Standard Responses

Volunteering

Hello ________,

Thank you for your offer to volunteer with us. Please tell me more about yourself and how you found out about our work. Note also that we’ve moved the upcoming Builder Crash Course from November 1-14 to December 1–14, due to the surge of interest from our recent viral video.

If you would like to volunteer, we have volunteer days on many weekends throughout the year. The requirement is that you come in for at least 4 hours and work alongside of us on tasks such as building infrastructure. We are building up our facility for the Future Builders Academy (https://learn.opensourceecology.org/), with improvements such as new workshop space, cleaning up the site, and other tasks. Please bring work gloves.

What are your goals for volunteering with us?

Marcin

Work Exchange

Hi ___________,

Thanks for reaching out and for your interest in the Work Exchange Program.

We’ve postponed the November Builder Crash Course to December 1–14, due to the surge of interest from our recent viral video. We’re currently using the November registration page for the December 2025 session. You can find the registration page here: https://www.opensourceecology.org/builder_crash_course_2025-2/#registration Just use the “Donate to OSE” option on that page if you’re registering directly.

Here are the Work Exchange Program terms:

In the weeks leading up to the course, you can volunteer on-site in exchange for attendance.

The volunteer-to-attendance breakdown is: Work 7 days → attend the full 14-day course

Each full volunteer day is 8 hours, not including lunch.

During the event, work exchange participants pay $25 per day for housing in our HabLab hostel. Or a total of 25*14=$350

We handle work exchange arrangements by email rather than through a separate form. If you’re ready to move forward, just reply with your availability, skills, and travel flexibility, and we’ll work out the details together.

Best, Marcin

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Hi ___________,

Thank you.

You are welcome to do work exchange - or pay the tuition as on the Registration page. Here are the Work Exchange Program terms, which apply in addition to all the terms at the event announcement:

In the weeks leading up to the course, you can volunteer on-site in exchange for attendance.

The volunteer-to-attendance breakdown is: Work 7 days → attend the full 14-day course.

Work exchange happens right before the workshop - from November 23-29. Nov 30 is a rest day. The workshop begins on Dec 1.

Each full volunteer day is 8 hours, not including lunch.

If you need housing at our site - it is $25 per day for housing in our HabLab hostel. For example, if you are doing 7 days of work exchange + the workshop - that is a 22 day total or a total of $550.

If you’re ready to move forward, just reply with your availability, skills, and travel flexibility.

You can find the registration page here to pay: https://www.opensourceecology.org/builder_crash_course_2025-2/#registration Just use the “Donate to OSE” option on that page if you’re registering directly.

Best, Marcin

Support

We can support you in future builds if you set up a wiki account, take pictures and log your work on your work log, and point us to questions based on your build pictures. This actually contributes to development, as others can see your issues and learn from them.

Get Involved

1. Start a Work Log
2. Embed a Time Log
3. Pass the FreeCAD Test
4. Learn the Development Template
5. Begin developing.