A. Project environment: profile of the organisation and local community

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The project work is centred around the Organisation's Visitor Centre and Nursery for native plants. The place houses over 10,000 plants propagated for the project's habitat restoration work. It also includes interpretation facilities for the organisation of workshops and events like festivals. The administration centre is also situated here. This is used for project management, coordination, research and dissemintaion of information. The centre includes a kitchen and eating area, overlooking the beautiful Golden Sands Bay, which lies within the Majjistral Nature and History Park, co managed by The Gaia Foundation

Some volunteers are accomodated in the visitor centre itself, mostly in the spring and summer months, while others are hosted in a three bedroom apartment 5 km away from the centre in the town of Xemxija (population Circa 4,000) that is by the sea and borders on the countryside.

Transport: Bicycles are made available to the volunteers for their personal use and to get to work (5km/20 minute bike ride from Xemxija). These are to be well kept by them. Servicing of bikes when required is at the expense of Gaia. Where bikes are out of service or during rainy weather, volunteers will be picked up by car and taken to work at Gaia's expense.

House rules that apply are the following:

1. Volunteers are responsible to keep their own rooms clean and tidy.

2. The kitchen at the centre is available to all, but anything used must be left clean.

3. All books or items borrowed by volunteers must be requested and listed in a journal for record keeping.

4. Volunteers are responsible for any breakages, except for normal wear and tear of items used.

Contact with local community:

Volunteers interact with the local community through the public activities organised by the organisation, like Gaiafest, Cinecafe, public awareness activities related to management of blue flag beaches. Volunteers are also encouraged to interact with other EVS volunteers working with other organisations, as well as non EVS volunteers working with Gaia.

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B. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers

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The integrated management project carried out by the Foundation is set to be a prototype for sustainable living. It carries out pioneering work that could influence policy makers as well as consumers and the public at large. Networking and interacting with people, especially youths, is an essential part of the Foundation's mission. Its 5 hands on projects are knit together through its dissemination of information project (Hermes). In summer 2007 over 2,000 students from the USA attended workshops on self empowerment and becoming eco citizens.

The learning opportunities combine the theory with pratical hands on experience. The foundation, being a management organisation, works with its own in house expertise, as well as that of consultants, in order to develop proper management systems in the fields of biodiversity and landscaping(project Elysium), organic farming (Project Persephone) and coastal conservation (Project Olympus). It then seeks to implement such systems in the candidate natura 2000 sites that fall under its management, by means of management agreements with the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment.

The work volunteers are involved in includes the following:

- Project Elysium: Volunteers help in the specialised propagation of rare plants at the nursery, as well as planting and maintenance of trees in the protected sites. In so doing they learn gardening skills as well as how to propagate plants.

- Project Olympus: Volunteers assist rangers in the running of patrols and monitoring of the protected sites. Field work is also used as a basis for further planning and reporting. The work here includes maintenance of information boards on fire hazard zones, swimming zones and nature trails, as well as placing of beach safety equipment. Carrying out these tasks volunteers learn the basics of what is involved in running a nature park, identifying problems, solutions and learning hands on skills.

- Project Hermes: Volunteers help with dissemination of environmental information through the distribution of leaflets on site, speaking to visitors to the protected areas, research for the continued development of our website at www.projectgaia.org and research and production of information panels for the visitor centres, and the production of brochures and a newsletter which will see its first issue in 2006. Surveys are also carried out to gain feedback of the public on the management of the site. Volunteers help to run an information kiosk. Volunteers gain experience in interacting with the public and communicating.

- Project Persephone: Deals with the promotion of organic farming. The organisation runs a small fram of under one hectare. It assists farmers in converting to organic and helps to promote their products. Volunteers help on the farm, thus learning how to produce food organically.

- Project Apollo deals with events organised at the Visitor Centre. These include a number of workshops for students, tours for visitors, an annual event called Gaiafest, a festival of holistic living, in June, encorporating the themes environment, health and nutrition, fair trade, arts and culture, Yoga and Tai Chi; an agro environment festival in Autumn, promoting the development of olives, almonds, pomegranates, carob and their related products, and a weekly cultural event in the spring and summer called Cinecafe'. Interns get hands on experience in organising and running such events. Typical activities done by volunteers may include assistance in the conducting of tours, preparation of food and drinks, manning stalls and information kiosks, and general preparation of work at the centre. Volunteers gain experience in organising public events that are based upon environmental and cultural themes.

In addition to learning about different aspects of enviornment conservation in a practical way, Volunteers will also be given lessons in the English Language through the cooperation of an official language school close by, generally every Monday morning. Should they be fluent in English a course in the Maltese language will be offered as an alternative.

The work schedule will be between 32 - 34 hours a week, with 2 days off per week, covering work as detailed above.

EVS volunteers are encouraged to work on specific projects that can be completed, or phases thereof completed, within the period of their stay. Examples would be the production of a brochure, the monitoring of specific habitats, or participation in a planting or propagation programme.

Interaction during project implementation: Volunteers are encouraged to use their initiative and give their input to the projects they are involved in. For this purpose 2 meetings a month are held by persons involved in the project, including volunteers.

