Hosting Organisation: SPEA
Supporting Organisation: Associação Spin
Activity start date: 1st November 2026
Activity end date: 31th October 2027
Activity duration: 12 months
Vacancies: 1 (open to residents in EU or EFTA countries)
Application deadline: 22th September 2026
Application consists of: filling this Google form + CV and project ­specific motivation letter
Application sent to: esc.spea@a-spin.pt

The Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds is a non­-governmental non-­profit environment organization that promotes the study and conservation of birds and their habitats in Portugal, funded in 1993. It is the Portuguese member of BirdLife International.

PROPOSED ACTIVITIES:

SPEA intends to support the volunteers to create their own events or initiatives, in accordance with their principles and upon Board’s approval.

The volunteer will be mostly involved in biological conservation work – on the field and at the office (around 70% of time) and environmental education actions (around 30%), integrated in several different projects, mainly at SPEA’s Conservation Departament – Terrestrial Area (ca. 75%) and Environmental Citizenship and Education Department (ca. 25%), with a diversity of tasks including:

– Field work: bird surveys/census (e.g. steppeland birds), prospection of birds under powerlines, etc;
– Office work: database input; data analysis (with Excel, QGIS, etc), etc.;
– Environmental education: support the preparation and realization of actions for schools (e.g. story-telling, support exhibition touring, field visits);
– Events: support the organization of events for the general public (e.g. nature days, conferences), including birdwatching activities;
– Support other staff members of SPEA with their projects;

SPEA intends to support the volunteers to create their own events or initiatives, in accordance with their principles and upon Board’s approval. 

LOGISTICS & PRACTICAL INFO:

• Travel cost – The two-way travel (from place of residence to Lisbon and back) will be reimbursed up to the limit given by the distance band of the place of residence, according with ESC rules;
• Accommodation – Coordinating & hosting organization, Associação Spin, will provide the lodging in a flat as close to the office and the city centre as possible with all expenses included. If the apartment is located in the city centre, the volunteers will spend around 35 minutes to reach the working place. The volunteers will have to share the room with another volunteer/student/young person. They may also – if so, wished by the volunteer – receive a monthly accommodation allowance and be solely responsible for finding and paying for their own accommodation in Lisbon.
• Food & transportation – A monthly allowance will be provided to cover food expenses (180€) and  local public transportation in Lisbon (30€). While doing field work, food, accommodation and transportation will be provided by SPEA (some activities are away from Lisbon). 
• Pocket money – Every month the volunteers will receive 180€ as pocket money.
• Working hours – The volunteers are expected to spend 30-35 hours a week working. The daily timetable includes time for language learning, lunch, social activities and development of own project ideas, etc.
• Days off – Volunteers are entitled to two days off per week (usually on Saturday and Sunday) as well as 2 extra days of vacation for every month of their voluntary work.

VOLUNTEERS’ PROFILE: WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

We are looking for young motivated volunteers aged 18-30, open minded, eager to learn about new cultures and lifestyles, as well as to participate in the project activities.It is not required to have any particular degree of formal education, but to have positive and proactive attitude, show tolerance, flexibility, motivation and enthusiasm. In this project, patience and the capacity to work in a team, sometimes in a isolated Island environment, will be highly appreciated. We encourage applications especially from youngsters who already have some experience in volunteering or in working with environment related issues, namely with birds (e.g. birdwatching), environmental education, simple design (e.g. CANVAS) and GIS software, available to commit to a long term experience of volunteer work abroad and willing to know more about the work developed in ornithology and environmental preservation in Portugal. Any knowledge of Portuguese is a plus, however it is not a requirement.

All candidates must be registered with the European Solidarity Corps.

SELECTION PROCESS:

In order to be considered for the vacancies, each candidate has to fill this Google form and send  (in only 1 single e-mail):

1. up-to-date CV,
2. project-specific Motivation Letter

The complete applications (CV + project-specific Motivation Letter) should be sent to esc.spea@a-spin.pt no later than September 22th 2026.

Final remarks (please read carefully):

• this is an open call with no assigned sending/supporting organization (we will partner up with the sending organization of the selected volunteer);
• only candidates residing in EU or EFTA countries may apply may apply;
• please make sure you are registered with the European Solidarity Corps;
• we only accept complete applications that contain all the required documents;
• due to the high number of candidates, we are only able to contact the short-listed candidates (in order to invite them for a brief Skype interview);
• all the other candidates will be informed about the selection results by October 6th through our website.

GOOD LUCK!

All Spin Association’s projects aim to contribute to the dissemination and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, unanimously approved by 193 UN Member States in 2015.

