Your New Nature

SUMOWALA

Playing in the water being surrounded by the smell of fire in the middle of nature. That’s where real happiness lies, according to the founders of Sumowala. With that in mind, their initiative Sumowala was born – creating places in the Netherlands and Europe where the four elements Sun, Moon, Water and Land come together to give you an unforgettable time in nature, not far from home. What exactly is a Sumowala? Co-founder Jennifer Drouin tells us more.

What is Sumowala?

Sumowala (Sun-Moon-Water-Land) is a social enterprise that offers people close to cities intensive nature experiences. Sumowala is developing new nature reserves where a maximum of 5% of the land is used for small-scale recreational places. Sumowala has circularity and inclusion as guiding principles, and has a great ambition: thousands of hectares of new nature and a thriving network of small-scale places to stay, always close to cities, spread across Europe.

How exactly does a Sumowala come about?

We buy or lease land, for example from farmers who want to repurpose their land or from owners of production forests. There we adapt the land in such a way that nature can recover. Nature is then managed by local partners in collaboration with biologists and the users of the Sumowala. Within a few years, life returns and the natural balance begins to recover. People are allowed to experience nature and thus get a place in that balance – but in a modest and serving place.

How is everything in a Sumowala circular?

Circular means that you organize all material and energy flows as locally as possible, without leaving any waste. For Sumowala, nature – and therefore circular thinking – is the inspiration for everything: the maintenance of nature, the design of the cabins, energy, water and food and even mobility. As designers of De Ceuvel and Schoonschip, we have already learned a lot about the unruly practice of circularity. Sumowala is our next big step, or better: jump.

Who are the initiators and what is your ambition?

Sumowala is an initiative of Groundforce.studio, ‘builder of inclusive platforms’ and Space&Matter, ‘studio for spatial design and concept development’. The Sumowala team consists of Matthijs ten Berge, Sascha Glasl, Ernestien Idenburg, Désiré Leijs, Jen Drouin and Ruurd Priester. A lot of ecologically and socially driven entrepreneurship and experience come together in this team. See for example De Ceuvel, Schoonschip, the Knowledge Mile and donuteconomics.org, the platform of DEAL (Doughnut Economics Action Lab). The team is advised on concept and development by Bureau Stroming (Gerard Litjens).

Our dream is a thriving network of small-scale places to stay, always close to cities, spread across Europe, where nature restoration, nature experience and the strengthening of local communities come together.

www.sumowala.nl
hello@sumowala.nl