the winter months, the volunteers built several huts for the village. Already in January the working conditions deteriorated and the work of the volunteers became more demanding. The French government reduced the funds for the building materials and in March the prefect of Meuse forbade the mayor of Esnes from allocating work to the volunteers. The difficult political circumstances of that time when the negotiations concerning the German war reparations had just failed, were behind the prefect's decision. After this, the volunteers continued to help the farmers in the village and a neighbouring village put forward a new agricultural reconstruction project. Eventually, the local authorities demanded that the German volunteers would have to leave the area. The team finished its work in April 1921 and left Esnes-en-Argonne. Workcamps from the 1920s onwards became a way of responding to global and local humanitarian and crisis situations. The biggest project took place, again organised by Cérésole and Service Civil International, in 1928 in Liechtenstein, where 720 volunteers from over 20 countries helped to reconstruct the country after a flood event. The experience in Liechtenstein and the enthusiasm of the volunteers became a model for future work camps, which from 1930 onwards were carried out in France, Great Britain and other countries. Until the 1950s, the concept of workcamps was mainly spread within Europe and many projects were focused on the reconstruction of the continent after World War II. Service Civil International started branches in several countries, but also organisations like the Christian Movement for Peace (CMP) started adopting the concept of workcamps for example for post-war reconciliation between French and German Christians. Since the 1950s, workcamps have increasingly been organised also in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with a rise in projects especially since the 1990s. In 1948, organisations from Western and Eastern Europe as well as the USA started the Coordinating Committee for International Work-Camps (CoCo), since 1965 Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS), at a workcamp conference organised at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The organisation since then focuses on creating a stronger network between its member organisations and to have a stronger representation in international institutions. References Volunteering International relations