Sample work schedule in a given week:

Monday mornings: English language classes if requested: afternoons: free

Tuesdays -Thursdays: 8.00-13.00: work in the tree nursery/assistance with workshops. 13.00 lunch 13.30-15.30 assistance with event organisation.

Fridays 8.00 - 13.00 work on organic farm: 13.30-15.30 assistance with event organisation and information materials.

Saturdays: 9.00 - 13.30: tree planting, site visits, running of info kiosk.

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C. Volunteer profiles and recruitment process

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Please describe the profiles of volunteers you would like to receive in your organisation. Include information on how you ensure an open and transparent recruitment process as well as the overall accessibility of EVS to all young people.

Consider further information about the type of sending organisation you want to cooperate with. This information can help the match-making between volunteer candidates, sending organisations and your organisation.

Volunteer Profiles and Criteria for selection: The Host organisation seeks to incorporate volunteers in its project who fit a certain profile that reflects its philosophy and vision. The following profile would be the main criteria for adoption:

Profile: An easy going, friendly and kind disposition. Energetic and keen to learn about Gaia's holistic approach to sustainable living; Keen to interact with the Gaia team, both permament and other volunteers; flexible and able to adapt to different scenarios involving Gaia's season related work, including outdoor work; able to work within a structure, with set rules that are clearly defined for organisational purposes; volunteers are expected to show a reasonable level of responsibility.

Sending Organisations may vary, but the following are considered the most appropriate: environment and nature protection ngo's, the Ecovillage network, of which Gaia is an associate.

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D. Special needs (if applicable)

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At this period in time the organisation is not set up to deal with special needs.

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E. Risk prevention, safety and protection

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Volunteers are supervised at all times and given clear guidelines to safe working procedures when working outside and using any garden tools and equipment. Living conditions provided are a high standard, with normal amenities included. A house doctor is available for home visits when required during sickness.

The Host organisation will provide a mentor, a person separate from the project coordinator, who will be the contact point for the volunteers, and who would assist them in the resolution of issues that may arise during their stay.

To date Gaia has no EVS experience. It does however have considerable experience in running a volunteer programme that has been running since 2001. This has been very successful and has been received well by volunteers, many of whom have retained contact with the organisation. However thus far Gaia has been able to accommodate only short periods in its volunteer programme, generally 4-8 weeks, since it is not in a position to pay for volunteer accommodation and pocket money, while most volunteers cannot afford to pay accommodation for more than 8 weeks.

Gaia's motivation to participate in the EVS is in fact to be able to offer our organisational setup and experience to volunteers who are looking for a longer programme, of between 6 to 12 months.

The Gaia Foundation was set up in 1994 as a non profit, non government organisation to specialise in hands on environmenal management of specially protected areas in the Maltese Islands. It is currently involved in the management of 3 sites, namely Ghajn Tuffieha Malta, the Majjistral Park, Malta and Ramla, Gozo, following management agreements with the Maltese Environment Authorities. The name of the project is Project Gaia, being the name of Mother Earth in Greek Mythology.

Project Gaia seeks to encorporate a number of projects within the integrated approach to coastal management, while at the same time establishing a prototype for a more sustainable society for our times. The main arms of the project focus on:

1. Biodiversity and habitat restoration - Project Elysium

2. Coastal Conservation - Project Olympus

3. Sustainable Agriculture - Project Persephone.

4. Environmental Health, Education and Awareness - Project Hermes

5. The Running of a Visitor Centre - Project Apollo

These activities take place mainly in a specially protected area, which is a candidate Natura 2000 site. The nerve centre of all operations is situated inside Malta's first environment visitor centre, set up by the foundation. It includes a nursery for indigenous plants, an organic shop, a mediterranean garden, an organic centre, conference facilities and an administration centre.

In line with a holistic approach to sustainable living, Project Gaia has also encorporated work related to Fair Trade and Localisation, sustainable tourism, environmental awareness through the arts, and assistence to persons enduring hardship. Being part of the mission of the philanthropic organisation, all these above projects are not profit making.

In addition to its environmental management work, The Gaia Foundation has worked with the local and other communities by assisting a school library in the Domminican Republic in 2000, assisting refugees/asylum seekers in Malta in 2004 through the provision of food and other essential supplies, ,a dog sanctuary in 2005, a horse sanctuary in 2006, a centre for disadvantaged children in Malta, and an indigenous community in Equador, both in 2006 and 2007, and an organic farm in Laos in 2007. It also provides a programme of workshops for schools as part of its education work.

In the environmental field the Foundation has also assisted a local council in the island of Gozo with a tree planting programme for the locality, as well as a fellow NGO in Malta in its tree planting project, by providing 100's of trees.

The Gaia Foundation is an associate member of the Eco Village Network. It is also a member of the Eco Sites network, as well as the World Watch Institute.

The Foundation currently employs 8 members of staff. It has a membership base in excess of 3,000

The target groups in the organisation's work include students, visitors to the coastal zone, food producers and consumers.