Explore life of a community focused on a radical sustainability in Bornholm, Denmark

Details

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  Description

  We are a group of people who are working on creating an eco-village on our land in the forest on Bornholm.
  
  We are a group of 10 adults and 10 children living in the eco-village, but with time we hope to be around 18-20 households living on the land as the project grows.
  
  Where most eco villages spend 2-5 years planning everything before buying land - we did the opposite! We just bought the land in an almost spontaneous way and then had to figure out everything!
  
  We have 12 hectares of land, predominantly forest, located on the edge of the largest forest on the Danish Island Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It was built as a work camp in 1939, and has since been a boarding school for kids from Greenland and then a crafts school. It has been empty for around 10 years and left to severe neglect and vandalism. The area hosts a myriad of buildings ranging from 100s of squaremetres to tiny houses and sheds. All of the buildings are in different stages of renovation with some hosting people's houses, others hosting workshops, others common kitchen and living room and others still to be developed.
  
  We want to rebuild the houses with natural building materials, as local and sustainable as possible, like we emphasize co-working with our natural surroundings inspired by permaculture and regenerative practices. We want to open the space for children and adults to spend time in nature and share workshops, food, music and creativity.
  
  We want to include many rooms and spaces for people to have a place to realise their dreams together with the community.
  
  We see ourselves as part of anticapitalist movement of movements exploring and creating the mechanics and modes of societies with radical sustainability, social justice and participatory democracy front and center.
  
  *** A few practicalities ***
  We have communal workdays every other Saturday (in uneven weeks), so if possible we ask you to arrive on Fridays in uneven weeks. If not, you're of course still welcome.
  When you arrive you'll be given a tour of the site and facilities and what we'll be doing during your stay. You will be buddied up with one of us, who'll be your contact in answering questions and needs arising. We value you as part of the community and welcome you to engage with everybody here, but want to be sure that you know who to ask.
  
  We have communal dinners 4-5 days a week - usually weekdays - which we take turns hosting and you'll also be asked to host a meal a week - either with one of us or with other workaways depending on time and situation.
  
  We value people who self-organise, take initiative within the communal framework and are up for living and working in close relation to nature with manual and creative work. If you are a person that needs guidance and feedback for every step you take, we might not be able to meet that need. We provide guidance and a co-working community, while we also value people taking responsibility and running with a challenge.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Inspired by the Zapatista ethos of "walking, questioning" we try to host a space for radical, hands-on action, co-creation and mutual learning, addressing community building, climate change adaptation, sustainable and nurturing social relations, knowledge and appreciation of the natural world - being part of creating alternatives to the draconian system of capitalism.
  
  Enjoy community life in the middle of the forest and experience plants, animals and peace and quiet.
  
  Get to know new people from a wide variety of walkways of life.
  
  Aquire practical skills - from woodworking to plant knowledge and community organising - and experience the joy of teaching/sharing your skills with others.
  
  ... And more :)

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  Projects involving children

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

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  Help

  The three main themes for tasks around here are buildings, forestry/surroundings and gardens. We value both tasks of practical necessity and tasks of beautification :).
  
  We're in (a long) process of renovating the more than 2500 m2 building mass into houses for inhabitants, communal spaces and workshops (generally also communal). For 2025 the main focus in the built environment are the new volunteer house, helping with people's homes and our workshop building - also small structures such as woodsheds.
  
  The new Workawayer house - an existing tiny house that we want to renovate - will have a round of woodfibre insulation and clay plaster to become a house with a single bed room, a double bed room and room with two or three single beds.
  
  The workshop building needs a new roof, a couple of new windows and doors and a lot of beautification and interior design.
  
  People's private houses contain various tasks though generally building up or finishing with natural materials - and some a bit of demolition if you feel up for it (safety gear of course provided)..
  
  Forestry/surroundings include works like clearing thickets, pruning, making paths and bridges, as well as retrieving firewood. All experience from chopping wood to handling chainsaws is very welcome and we value knowledge sharing about the wonders of the natural world around us.
  
