Spring for the planet, a month of April at the heart of green transition

This Spring, the JeVeuxAider.gouv.fr mechanism celebrates five years. During these five years, the volunteer actions platform powered by the French civic reserve has been very active in facilitating commitment all over France, putting in relation those who want to act for the general interest with association and public players in the broad sense, who in turn need volunteers. The volunteers platform now registers 680,000 volunteers and offers 20,000 missions set up throughout the year, all over the territory, in about ten fields.

Actions for a more sustainable future

Spring for the planet acts for such actions with a mobilisation campaign “active concretely and positively for our planet and its inhabitants”. Spring for the planet is organised in collaboration with the Foundation for Nature and Men, and the French Bureau for Biodiversity to “put back hope, joy and collective action at the heart of green transition”. According to organisers of the event, Spring for the planet may even help find your “life line”. The idea is also to “learn to sow, roll up your sleeves, take a deep breath of collective air, decontaminate, share, bloom”. Spring for the planet is thus a “call to reconnect, for anybody who knows how to see, listen, smell, taste and feel”!

In less lyrical tones, project leaders explain that “the issue of protecting our environment is one that motivates and mobilises us more and more”. Every day, new initiatives are born all over France. Thanks to the JeVeuxAider.gouv.fr platform, thousands of volunteers may see more clearly and take action for “a more sustainable future”, by being committed in actions led by “proactive players who have been doing a remarkable job for the past years”.

Take action, where it is necessary, when it is necessary

The strength of JeVeuxAider.gouv.fr, says the dedicated website, is to be able to call for national action all over France, “where it is necessary, when it is necessary, with organisations sharing your beliefs”. To help volunteers accordingly choose “causes in line with their beliefs”, more than 1,600 offers of mission are grouped in five general action types:

• “recreational workshops” in favour of the planet in the broad sense: about 800 missions offer in this field to “put ecology in your everyday life” by learning for instance what is “zero waste”, how to become a “relay-consumer” or turn into “a bear ambassador” in specific French regions!
• the “right to the beautiful and good”: this field offers about 400 missions to learn how to organise shared gardening, private orchards, blossoming actions, but also to learn waste pick-up or decontamination of natural and urban environment;
• “care to animals”: in this field, 270 volunteering missions allow to “protect our wild or domestic friends with fur, feathers or scales”. You may for instance become a volunteer investigator for the French animal protection organisation, become a host family for a dog or cat, participate in canine education and even tend to “animals of local wildlife”!
• “anti-waste” actions: in this field in which the motto is “not everything is good to throw away”, more than 300 missions ensure “repairs of all kinds and reuse”. In practical terms, you can learn to “DIY, use your hands and the tools that rust in your attic”. There’s “something for everyone, and enough to reconcile the head, heart and body”!
• “Sharing your values from home”: many missions (270 to be precise) are indeed available remotely to let you act, even occasionally, without the need of moving. For instance, you may create and tell stories, bring together communities online, drive the events schedule of an NPO, provide legal advice, help communicate better, and more.

Additional events in April

The month of April is full of available missions! Here’s a look of what may be set up in a events schedule. 

On 22 April, date of the Day of the Earth, the planet will be celebrated, and specifically with targeted actions. On the 24 to 26 of April, in Paris, during the ChangeNow Summit, the “most impactful event for the planet”, you will have the opportunity to meet global leader and actors of change who gather to “build a more sustainable world”. 

And for those who still doubt, on 16 April, you can register to a webinar entitled “How to succeed in your first volunteer mission”. That’s well enough “for a day, for a night, or for a lifetime”. Because, as the dedicated website explains, volunteer work should be experienced “as time for yourself and for others, to reconnect to your desires and your deep values”.