IYNF at a glance

About Us

IYNF is one of Europe’s leading youth organisations, committed to shaping a just and sustainable future through non-formal education. Since 1975, we have been building a community of individuals and organisations through educational training, exchanges, and networking.

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Projects

Our projects focus on key societal issues and engage youth through value-based non-formal education. IYNF aims to support young people to become multipliers by enhancing their competencies, sharing perspectives, and creating practical solutions.

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Get Involved

Get involved with IYNF and the Naturefriends network. It is a rewarding opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the youth and NGO sector and contribute to a just and sustainable future while volunteering and working with like-minded people.

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IYNF News

A Trip Down Memory Lane: IYNF’s 2025 Recap

IYNF’s 2025 Recap A Trip Down Memory Lane: IYNF’s 2025 Recap With the 2025 year coming to an end, it is time to reflect on some of the things we did over the past 12 months. One big part of our year was our “Embrace the Best in You!” activity…
Screens, Streams & Summits -The first ESC Journey in Wildalpen

Screens, Streams & Summits Screens, Streams & Summits -The first ESC Journey in Wildalpen Hi! I’m Juli, and I recently had my first activity with IYNF as a European Solidarity Corps volunteer in Wildalpen, a village in the Austrian Alps. Some of the highlights for me were the creative workshops…
Campfires, Kayaks & Cosmos – An IYNF ESC Anniversary Adventure

Campfires, Kayaks & Cosmos Campfires, Kayaks & Cosmos – An IYNF ESC Anniversary Adventure “Happy 50th Year Anniversary!” is a greeting that we would normally associate with something getting old and lost in time, but this doesn’t apply to IYNF. This week of celebration showed how fresh this organization still…
Baku and the Climate Agenda: Reflections on COP29

Reflections on COP29 Baku and the Climate Agenda: Reflections on COP29 Walking into the COP29 venue-the Olympic Stadium in Baku-early in the morning, I paused to take it all in. The first rays of sunlight lit up the city’s skyline, and overhead, birds flew gracefully, cutting through the crisp air.…
The many facets of a trip to Srebrenica

The many facets of a trip to Srebrenica The many facets of a trip to Srebrenica As has been the case in the last few years, this August as well the Italian Naturefriends travelled to the Ekometa village, located near Srebrenica (Bosnia-Herzegovina), to help with household and maintenance works and…
Trail Maintenance and SDGs

Trail Maintanance and SDGs What do trail maintenance on an endangered glacier and a workshop about the Sustainable Development Goals have in common? Between July 17th and 21st Enrico, our Esc volunteer, participated in the activities “Umweltbergwoche” and “Action Camp”, promoted by Naturfreundejugend Österreich (NFÖ) and Naturefriends International (NFI), staying…
“What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?”

“What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?” “What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?” All the way from Azerbaijan, Nazila recounts her experiences as she participated in all four of our international activities for 2023, and especially what happened during her workshop in Cecina,…
Intersectionality: Can’t we just call it human rights?

Intersectionality Intersectionality: Can’t we just call it human rights? A participant in all four of our international activities of this year, Sara Salgado shares her experience with facilitating a workshop on intersectionality during our most recent activity in Italy in September. Imagine yourself walking down a park during a late-autumn…
What is it like to facilitate a workshop during a festival on sustainability? – “IYNF Festival on Socio-Ecological Transformation”

What is it like to facilitate? What is it like to facilitate a workshop during a festival on sustainability? – “IYNF Festival on Socio-Ecological Transformation” Nazarena Plumb was a participant in our most recent activity “IYFN Festival on Socio-Ecological Transformation” and she decided to write a few of her impressions…
Looking back on the 2022 cycle: “Let’s Get Outta Here – Outdoor Education as the Path to Mental Health

Looking back on the 2022 cycle “Let’s Get Outta Here – Outdoor Education as the Path to Mental Health” The year of mental health This article will look back on this year´s cycle. In 2022 IYNF tackled one of the most important topics in our current times, the support of…

Get in Touch

Do you feel inspired by our work? Would you like to collaborate with us? Please first check our FAQ to review the scope of collaborations possible for us. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if your idea fits the IYNF world and you think we should work together.

FAQ

Curious about who we are, what we do, or how you can take part? Here you’ll find answers to some of the most common questions about International Young Naturefriends and our activities.

Does IYNF offer individual membership?

Can I become a member of Naturefriends if there is no such organisation in my country?

Can my organisation become part of the IYNF network?

IYNF consists of member and partner organisations whose rights and obligations are given by the statutes. New partner organisations are accepted by the decision of the IYNF Presidium. The aim of new partnerships should be long-term, mutually beneficial and should be based on common values and objectives. If your organisation would like to become a partner, IYNF will invite you for talks. Getting to know your organisation and your aims well before accepting a partnership is crucial for us. Accepting a new partner organisation is a process that usually takes several weeks.

Can IYNF provide financial support for my project, scholarship or provide me with an educational grant?

No, IYNF does not have the financial capacity to support individual requests. Our activities are highly dependent on grants that mostly exclude redistribution of finances to third parties. We, however, follow the solidarity principle in the activities that we organise. We believe that financial constraints should not be an obstacle for anyone to take part in our activities. If you are motivated and you cannot pre-fund your travels or pay the participation fee, please do not let that stop you from applying. If you are selected, we will find ways to support you.

Does IYNF partner up on projects outside of its network?

Rarely. As the main aim of IYNF is to serve the network, projects happening outside of the Naturefriends organisations are not part of our main scope of work. If your organisation would like to cooperate with us, your best chance is to start talks about a possible long-term partnership. IYNF will not prioritise one-off activities; a common project could be a starting point for a long-term partnership.

If your project idea has a smaller scope, you can, for example, apply to one of our international activities, introduce your idea to the young leaders from our network and try to gain young collaborators in a personal way.

IYNF might not have the capacity to react to email project collaboration proposals. Our long-term strategy also excludes last-minute calls for partnerships before granting deadlines.

How can I join one of the IYNF international educational activities as an individual?

Please refer to current projects, where our calls for participants are published. Every international activity has its specifics, and eligibility criteria may vary. If your country is not listed, we either do not have funds to cover your participation or the placements from your country have already been filled.

IYNF strives for geographical and gender balance and fair approaches. When you apply, please be honest in your application and tell us about your ideas and visions. Motivation is more important for us than your previous experience. Using AI to answer personal questions or providing any false information might lead to exclusion from your application.

My organisation consists of youngsters who would like to join the IYNF activity – can we send a group to your activity?

The answer is mostly no. Your individual members can apply to IYNF activities, but places per country are usually limited.

If you would like to organise a youth exchange, you can look up one of our local or national groups active in Erasmus+ and propose a cooperation to them. IYNF itself has an international focus and does not have the means and capacity to build selected national exchange groups in a way that would be fair towards other members and partners in the network.

If IYNF organises a youth exchange, there is a strategic focus, and the partner organisations are selected from the existing network. If a long-term cooperation is interesting for your organisation, you can refer to how to become a partner or member.

How can I become a volunteer for IYNF?

IYNF encourages and supports volunteering; the international office is a small institution and offers only limited volunteering placements. If you are interested in the European Solidarity Corps, please refer to the open calls on our webpage. We do not have the capacity to reply to all inquiries outside of the open calls.

If your interest is in community volunteering and activism, we recommend looking up a Naturefriends organisation in your area, contacting them and starting the talks about how you can get involved.