Volunteer at Kattegatcentre

ABOUT KATTEGATCENTRET The Kattegatcentre is a dynamic and exciting place where you can experience the ocean and it's animal life, where the visitor will have both a unique experience and obtain new knowledge about the ocean world. In our aquariums you can experience animals and fish from all over the World. Shoal fish from the Danish coasts, crabs and lobsters from the North Sea, sharks and rays from the tropical oceans, seals and even som freshwaterspecies (e.g. electric eels and piranhas). Kattegatcentret is based on promotion of scientific facts, always with respect for the life in seas and oceans in mind. We intend to show methods for sustainability related to environment and ecosystems. The Kattegatcentre is open to public, families and turists, as well as groups in our school service. In the school service we aim to support and deepen the teachings in biology at schools - ranging from primary shools to higher educational institutions. We have the second largest school service among Danish zoos and aquaria, and annually we teach 13.000 children. We aim to give all visitors, including families and turists, an experience with intensity and authenticity and have a total of 230.000 visitors annually. See our webpage for futher information and to have an impression of the centre www.kattegatcentret.com STAFF The Kattegatcentre has approximately 35 employees all year round in the following departments: Administration, cleaning, technicians, exhibits, school service and diving centre. In addition we increase the number of employees significantly during the busy season (July and August) In the exposition department, where the volunteer will work, the staff consists of biologists, aquarists, and animal keepers. We have a very good atmosphere among the staff members and we make an effort to have a social life together outside working hours, for example we frequently organise common activities in our free time, e.g. visits to a restaurant, going to the cinema or bowling, where of course the volunteer will be invited. LOCATION The Kattegatcentre is situated at the habour in Grenaa, 3,5 km from the center of the town. Grenaa is a town with 13.500 inhabitants and is the capital of the municipality. Principal industries are tourism, service, commerce and trade. Also there are factories and the proximity to the sea has its influence with beaches, a small harbour, fishermen and a ferry connection to Sweden. The Kattegatcentre is important to the town attracting many tourists to the area. The weather in Grenaa can be windy and rough during wintertime, but for persons interested in sea and nature the area has a lot to offer. There are sports facilities, cinema, restaurants, and a culture house where concerts and theaterplays are performed. The town has only few educational institutions so most young people move away from the area to study. It will take 1½ hour to take the train or bus to Aarhus, the second largest city of Denmark. BOARD AND LODGING The volunteer will live in a host family. The host family does not receive payment but opens it's home to the volunteer based on the interest in inter cultural understanding. The life in a host family will facilitate the integration in the local community, and will accelerate the process of both, language - and inter cultural learning. Youngsters living with their families in Denmark traditionally enjoy a lot of freedom, but of course the volunteer must integrate into family life and respect their rules and way of living. We will look for a family taking the volunteer´s wishes and needs into consideration. The host family might not live in Grenaa, but in the countryside or in a small village. Food will be provided by the host family. The volunteer will attend on-arrival training, organised by the National Agency as well as nationally organised mid-term meeting. Furthermore, he/she will be invited to all social events and seminars organised by the coordinating organisation Dansk ICYE for exchange students and host families. It is important to underline that there are no other volunteers on the project nor most likely in the same town either. Contact to other EVS volunteers will be during visits in the weekends. Main contact and friends should therefore be made with young Danes. Dansk ICYE will appoint a contact person to the volunteer (a co-worker of Dansk ICYE). H/she will be of assistance in case of questions or problems concerning the daily life in the project, host family or spare time. We will arrange minimum 1 meeting between Dansk ICYE, the Kattegatcentre and the volunteer to make sure that the aims and ideas of both the volunteer and the project are reached. The volonteer will join a public language school, and most likely attend evening classes twice a week for the first 3 months. We expect the volunteers to make a great effort to learn Danish as this is the way to integrate into the project and society We emphasise that all trainees participate in the daily activities at the Kattegatcentre. To ensure that they are given the necessary training during their stay, they will be assigned to a specific employee, who will be responsible for their training and social well-being. The EVS volunteer will be connected to the exposition department which is responsible for the daily running of the exposition. The work implies a large variety of tasks: Construction of new aquaria, cleaning and maintenance of the existing aquaria, feeding and nursing of fish and the other marine animals, and any other activity which keeps the exhibits in order and well-functioning. The volunteer must be aware that some of the animals are dangerous. We will of course provide the necessary supervision in order to avoid dangerous situations, but the volunteer must follow the given rules when dealing with the animals. The tasks and responsibilities of a volunteer will depend greatly of his/her age, interests and qualifications. However the following can provide a general idea of how much time could be spent on different tasks. 