Internships

+++ We are still looking for interns to join us on-site in Cologne starting from September 2023+++

Democracy International welcomes interns, from Germany or elsewhere, year-round. We aim to make our internships an enriching and hands-on experience. If you’re a student with an interest in direct democracy and citizen participation, we would love to hear from you!

Our interns generally support Democracy International’s activities in a range of fields, from public relations, to events and specific campaigns. To give you a better overview of what to expect of an internship with us, we have listed some examples of what our interns can work on.

In assistance of Democracy International’s overall work, interns support our communications by researching important developments on direct democracy around the world and writing content for our newsletter, website or social media.  Interns also help research fundraising opportunities and draft grant applications. Interns can also be asked to assist with translations (mostly in English, German and French) or the updating and maintaining of contact lists.

Interns can support our ongoing campaigns by effecting research ahead of campaigns, assisting in drafting campaign texts and social media materials and with logistical assistance ahead of actions. In our European Programme, we have several ongoing projects that are regularly supported by our interns, such as the European Public Sphere project.

For the European Public Sphere, our interns help with the logistical preparation and the promotion of events, but they can also join the project on tour. The tasks of interns who participate at European Public Sphere events can include helping to set up and dismantle the dome, managing social media and assisting with video and photo recording efforts during our ‘Dome Talks’. After each event, we publish a report, pictures and videos of the discussions online. Interns can help process these materials, by for example selecting and publishing pictures, assisting with video editing or writing blog posts on events. The results of each tour are published in a final report, for which interns can be asked to help analyse and compile the results.

For our International Democracy Community, interns can help with research, promotion and management of the platform. They can also assist with editorial tasks, supporting activists who want to publish an article on the platform – actively researching and reaching out to possible candidates, communicating guidelines for pieces and following up.

We are currently looking for interns with a specific profile for the following projects:

Public Relations and Campaigning Intern:

For 2 or 3 months. This is an on-site internship.

• Managing Democracy International's social media accounts
• Creating content for social media, assisting the team in coming up with creative ideas to promote our issues and campaigns
• Reporting on events and activities
• Monitoring and compiling the most important developments related to direct democracy and citizen participation around the world.
• Writing articles and blog posts on direct democracy and citizen participation topics around the world

European Programme Intern:

For 2 or 3 months. This is an on-site internship.

• Monitoring EU democracy developments with a focus on the European Citizens’ Initiative
• Support with Parliament for the Future of Europe project including preparation and reporting of events and activities
• Drafting positions, statements, and newsletter articles
• Various support tasks related to the support of the European program including outreach and management of partner and stakeholder relationship

Volunteering programmes

weltwärts