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Estate with real-life laboratory and playground for sustainable living between Berlin and the Baltic Sea, Germany

  • Favourited 797 times
  • Last activity: 28 Mar 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    ***This spring and early summer, we mostly need help with the garden, preparing it for spring planting and sowing and later also planting more trees and berries. Some other projects or tasks that may come along, are firewood, chicken routine, and there are opportunities to participate in sustainable construction (house building in timber-straw insulation), carpentry and pottery. also occasional childcare is an optional occupation (ages 3&4).***

    In the beautiful north of Germany, in between Berlin and the Baltic Sea we‘re establishing a unique workspace and studio for creatives and craftsmen. The old estate, which was built in the 19th century, is now our playground and laboratory where we are seeking for joyful, sustainable and independent ways to live in these times.
    Here, in the quite special, vast northern countryside, we've built a space where you can realize your own ideas or join in on shared projects, without feeling cramped by the city and its noise around you.
    We started to work on the estate in early 2018 and built our studio space. Downstairs we established our carpentry workshop, next door there is the bakery. These might be followed by other workspaces (newest addition: a pottery workshop) in the coming years. The estate consists of three huge barns (over 2100 m² ground area) and the manor (which is run by friends of us) and further 11 ha of pastures, partly swampy. The biggest of the barns has been transformed into a production site for prefab eco-homes (timber frame with straw insulation) and ist used by a company that three of us founded together with some friends.
    Over the next years and decades we want to develop this place, make it lively and beautiful, providing sustainable living spaces for up to about 50 people.

    As of now, the adventure is still pretty much a "family enterprise", three brothers and a sister at an age between 24 and 33), all with partners and two children and our uncle with family. We're developing possibilities for friends and people to join.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Art Projects
    Language practice
    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Babysitting and creative play
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Crazy skills and lots of fun!

    While staying here you could have the chance to learn many skills and techniques related to contruction and renovation of buildings - from planning to executing them. Two of us even are baker Masters and another one a trained carpenter, there's regular pottery sessions accompanied by a true master of her field, and some of us have have also studied design, architecture and sustainable economics.
    The society is occasionally organizing workshops for artists and craftspeople where you are invited to take part in or even help organize a workshop on your topic of interest.
    Especially if you stay for a couple of weeks or even longer, we encourage you to bring in ideas, and we will try to realize them.

    For us, this place is an incredible play- and learning ground - we constantly test out new things, test ourselves as we make plans that sometimes seem way over our heads. And almost always it works! And we grow with that, gain confidence and experience, and so can you!
    If you have experiences and skills to share, we can aim still higher ;) but to be clear, all this isn't limited to construction or the like - if you know a craft, or have some crazy cooking skills, or can lead a yoga session.. There is hardly anything we don't want to learn and many other little things we can teach!

    *Disclaimer: most of this was written in 2020/21 ;) And while we are still true to our play- and learning ground ethos, we have also grown up and out of the experminetal stage of the first years in the sense that we spend quite a bit of time working on our jobs, which are mostly on site though, those being the bakery, carpentry and sustainable construction company.

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

    This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

  • Help

    Help

    ***This spring and early summer, we mostly need help with the garden, preparing it for spring planting and sowing and later also planting more trees and berries.
    We have a 80 sqm poly-tunnel and try to grow most our veg ourselves, we also raise and sell some seedling plants but also buy in some plants. We're looking for people with solid gardening experience that are also eager to bring in some of their own ideas and work on their own parts of the time.
    Some other projects or tasks that may come along, are firewood, chicken routine, and there are opportunities to participate in sustainable construction (house building in timber-straw insulation), carpentry and pottery.
    Our prefab ecohome company is a great opportunity to get to know more about sustainable construction and maybe join in on a construction project, especially if you already have some experience in the field.
    Also occasional childcare is an optional occupation (a girl of 3 & a boy of 4).***


    No matter whether you have just finished school or are a skilled carpenter, there is certainly something that you can help us with and will enjoy doing. All the more if you like manual work, be outdoors and get your hands dirty :)

    Construction
    This year we want to do a little less construction which was our main work in the first two years, but of course there are still a lot of unfinished things and projects around the yard.

    Gardening
    We have now managed to be self-sufficient on vegetables over almost the whole year and try to conserve stuff for winter. For next year we want to improve the structure and planning of the garden as to make it easier for everyone to find tasks to work on.

    Animals
    We only have cats 🐈‍⬛ and chickens at the moment - Our sheep and pigs have found new homes because we could not find the time needed. :(

    Household
    All of us really love cooking and good food.
    While you're here you are of course free to help yourself to the communal foodstuff whenever!
    Together we try to keep things clean and tidy - everyone is a part of this.

    Occasional projects, creative projects - we have space, machinery, lots of scrap material... Some plans / ideas for 2024 are:
    -wodd & glass greenhouse, sewing workshop, outdoor kitchen, a sauna, plunge pool, stables for animals, furniture

    If you have formal training or the relevant experience, we have a wide range of basic and advanced construction machinery and tools, a digger and a fully equipped carpentry workshop from mid 2019 on to put your skills to best use.

  • Languages spoken

    German: Fluent
    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Fluent
    Italian: Beginner

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    A work in progress... we moved into the living barn in December 2019. We have space for guests and workawayers in two trailers (heated). They can both sleep one or two people (in the case of couples or close friends:)). The atelier studio is fully equipped with a big communal kitchen, bathroom, hot shower, washing machine. The atelier also hosts our home office and is a good space to hang out, draw, do pottery and whatever. When the weather is warmer it is also nice to camp outside. Its best if you bring your own sleeping bag, but we do have some blankets we can provide.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    For the activities part...while there is not much to do in the immediate surroundings, the Baltic Sea is only an hour away (sailing, kitesurfing, beaches...) and there is the possibility to go kayaking in the beautiful Peene river or take a bike for a ride. You can very cheaply buy a monthly ticket for all regional trains for the whole of germany (49 €), which makes a weekend trip to Berlin or one of the national parks in the North East an easy escape.
    On the weekend we sometimes play soccer with a group of friends from the area. As soon as it gets a little warmer we have our regular swim in a nearby lake, enjoy having barbecues and fires outdoors and if you want to visit Berlin, there is a local train going there every hour from the close-by station Sternfeld, which is also where we can usually pick you up and drop you off.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    We have 200 Mbit internet access and you can work in the Atelier space.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    This host can provide space for campervans.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 112572614762

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