EARTH CENTRE NEMOLAND POLAND

We invite you to contribute your energy and enthusiasm to build a community that sees the earth as a source of inspiration. In 1997, the Dutch nature association Nemo founded Nemoland as a non-profit cooperative and autonomous zone, living with what nature and the Polish villages of Stara Kamienica have to offer.

Where

Nemoland, meaning ‘no man’s land’, is situated in the heart of Europe, between Prague, Dresden and Wrocław, in the Sudetes of Polish Lower Silesia. It lies between the Izera Mountains (Góry Izerskie), the Karkonosze Mountains and the Bóbr Valley Landscape Park (Park Krajobrazowy Doliny Bobru). The turbulent history of this borderland made it a no man’s land, where time seemed to turn back and uncover hidden memories. The mountain landscape has a distinctive microclimate, a great variety of natural features, rapidly changing weather and pronounced seasons.

Why

Reconnecting with the earth means walking and working in nature, learning, reflecting, and celebrating the ecology, history and legends of the landscape. It also means getting to know the Polish villages, their inhabitants and customs. These activities offer ways to explore the earth’s energy and gifts, to recreate and reinvent yourself, and to protect nature, the landscape and the local community from mining plans and other threats. Exploring local nature, myths and legends can help inspire action against pollution, climate change and damage to ecosystems and communities.

What

Nemoland welcomes visitors, volunteers and partners who want to share their abilities and talents within the cooperative. The process matters more than the finished product. The project brings together people of different nationalities, traditions, genders and ages. As a bridge between Eastern and Western Europe, Nemoland invites international NGOs, students, youth organisations and organisations supporting people with disabilities to take part in its projects.

Project ‘Back to Earth’

Eco-farm activities: gardening, cutting wood, caring for goats and making natural products
Building huts, animal shelters, bridges and other structures
Restoring the historical landscape, footpaths and bridges, and developing a walking network for the village
Organizing village festivals
Art and craft workshops, making films
Storytelling and theatre performances
Activities for children: bushcraft, swimming in the creek, building huts, storytelling and rock climbing

What we offer

About 36 hectares of secluded countryside around Ramberg and the Kamienica river, with quiet surroundings and dark nights
Walking and hiking routes throughout the region
A small goat-farm with herb gardens, an orchard and meadows
Space to stay, work and live in a natural environment, with modest ecological facilities for groups and individuals: camping places, dormitories, rooms, huts, small caravans, washing facilities and kitchens
Facilities for activities: a theatre, fireplaces, a theatre for films and performing legends, a library, a yoga and meditation studio and a space for African indigenous art
Workshop space for local ecological products and crafts
Youth programs for internships and volunteer camps
Exchange projects for NGOs, creative groups, choirs and schools

Co-creators welcome

The Nemo Association wants to strengthen the Nemoland cooperative by offering opportunities to new partners who share Nemo’s approach. Areas of collaboration include:

Agriculture: gardening, keeping goats and natural products
Education, coaching and DIY projects
Crafts and art: installations, theatre, music and film
Ecological, agricultural and village tourism
Events and festivals
Intercultural exchange
Art projects focusing on theatre, crafts and filmmaking

More about Nemoland

Organisation

Nemo was founded in the Netherlands in 1988 as a non-profit association for walkers and their interests. It soon developed into a broader association for activities connected with nature. It is supported by its members and operates independently of governments, companies and other organisations. Nemo has two locations: De Groene Hemel in Amsterdam’s Westerpark and Nemoland Poland in Stara Kamienica, Lower Silesia. For the administration of Nemoland in Poland, Nemo established a separate Polish organisation, Fundacja Nemo, in 1997.

Over the years, Nemo has brought more than 5,000 visitors from abroad to Stara Kamienica to experience Polish village life and help build Nemoland. More than 100 students from Dutch colleges and universities have taken part in internships and workshops, and researched sustainable and ecological development. In 2003, Nemo received a Matra grant from the Dutch government to support Polish village associations and strengthen the local community. Nemo has organised twelve ‘Dutch Days’ in Stara Kamienica to exchange Dutch and Polish culture. From 2009 onwards, it organised three Crossroads Festivals in Jelenia Góra, focusing on art across borders.

Nemo has also collected stories and legends from former German and present Polish inhabitants. We feel that oral memories can be more real than official history. Stara Kamienica is a book of little-known stories. Walking is a simple, accessible way to discover, touch and read them.

