Activists in Residence

Similar to “Artists in Residence” programs provided by artists collectives, we offer live-in stipends to aspiring activists. You can view this as volunteering or an internship, and as an NGO, we can provide certification and/or reference letters for the completion of your stay, projects and acquired skills. Activists in Residence receive training in outreach and content creating, starting with the Activersity itself.

Reach out to us if you are interested in an Online Internship.

Target group: young adults lacking practical experience

• If you’re tired of waiting for others to get active, this is an opportunity for you to get active without further delay.
• You have some gap time until your university begins? You don’t know what to do in life yet
• Learn how to manage Public Relations — not only that of your organization, but your personal PR within your organization
• Get to know life and organization in an alternative housing project, participate in house plenaries, project plenaries, learn about self-moderation skills
• Participate in the different projects in the house, if you like, volunteer in our in-house project Pizza Lab, a 100% volunteer-run non-profit vegan pizzeria owned by our NGO: improve your social skills and network
• Get to know Leipzig’s huge alternative scene

Duration

Residencies/Internships are available in increments of 3, 6, and 9 weeks.

Cost

The residency program is a stipend that provides room and board, but transportation, insurance and pocket money are the responsibility of the resident.

Resources

The Activersity has the software, the experience, and the tools for most kinds of activism projects. The residents have years of experience. There is a large neighborhood network, and a large alternative scene in Leipzig, both accessible from which to draw support for cool projects.

Accommodation

A small room with one window and simple furniture: A bed, a desk, a chair, a night stand, a closet.

You will stay in a small room (9-11m2) in the project house Schwarz10. The room is furbished, you need not bring bed sheets, towels, covers.

You will have access to the shared living room, dining room, kitchen, two bathrooms as well as three additional WCs and of course to Pizza Lab, a non-profit, vegan pizzeria and open culture space run by volunteers.

There is a small courtyard that is very cute in the summer, and lots of action going on in the direct neighborhood, which is populated by over 10 alternative housing projects.

Job Profile

Half the time, you will be working on growing the Activersity project itself. The rest of the time, you will be working in one of the following campaigns:

1) Promoting democratic, decentralized social media to facilitate the big move away from [/b]billionaire-held social media.

2) Promoting civic participation in our democracies with ad campaigns that spread the idea that agency and engagement makes you feel alive, purposeful in life and happy.

For this, you'll be working on

• flyers, posters, pamphlets, stickers, zines
• social media posts, videos, podcasts
• blog articles, translations
• expanding our website
• reaching out to potential partners
• crowdfunding big poster ad campaigns for the promotion of the above mentioned
• organizing events
• and more!

Lectures

Lectures are delivered during dinner and cover:

• history of activism
• philosophy of activism
• public relations
• forms of governance
• topics in the news

Skills

Involvement in the running of the Activersity requires the following skills, and these skills are taught as needed:

• video editing, graphic design, podcasting – using open source software which will make you independent from big corporations
• event management
• fundraising, crowdfunding, applying for grants
• organizing and managing campaigns
• group management, online organization tools

Accommodation

We offer room and board for a 20 h volunteering week/internship. You must have a valid VISA for Germany, we cannot provide an Affidavit. You must have health insurance. We cannot cover travel costs. Room means a lockable furbished single room with blankets, bedsheets and towels. Board means three meals per day as well as snacks and coffee all you want, vegan/vegetarian friendly. We expect you to participate in house chores like every other member of the community (cooking, cleaning, shopping) and to clean up after yourself - leave no traces. These tasks are done during your free time. Smoking is not allowed in the house. Pets are allowed if they may roam around free, if they are nice, and if there are currently no people in the house with allergies.

Time Expectations

We expect a 20 h volunteering week, you may schedule the time any way you want.

Application Process

After reviewing your application, we will let you know within 3-4 days whether a position is available for your chosen dates. If yes, there will be a videocall to get to know each other. Board members and other volunteers have veto rights against new volunteers whose stay would overlap with theirs.

Write us via our contact form on activersity.org. Include:

• preferred length of stay
• preferred time window
• short description of yourself, experience and skills (max 700 words)
• contact information

We're looking forward to hearing from you!