In the Ooijpolder near Nijmegen, on the site of an old brick factory, ‘de Kleverbergh’ is developing into a regenerative estate. The aim is to create a place where people, animals, and plants can live in balance, providing a home for everyone through inclusion and the celebration of diversity. From various backgrounds, the community is exploring how it can contribute to ecosystem resilience and restore balance. The vision is to design a biodiverse landscape with areas where nature can take its course and to produce healthy food with careful attention to soil quality. Additionally, there is a desire to involve more people in the production of organic food and to build ecologically, using reclaimed materials and minimizing environmental impact. Spaces are also being created for circular and regenerative social entrepreneurship, based on collaboration and reciprocity.

Volunteers at de Kleverbergh can experience what it’s like to live in an alternative co-housing community. You can help with a variety of tasks on the land, renovation and carpentry work, and daily household chores. Examples include weeding, harvesting, sowing, processing crops, and preparing healthy meals for the group. In addition, the community aims to preserve several cultural-historical structures, such as the ‘haaghut’, and to convert the stables of the riding school into a creative hub with studio spaces and areas for food processing. The tasks can be varied.

Volunteers stay on the site of the Kleverbergh, and meals are prepared daily through joint groups of volunteers and locals. There are several accommodation options. Volunteers can stay in their own tent, but there are also furnished tents and a few cabin-style huts on the grounds. Additionally, temporary houses belonging to members who are on vacation during the project period may be available. Arrangements can be made in consultation to find the most suitable solution.

The exact meeting point will be announced at a later time. Volunteers can be picked up in Nijmegen or Ooij by the project partner. In your free time, you can go walking or cycling in the surroundings of Erlecom in the Ooijpolder or the Millingerwaard. You can also take trips to larger towns, including Nijmegen or Arnhem. Erlecom is also very close to the German border, so making a trip to Kleve in Germany is another possibility.

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Closest airports: Schiphol (NL), Eindhoven (NL), Weeze (DE). Go by train to Nijmegen Central Station. There you will be picked up.