refund your travel costs and help you with the planning and implementation of your workshop!

Join our working group!
The IBG Nachhaltigkeits AG (Working Group Sustainability) was created in 2017 and deals with the question of how the organisation can continue to become more sustainable. You want to join us? Just contact Jannika!