For Nemo’s team, the Polish adventure has been a long and often challenging process of trial and error. They have worked hard to learn the Polish language, history, customs and even cooking. From 2003, Nemoland faced the threat of destruction from the Pol Skal mining plans in Mała Kamienica, just across from its front door, and plans for uranium mining near Kopaniec. Where mining companies saw potential profit, Nemo’s people, living and working in Poland as foreigners and outsiders, saw something more precious: an ‘open mine’ of captivating stories and legends, rather than stone.

After almost thirty years of this metaphorical mining, Nemo’s team wants to share what it has found. Nemoland is developing its renewed concept, logo and activities. Nemo welcomes groups, institutions, NGOs and individuals, with opportunities within Fundacja Nemo to organise independent and shared activities and projects. Participants may include local residents, international young people, students, people with disabilities, refugees, volunteers, active travellers and families.

The region

Unlike the Karkonosze Mountains, the Nemoland region has received relatively little attention from tourists and historians. Yet it contains traces of early glassworks, pagan places of worship, half-timbered weavers’ houses, and natural and agricultural heritage. A rich variety of nature, culture and landscape lies close at hand. Stone walls, terraces, mill channels, fords and paths preserve traces of earlier cultivation. The area is rich in plant life, including species that have disappeared from parts of Western Europe. It was once known as a large landscape park, the ‘Tuscany of Central Europe’.

After the Second World War, the area became a ‘lost land’: both the people who left and those who arrived had lost their homelands, while the landscape lost its names, monuments and memory. Like other European border regions, it has faced neglect and destructive mining proposals. Protests against the mining plans made local inhabitants more aware of their cultural and natural heritage. They encouraged initiatives to protect nature and the historic landscape, strengthen communities and support the local economy.

Philosophy

Nemo’s philosophy is that members, volunteers and guests contribute something of themselves to Nemoland. It grows organically through their involvement. Visitors are invited to participate rather than simply consume. People who help create Nemoland are, in turn, offered an opportunity to recreate themselves by exploring the secrets of the Polish countryside and contributing to the region’s sustainable development.

Nemoland offers time, space and facilities to children and young people — of any age — to work towards a better world, returning to the earth with their hands in the mud…

Cleaning a river at Nemoland

Cleaning a river at Nemoland.

How to get to Nemoland

Address: Nemoland, Kopaniec 304, 58-512 Stara Kamienica, Poland. The former address is Kopaniec-Międzylesie 5 (Ramberg).

Navigation: search for “Nemoland Polen” in Google Maps. GPS: 50°53.857′ N, 15°31.857′ E. Altitude: approximately 520 metres.

By car

From Görlitz: cross the border to Zgorzelec and head towards Jelenia Góra via Lubań and Gryfów Śląski. After Pasiecznik, turn towards Stara Kamienica. Continue through Stara Kamienica and Kromnów towards Kopaniec and Chromiec. Before Chromiec, take the turning to Nemoland.

From Jelenia Góra: take the road towards Szklarska Poręba. After Wojcieszyce, turn at Piastów towards Stara Kamienica/Barcinek. Continue towards Kromnów Wola, Kopaniec and Chromiec. Before entering Chromiec, look for the Nemoland turning. At the fork, take the right-hand track uphill; Nemoland is about 200 metres further on.

By bus

Check international coach connections to Görlitz with FlixBus. For local buses to Chromiec, consult the current journey planner and confirm your arrival with Nemoland. From the centre of Chromiec, follow the road towards Kopaniec. Beyond the last houses, turn left towards Nemoland. At the fork, take the right-hand track uphill. The walk is approximately 2.5 km.

By train

Plan international journeys with Deutsche Bahn to Görlitz. From there is a Polish regional train to Stara Kamienica and Jelenia Góra; Check Koleje Dolnośląskie for current connections. Arrange the final part of your journey with Nemoland before travelling.

By plane

Wrocław Airport is an option for reaching the region. Compare current flights and fares with airlines, including Wizz Air. City bus 106 connects the airport with Wrocław’s main railway station and central bus station; see the airport’s transport information. Continue by train towards Jelenia Góra and Stara Kamienica, checking current connections.

Contact Nemoland for detailed directions and help planning your arrival.

The house at Nemoland