  The third main project we need help with is the garden. We just are still our garden on our own field and there is always a lot of work to do.
  
  
  You will of course be guided and taught, but a bit of knowledge or experience in construction, DIY, forest or garden work is very valuable - likewise is the courage to try something new and attaining new skills!
  
  Usually volunteers will have one cooking day a week (you will cook together with one or two others).

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  Danish: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  German: Intermediate
  Italian: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  At the moment we have Danish, German and Italian nationalities in the group. The kids are in the process of learning English, some already speak it fluently, so please just talk to them, that will help them learn :)
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  Accommodation

  Summer 2025:
  As we will be renovating the volunteer house, we only have a small volunteer hut for one person available. Furthermore we have spaces for tents and motorhomes.
  
  We have communal compost toilets, a communal kitchen, living room and shower.
  We cook communal meals once a day 4 days a week (early dinner around 17:30). There's always vegan/vegetarian food and sometimes meat. The days that there are not communal dinner, you will cook for yourselves.
  Sourcing the food is a mix of harvesting the gardens, dumpster diving and buying food from farm shops or supermarkets. Please ask if there is anything you need in the kitchen!

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  What else ...

  Every second Saturday we have communal workday where everybody meet up and work on different communal projects together. On the other days of the week, the members of the community will mostly work on their own projects and as a volunteer you will be working with the other volunteers on communal or private projects.
  
  **VOLUNTEERS WITH CHILDREN**
  We are happy to host volunteers with children, but to balance the fact that families with small children are usually not able to work as many hours and are also more mouths to feed - we ask that families take care of their own breakfast and lunch. In that way we can also afford to host big families and you won't have to feel bad about not being able to work as much and instead take time off to care for your family!
  
  As a volunteer you will have 2 days off a week (usually Sunday and Monday, as Saturday is our communal workday, but you are welcome to request other days) to explore the island, which has many treasures to offer! To mention a few there are sandy beaches with some of the worlds finest sand, to the dramatic cliff coasts in the north. All the coastal villages are very charming and almost all have a fish smokery where you can taste the traditional smoked fish from Bornholm.
  Bornholm is a holiday island, so the possibilities of what it offers are many!
  
  Walking distance from the land is the great Almindingen forest (which we are inside) hosting European bison, marshlands/wetlands with great birdlife, very mixed forestry. Close is also Ekkodalen - a rift valley through the forest and some interesting rewilding/regenerative projects.
  
  We strive to be able to provide bicycles to be able to explore the island further.
  
  **GETTING TO BORNHOLM**
  
  *From Denmark*: there are cheap bus tickets from Copenhagen (central station or airport) to Bornholm, which takes you over Sweden and the ferry from Ystad to Rønne - tickets at the kombardo website ( (dot)dk).
  
  There is also possibility to take a night ferry from Køge (good option if you come with bike)
  
  There are ferries directly from Germany (Sassnitz) and Poland (Swinoujscie).
  
  From Sweden there is easy access with the Ferry from Ystad. All ferry tickets via the Bornholmslinjen website (bornholmslinjen(dot)dk).
  
  There is a national airport on Bornholm too, (Rønne) - the closest international airport is Malmö or Copenhagen.
  
  From Rønne on Bornholm you can take a bus to Åkirkeby Terminal. From there it's 4 km to here - there is no easy public transport all the way to the place, but we can pick you up by car in Åkirkeby.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have lots of space for Campervans and motorhomes, so please bring your mobile home and park it in the volunteer area :). If you park in or near there, we can provide an electricity hook up. You are of course able to use the communal kitchen, shower and toilets as much as everyone else.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Dogs, or whatever lovely exotic pets you might have, are very welcome, but have to be friendly with children, as we have free range kids running around! We have 1 dog, 3 cats, a bunch of chickens and 2 ducks ourselves.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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