GoEco

The GoEco volunteer organisation is an experienced organisation that provides great resources to participate in multiple types of volunteer opportunities around the world. GoEco strongly encourages volunteering overseas because it is a great way to travel and contribute to our planet’s environment.

“The mass tourism industry is one of the leading causes of environmental degradation today. Sustainable voluntourism and eco-travel provide ways to expand your world view in an eco-friendly way. You will reduce your carbon footprint by living like a local. Volunteers stay in local accommodations, use local transportation, eat what the locals eat and dedicate their time to community improvement initiatives. Voluntourists learn how to travel responsibly!”

Kaya Responsible Travel

Kaya Responsible Travels provides opportunities to engage in volunteer and internship placements in over 150 sustainable community development and environmental initiatives in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 

“As global travel becomes ever more popular and our societies continue to diversify, now, more than ever, we believe in the importance of cross-cultural connection. Sustainable Volunteer Travel programs, such as those offered by us at Kaya, provide an opportunity for everyone and anyone to work alongside communities from other nations and cultures to improve the lives and the environments around them – sharing in the challenges, better understanding the realities, celebrating the successes and experiencing the culture from the inside. As a volunteer learning and expanding your mind is as important and precious as what you contribute in your time, and how we make the world our neighbours. It is the ultimate travel adventure.”  

One World 365

One World 365 helps people find conservation, environmental and marine conservation programs around the world. Volunteers will engage and contribute towards world conservations due to deforestation, overpopulation, abuse of natural resource, illegal wildlife poaching and more.

“Love to travel? Looking for a unique experience where you can give back? By doing something as rewarding as volunteering you can get the chance to do both of these and be far more than your average tourist. Participating in a sustainable volunteering program is a lot more meaningful than making a donation to charity and means you can play an active role in helping and creating a long-term benefit to the local environment or wildlife. Programs are open to all ages including teenagers, adults and families and there are so many inspiring opportunities available in destinations all around the world. These include helping conserve the Amazon rainforest, monitoring dolphins in Greece to helping elephants in Thailand. Once you have completed a program you will get to learn more about amazing charity and NGO work and hopefully also tell your friends and family to inspire them to do something similar.”  

GeoVisions

GeoVisions is a volunteer resource organisation that assists individuals to participate in sustainable volunteer abroad projects, teach abroad, au pair abroad paid jobs and internships. 

“Volunteering and working abroad can help with language skills and cultural knowledge.  More importantly, they can aid poor communities and bring a measure of cultural diffusion and international cooperation to many parts of the world.”

Grassroots Volunteering

Grassroots Volunteering is a resourceful website empowering travelers to volunteer in different communities during their travels. The site consists of a dual database of organisations all over the world: Volunteer Opportunities and Social Enterprises.

“Supporting local business and increasing your positive impact on the places you visit is among the most important acts a traveler can take. Travel and tourism employs an enormous percentage of the world’s population. The act of travel — either through volunteering long-term or supporting local businesses — shifts wealth directly into the hands of local economies. Travel becomes a tool, a great equalizer allowing tourists to purposefully keep money out of massive multinational corporations and instead infuse it into the communities, places, and people most in need of the support.”

GreenHeart Travel

GreenHeart Travel provides cultural immersion programs that help change lives, advance careers, and create leaders. They are able to empower local communities through the partnerships of organisations and governments by practicing experiential learning and practical development. Through this exchange, individuals will be able to reach their full potential, and create a tolerable, peaceful and environmentally sustainable world.

“Volunteer travel can be a very positive experience, for both a volunteer and host community, as long as the correct expectations are set. A traveller going for a week to help at a project isn’t going to be able to complete large-scale efforts, but they will be able to get an insight into a new culture, the issues that affect the area and possibly even share a bit of their own culture with the community. These interactions are critical in creating a world that is tolerant and peaceful. Unfortunately, there are projects out there that don’t have the good of the community in mind and it is the responsibility of each organisation and volunteer to do their research, ask the hard-hitting questions about sustainability and where the funds go, and also reflect on personal goals for wanting to volunteer abroad. The more educated a traveller can be on the impact they will be making, and the footprint their travel will leave, the more projects and people will be held accountable in providing meaningful support in global communities.” – Megan Arzbaecher, Greenheart Travel Volunteer Programs Manager

GoAbroad

GoAbroad is a resourceful website changing lives on finding dream destinations to attain a broader perspective of the world. GoAbroad resources will help to find international travel opportunities that are in your best interest in volunteering, traveling, internships and more.

“Sustainable voluntourism means one thing: collaboration. Without incorporating the local community into solving problems, solutions rarely have long-term impact, eradication, or benefits. Traveling and participating in Sustainable Voluntourism means not promoting organizations that exploit need for their own gain. It is a responsible way to share your resources — time, money, effort — while also learning a thing or two (or ten) along the way.” 