Hosting Organization: Associação Crescer a Cores
Coordinating Organization: Associação Spin
Activity start date: 6 October 2026
Activity duration: 6 months
Vacancies: 1 (for female volunteers residing in Spain, France or Italy exclusively)
Application deadline: 7 September 2026
Application consists of: filling this Google form + CV, project-specific motivation letter and presentation (more info below)
Application sent to: esc.cac@a-spin.pt

Crescer a Cores – Associação de Solidariedade Social – IPSS is recognized by the Portuguese law as a charity organization. It is a non-profit association with regional reach and its main aim is to accompany and support the social inclusion of vulnerable children, youngsters and families, through providing community responses and services within the fields of psychology, education and health. The ESC volunteers will work mainly with the organization’s biggest target group: children aged 4 months to 4 years old. 

PROPOSED VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES:

• Provide support to the educators in the daily activities for children aged 4-36 months old (general support, helping with meals, hygiene and cleaning, telling stories, puppet theatres, playing with the children, drawing and painting, etc.);
• Support in the organization of cultural events with families, children and local community by preparing creative informative materials, making contacts with stakeholders, arranging decorations and preparing the spaces for hosting the beneficiaries;
• Collaborating in local projects with the community on the frames of project “Pulsar” which promotes the dialogue, interaction and local interventions among neighbours and residents of the local council parish (Carnide);
• Participate in creating materials and activities & in the organization and implementation of celebration days and Summer activities with children.

Crescer a Cores intends to support the volunteers to create their own events or initiatives, in accordance with their principles and upon Board’s approval.

LOGISTICS & PRACTICAL INFO:

• Travel cost – The two-way travel (from place of residence to Lisbon and back) will be reimbursed up to the limit given by the distance band of the place of residence, according with ESC rules;
• Accommodation – Coordinating & hosting organization, Associação Spin, will provide the lodging in a flat as close to the office and the city center as possible. If the apartment is located in the city center, the volunteers will spend around 45 minutes to reach the workplace by bus and subway. The volunteers will have to share the room with another volunteer/student/young person (room and connected expenses are paid by Associação Spin). They may also – if so, wished by the volunteer – receive a monthly accommodation allowance and be solely responsible for finding and paying for their own accommodation.
• Food & transportation – A monthly allowance of 210€ will be provided by Associação Spin to cover food expenses and local public transportation.
• Pocket money – Every month the volunteer will receive 180€ as pocket money.
• Working hours – The volunteers are expected to spend 30-35 hours a week working. The daily timetable includes time for language learning, lunch, social activities and development of own project ideas, etc.
• Days off – Volunteers are entitled to two days off per week (usually Saturday and Sunday) as well as 2 extra days of vacation for every month of their voluntary work.

VOLUNTEERS’ PROFILE: WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

Volunteers aged 18-30 years, open minded, eager to learn and motivated to work on the proposed project activities. It is not required to have any degree of formal education, but to have positive and proactive attitude, show tolerance, flexibility and capacity to adapt, motivation and enthusiasm. In this project, age and maturity are important due to direct work with small children and families in the neighborhood. We encourage applications especially from youngsters who already have some experience in volunteering or in working with small children and are, at this moment, available to commit to a long-term experience of volunteer work abroad. We will give some priority to candidates who have at least a basic level of Portuguese, however it’s not a requirement for the application.

All candidates must be registered with the European Solidarity Corps.

SELECTION PROCESS:

In order to be considered for the vacancies, each candidate has to fill this Google form and send (in only 1 single e-mail):

1. up-to-date CV,
2. project-specific Motivation Letter,
3. short presentation about an idea you would like to implement with the children (the format is absolutely free for you to choose, be as creative as possible).

The complete applications (CV + project-specific Motivation Letter + presentation) should be sent to esc.cac@a-spin.pt no later than September 7, 2026.

FINAL REMARKS (please read carefully):

• this project is already approved by the ESC Program;
• only candidates residing in Italy, France or Spain may apply;
• as this volunteer placement involves direct work with children, the selected volunteers will have to provide us with their criminal record certificates;
• we only accept complete applications that contain all the required documents;
• one vacancy has no assigned sending/supporting organization (we will partner up with the sending organization of the selected volunteer);
• In this selection process priority will be given to candidates whose profile is well-suited to the proposed activities and who can be considered fewer opportunities candidates;
• due to the high number of candidates, we are only able to contact the short-listed candidates (in order to invite them for a brief online interview);
• interviews will be on the 11th of September. 
• all the other candidates will be informed about the selection results by September 15th

GOOD LUCK!

All Spin Association’s projects aim to contribute to the dissemination and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, unanimously approved by 193 UN Member States in 2015.