Just after we found this property we received a donation of DKK 12,6 millions. With this we created a foundation, Vitalitetsfonden. We were so grateful that we wanted to pass this gift of initial financing on to more projects. Thus the strategy of Vitalitetsfonden is to make impact investments in aligned projects to support them in their start-up phase. Avnø Oasis is naturally the first project of Vitalitetsfonden.
The property
At present our property is owned by Vitalitetsfonden. Our buildings and the surrounding nature provide many opportunities to organize many different kinds of activities.
- 6058 m2 buildings
- 21 ha land - 5 ha of them forest
-
All except the buildings are protected and recreational area.
The buildings
We have 72 bedrooms with private bathroom, several living rooms, a kids room, a library, some offices, a large dining room, a professional kitchen, a gym, a reception, a music room, an auditorium, a yoga room, a fitness center, 5-6 classrooms, a sewing room, a woodworking room and several other craft rooms. In some of the rooms you’ll find a tabletennis, a billiard table, a pooltable, a table football, musical instruments and more to enjoy your sparetime.
Limitations/restrictions connected with the property
Avnø is a protected area. It is designated as a recreational area and besides us there is one home and the Avnø Nature Center at the end of the road. Only eco-friendly activities are allowed. This means we are neither supposed to use organic fertilizer, nor compost on the land, except on the area around the buildings, which is not protected. Parts of the land have to be grassland and must be kept open. Our organic farmer neighbor helps us by doing “Holistic grazing”. The remaining area to be kept as is with wood and some bushes – only local species are supposed to grow there.
Local plan:
The present local plan allows for a health center with teaching. The municipality has interpreted that widely and permitted us to do a højskole with focus on health. They are supportive for us to change the local plan and give building permissions (which is also needed for activities) as long as the coastal directory says yes.
Chemical contaminations:
There are some chemical contaminations around old oil tanks on the property.
Protection of buildings:
The main building, the gym and the auditorium has been declared worthy of preservation, meaning that the outside cannot be changed without special permission.
The intention is that the Avnø Oasis project purchases the property, once the project is fully established. The purchase price is agreed to be the total sum Vitalitetsfonden has invested in the project. Total investment at the end of 2021 was around DKK 13 millions. With another 5 million, we could have solar cells, a more complete heating system, create our own drinking water from roof collection and clean our waste water – providing we can get the necessary permissions. These projects will be part of demonstrating sustainability. Vitalitetsfonden may seek funding or borrow capital from Avnø Oasis partners.The funding model and ownership form when Avnø Oasis takes over needs to be (re)defined.
Principle: a river can only flow if the cycle of water feeds its source. We aim to become part of the cycle rather than halting the flow. We may feed the source with experience, complementary knowledge, financial contributions, promotion of the ‘product’, disseminating ideas or in other creative ways.
- We created Vitalitetsfonden so the donation will be used in other projects, once it’s created value for us.
- We feed volunteers, who put energy into Avnø Oasis and contribute to their growth by allowing them to take responsibility, participate in courses, develop projects and a potential future for themselves, while supporting us.
- We feed the partnership community, who gave us the ideas with 7 keys by providing an English translation of their start-up PDF, sharing our experiences with setting up a partnership community and promoting the idea.
We also commit to request that we – as source – are fed, so we don’t dry up by giving and giving.