Globe Aware

Globe Aware is a non-profit organisation that provides a unique way to do tourism and at the same time giving back.

“As Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” Sustainable travel can mean different things to different people. For some, it means accommodations, for example, with low carbon footprint, having geothermal or solar powered hotels or that is constructed with easily replaced, local materials like bamboo. It can also mean that the tourism provides fair paying jobs to local communities, and is respectful of the local communities. And of course sustainability also means that the entity is set up in such a way that ongoing efforts for the tourist enterprise will be able to sustain itself without depleting natural resources, and therefore ensure maintenance of an ecological balance. Globe Aware works with local grassroots communities who pick projects their community feels will most help them stand on their own two feet. One of our two main missions is to promote sustainability (the other is cultural awareness.) Then we proceed with the project using local materials and under the direct guidance and supervision of locals to ensure that projects are done in a way that the community wants them. That said, having our volunteers work side by side as equals on the project has an equally important outcome: allowing people to learn about one another away from a “consumer mindset.” Traditional travel often involves looking at the world as an object to be photographed, admired or purchased, rather than to appreciate and work in cooperation. An example of one of our projects is building adobe lorena stoves in Peru, which reduces the amount of firewood needed by 1/18th and all but eliminates dangerous smoke inhalation in the home. For us, the definition of sustainability means to work with locals on projects that help them stand on their own two feet.”

See The Wild

SEEtheWILD is an organisation aim to help interested volunteers with responsible wildlife conservation experiences and projects. Through a selective process, they promote tour operators and non-profit organisations that commit to sustainable operations and cultural conservations.

Village Monde

Village Monde, a non-profit international orgnisation, promotes wealth generating initiatives and securing future in remote communities. By implementing micro economic development projects, the organisation can help foster local entrepreneurship.

“Village Monde defines its new mission to develop equitable, solidarity, and village tourism and now concentrates all its energy on the development of local initiatives and micro-projects in the tourism sector. The goal is to create new sources of economic development that are sustainable and economically viable, to support communities find the means to sustainably get out of poverty and to improve their living conditions.”

United Planet

United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission – to create a global community, one relationship at a time. We connect volunteers who want to make a difference with communities in 35 countries, where they learn, teach, work, engage and immerse themselves in a culture outside their comfort zone.

“We believe that human beings can create a global community, one relationship at a time. We help make that happen for people who are committed to a vision of the world that emphasizes community over conflict… collaboration and cooperation over disagreement and strife… the unity of humankind.”

Sustainable Travel International

Sustainable Travel International believes that travel and tourism can protect the world’s natural and cultural riches and create economic opportunity.

“Through our work, governments, companies, NGOs and local communities can unite and use tourism to achieve the right balance between economic development, green growth, and protection of their natural and cultural assets. Sustainable Travel International is creating the next generation tools required to build knowledge and inspire action at the private, public and civil sector levels.“

WWOOF

WWOOF is a worldwide movement connecting volunteers to organic farmers and growers to promote environmental and education experiences; thus, building a sustainable, global community.

“WWOOF specialises in linking people who are passionate about healthy food, healthy living and a healthy planet. Join us, show your support for the organic movement and start learning (or sharing) ways of living a more sustainable life. As a member you will be plugged into an international network of like-minded people, with staff on the ground in 60+ countries ready to offer local advice and support.”

A Rocha International

A Rocha is a Christian nature conservation organization whose projects focus on attaining cultural understanding, with a special focus on science, research, practical conservation and environmental education.

“Our worldwide educational activities allow people of all ages to develop their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the environment, as well as their impact on it. We aim to increase public awareness of the impact of climate change and other environmental issues and the need for sustainable lifestyles everywhere to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”

International Volunteer HQ

International Volunteer HQ is a volunteer travel company helping people gain global awareness and cultural understanding through host communities. Through the experience and lessons, individuals can take back this new knowledge and use in their own countries and cultures.

“Sustainable voluntourism provides immersive, impactful and transformational experiences that are not offered by other forms of travel. Participants have the opportunity to gain a unique perspective of a community abroad while also making a meaningful contribution to projects working to improve that community and the environment. To be sustainable, a voluntourism program needs to be locally led and must focus on building the long-term capacity of the community to support itself. Global travel is a rapidly growing sector and it’s vital that sustainable models of international exploration are developed and promoted. Voluntourism not only offers a way that communities all over the world can benefit from the skills and perspectives of foreign visitors in a much deeper way than is the case with more typical travel options, but it also provides an opportunity for the volunteers themselves to learn and to expand their worldviews. Sustainable volunteering facilitates greater cross-cultural understanding, challenges the mindsets of travellers, and fosters more engaged and aware global citizens.”