Get to know our activities during the World Village Festival weekend!

The World Village Festival will be organized online 29–30 May 2021. We participate in the festival as an exhibitor. In between the festival program, learn about possibilities to join in the activities of Maailmanvaihto, you can find information on them from below and during the festival weekend also on our social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

Visit the World Village Festival
5 x join in the acitivities of Maailmanvaihto
Upcoming events

We at Maailmanvaihto work for advancing intercultural understanding, equality and peace. We are a youth exchange organization found in 1958. Our organization is religiously and politically nonaligned.

Via us, young people both travel abroad and come from abroad to Finland for 6–12 months of volunteering. The co-operation offers for the people of the workplace and the volunteer a joint intercultural learning journey.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we currently have much less volunteering exchange. About the impact of the coronavirus situation on the volunteering programs you can read on the pages of the programs. We follow the situation and update the information.

5 x join in the activities of Maailmanvaihto

1) Abroad from Finland for volunteering

In international volunteering, you will learn through daily life co-operation. You will gain understanding of life in another part of the world and learn about yourself, too. There are volunteering tasks in the educational field, human rights work, and environmental protection work, for instance.

If you are aged 18–30 years, apply for EU-supported volunteering in the European Solidarity Corps (ESC)!

In the International Cultural Youth Exchange (ICYE) program, volunteers work outside Europe. The upper age limit of this program is flexible. The next time to travel for ICYE volunteering abroad is in January–February 2022.

2) From abroad to Finland for volunteering

We receive volunteers from different parts of the world. In Finland, too, the young people participate within the European Solidarity Corps or in the ICYE program. Most often, our volunteers work in the educational field or take part in work with people with disabilities.

3) Become a host family

As a host family, you have an important role in making the co-operation between a young volunteer from abroad and a common-good organization possible by providing a home for the volunteer. In this voluntary task, you will share your daily life home living with the volunteer. Welcome to become a host family are families, couples as well as those who live alone. See our current possibilities to become a host family as well as further information on host family activities – and apply to become a host family!

4) Become a support person

Also as a support person, you are an important part of the volunteering period in Finland of a young volunteer from abroad. You are a local friend who cares about the greetings of the volunteer and supports the volunteer in getting to know living in a new place. See further information on the support person activities and apply to become a support person!

5) Join in the teams of training camps for volunteers

In the teams of Maailmanvaihto’s training camps, you will get a chance to exercise your skills and get to know volunteers from different countries. We are currently putting together a team for the on-arrival training camp which we will hold in August in Tuusula, if the coronavirus situation allows, or online. Learn more about the training camp activities and apply!

Got interested? Do you have questions? Please, contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible. You can also e-mail or call us at maailmanvaihto@maailmanvaihto.fi +358 50 452 5660.

Want to say up to date about possibilities to join in our activities? Subscribe to our monthly e-mail newsletter (MailChimp) (the newsletter is published in Finnish).

Upcoming events

18 Aug Zoom
Zoom into international volunteering: ICYE volunteering in Asia!

We will learn about co-operation in Asian countries, such as Japan and Taiwan. Further information and sign-up instructions coming up soon.

22 Sept Zoom
Zoom into international volunteering: Skills for life from volunteering

The participants will share their learning experiences. Further information and sign-up instructions coming up soon.

6. Oct Zoom
Zoom into international volunteering: Opi vapaaehtoistyössä luonnon- ja ympäristönsuojelusta

ESC and ICYE volunteering opportunities in the nature and environment field in different parts of the world. Further information and sign-up instructions coming up soon.

Read also

Practice languages in Maailmanvaihto’s Language Café

Would you like to practice speaking in Spanish or Finnish...

Maailmanvaihto’s office will closed during 23.12.2024–1.1.2025

Maailmanvaihto's office will remain closed during 23.12.2024–1.1.2025.

Volunteering around the world: Making an impact in Nigeria

At ICYE Nigeria volunteers have a chance to take part...

Read MaailmanVaihtoa – Volunteers Voices 2/2025: the impact of international volunteering

MaailmanVaihtoa – Volunteers’ Voices 2/2024 has been published on the...