25% Participating in the daily cleaning and maintenance of the aquaria. 10% Preparing food for the animals 25% Feeding the animals in the centre - partly as part of the speaks performed for the visitors 10% Participating in promotion of knowledge in the exposition (speaks, smaller teaching activities with children etc.) 10% Participating in the construction of new exhibits. A very technical and physical work. 10% Assisting on tasks related to diving. Diving will NOT be a part of the working tasks, but the volunteer can try it for the experience. 10% Other tasks depending on personal competences and level of education Sometimes the volunteer will participate in the transport of animals from one zoo to another, he/she could join in at our "sleep with the sharks" sleepovers at the centre, assist people coming in to make a movie about sharks or help arranging a concert organised at the place. If the volunteer has talent for it he/she could assist on making new informative signs for the exposition. If a storm is coming up, everybody´s attention might be focused on securing the outdoor areas and the seals. A volunteer must be ready for routines to be changed and to be able to deal with unexpected situations. A volunteer with a special background or profession can have other tasks and responsibilities and so the disposition of work tasks will be different. But cleaning and other routine tasks is something everybody participates in regardless of level of education. A typical working day could look like the following: 8.00 Start of the day. The first two hours will be spent cleaning the aquaria 10.00 Feeding the animals, fetching fish at the harbour when the fishermen comes in with the catch of the day, tend fish traps or on rare occasions go fishing at the sea etc. 12.00-13.00-14.00 There are public feedings with speaks to the audience. Occasionally the volunteer might assist when we go fishing from the beach with a group of children, or being with children at the aquaria. 15.30 End of the day. Especially during summertime, when we have expanded working hours, this schedule might be changed. Work during weekends can also occur upon agreement with the volunteer but then other days will be given off instead. Total working hours will not exceed 35 hours a week. LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES The volunteer will in particular learn about sharks and rays, generally about fish and ocean animal life especially shoal fish from the Danish coasts, Crustaceans (e.g. crabs and lobsters) and Molluscs (e.g. squids and snails)from the North Sea or Kattegat - the sea between Denmark and Sweden from which the centre has its name. Knowledge about marine environment and consciousness about ecosystems will be increased. The volunteer will learn about constructing and maintaining an aquarium e.g. regarding biological and mechanical filters. The volunteer will learn to promote scientific knowledge to an audience and will learn a great deal about cooperating with colleagues in a working field where we can depend quite a lot on each other. If the volunteer has a special background eg. as a biologist, he/she will have the possibility to carry out his/her own independent project under supervision of the staff. The volunteer will be offered the possibility to visit other zoos during his/her stay. If the volunteer is interested he/she can take a recreational divers license for a small amount of money (compared to Danish prices) The volunteer must be interested in the ocean and its plants and animals - basic knowledge would be an advantage, but not conditional. Since we work with potentially dangerous animals (sharks, poisonous and electric animals) it is very important that the volunteer can work in a disciplined and concentrated manner. We will obviously provide the necessary supervision in order to avoid dangerous situations. Ability to work independently as well as in close cooperation with the staff is essential. Furthermore the volunteer must be extrovert and communicative, and be aware that at the Kattegatcentre the daily visitors are in focus and that also the volunteer is responsible for providing them with a positive experience. The volunteer must be flexible in the sense that sometimes unexpected things happens and working plans must be adjusted accordingly. The volunteer must know that sometimes work is dirty and physically challenging. The volunteer must speak basic English. If he/she likes to work with children it could be an advantage. All available projects are displayed at the database. Dansk ICYE announce the projects at the EVS works network database, published through the information network "projects are us"and we send information about deadline, duration and availabilities to all former partners as well as all those organizations and interested candidates who ask us about the projects. The volunteer will not substitute paid staff. We have a limited amount of money available for staff, and would not be able to pay an extra staff, even if they wanted to. At present we do not have the possibility to accept volunteers with special needs. All tasks performed by the volunteer will be done under supervision with the mentor at the project, security measures will be explained and the volunteer will be expected to follow the security rules of Kattegatcentret. The volunteer will be provided with a mentor from outside the project, and the coordinating organization will keep close contact to both volunteer and project in order to discover and solve conflicts through mediation and conflict management. Minimum 1 meeting will be held during the stay between the project, coordinating organization, the mentor from outside the project and the volunteer, more if estimated necessary. The volunteer will have a mentor at the project to whom all questions, doubts and frustrations should be directed. It is the responsibility of both parts to create a satisfying cooperation.