VOLUNTEER AT BJÄRKAN SUMMER 2026
Community Gathering & Summer Volunteering
Overview
This is an invitation into shared life.
From the long light of high summer through to late August, we are opening Bjärkan as a living, working community for volunteers who want to contribute to a place that exists to support kinship, community, and regeneration in uncertain times.
There are two ways to be part of this:
Community Gathering
(June 30 – July 11)
A focused 12-day event with a larger group of 10–15 volunteers. Working together as a temporary community, this period has a particular energy — collaborative, sociable, and purposeful. If you can join for this window, this is where the experience is richest.
Summer Volunteering
(Anytime between July 12 – August 23)
For those who want to come outside the gathering period, or who can only commit to a shorter stay. The pace is lighter, the group smaller, but the work is just as important and the welcome just as warm.
Both operate as a volunteer exchange along similar lines to Workaway, yet with something more intentional behind them: a chance to take part in the tending of a place that holds retreats, gatherings, and deep inquiry into how we live well, together, in a changing world.
The Exchange
The work will be 4–5 hours per day, contributing to the life of the land, buildings and our small pop-up community. Tasks will be varied and collaborative, shaped by weather, capacity, and the natural rhythm of the group. After every 4-5 days of work, there will be 2 full days completely free, for rest, solo wandering, swimming, reading, or exploring the surrounding landscape.
Tasks across both may include:
General maintenance and painting, including being up a ladder painting a metal barn roof
Light building and carpentry projects
Forestry and preparing wood supplies
Cooking and shared kitchen support
Care of communal spaces
This is hands-on, grounded work, done together, with care.
During the Volunteer Community Camp, in exchange for these work periods, we offer:
Shared twin accommodation
All meals provided (vegetarian)
A lived experience of community life
Shared hikes in an outstanding wilderness area
Sharing circles and simple community rituals
Optional meditation
Wood-fired sauna, lake swimming, games, rest, and laughter
During other times outside of the community camp, some of the things other than the accommodation and meals may be available, depending on how many other volunteers are there and what else is going on.
The Place & the Project
Bjärkan is a land-based resilience project rooted in the forests of northern Sweden. It exists as a response to these times of unraveling, offering a place to practice different ways of being together: slower, more relational, more alive to the web of life we belong to.
Volunteers are not just helping with tasks. You are participating in the ongoing shaping of a place that holds retreats, gatherings, and deep inquiry into how we live well, together, in a changing world.
We are especially looking for people who feel drawn to:
Kinship – with people, land, and the more-than-human world
Community – shared responsibility, communication, and care
Regeneration – tending what sustains life, inwardly and outwardly
Dates & Commitment
Volunteer Community Gathering Arrival: 30 June 2026 Departure: 11 July 2026
Priority will be given to those who can commit to the full 12 days, as continuity deeply supports the community field. It is possible to join for a shorter period within these dates, though this will be considered after full-term applicants.
Summer Volunteering From: 30 June 2026 To: 23 August 2026
For summer volunteering outside the gathering, a minimum stay of one week is preferred. We'll do our best to coordinate arrivals so there's always a small group present rather than a single volunteer at a time.
Application Process
Due to consistently high interest and the limited number of places available, participation is by application. We use a simple application process to help create a well-balanced group, taking into account practical skills, physical capacity, and the relational qualities that support shared living. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to a brief online call, offering a chance to meet each other, clarify expectations, and sense whether this feels like a good mutual fit.
Who This Is For
People who enjoy communal living, are comfortable with shared spaces, and are able to contribute physically for several hours a day. You don’t need to be highly skilled, just willing, present, and able to work cooperatively within a group.
That said, we warmly welcome a range of practical skills and experience, including (but not limited to) basic carpentry or building, painting, forestry or wood preparation, cooking, gardening, maintenance, and general making-and-mending. Whatever skills you bring, there will also be plenty of opportunities to learn, share, and support one another.
This is not a paid opportunity, training, or retreat, but a mutual exchange: time, effort, care, and presence offered in return for nourishment, belonging, and the rare experience of living close to land and people for a while.
If this speaks to something you’re longing for, we’d love to hear from you.
Being at Bjärkan
About Us
Since 2018, Nick Osborne and Justine Corrie have been evolving their work around regenerative culture, group process, and land-based living. In 2023, they co-founded Bjärkan as a place to explore these themes in practice — through seasonal gatherings, resilience work, and the cultivation of community.
Volunteering at Bjärkan is one expression of this vision: an opportunity to live together simply and intentionally, creating temporary village, and celebrating the fullness of summer through ritual, shared meals, nature connection, and co-created joy.
Justine Corrie
Justine Corrie is a Contemplative and Systemic Psychotherapist, facilitator, and co-founder of Bjärkan. Her work is rooted in earth-based and ancestral practices, with a focus on soul-tending, collective resilience, and the power of ritual. Her facilitation draws from systemic constellations, animist practice, and a deep love of place.
Logistics, FAQ & Further Details
Dates & Timing
For the Volunteer Community Gathering: arrival on 30 June from mid-afternoon and departure on morning of 11 July. We ask everyone to arrive on the 30th so we can land together as a group, orient to the place, and begin the shared rhythm from the start.
Arrivals and departures outside of these dates can be agreed separately.
Location
Bjärkan, northern Sweden
Approximately 1.5 hours north of Östersund, set within forest, lakes, and expansive wilderness.
Full travel details, including shared transport options from nearby train stations, will be provided to those offered a place.
The Exchange (Not a Paid Event)
Volunteering at Bjärkan operates as a voluntary work exchange, similar in spirit to Workaway, but held within the relational and values-based container of Bjärkan.
Over the 12 days of the Community Gathering, there will be:
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8 shared work days, averaging 4–5 hours per day
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2 full days completely free for rest, exploration, and integration
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The remaining days held more lightly for arrival, departure, and community rhythm
In exchange for your contribution, we offer:
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Shared twin accommodation
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All meals provided (vegetarian)
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Participation in community life
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Shared hikes, sauna, lake swimming, and time in nature
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Optional meditation, sharing circles, games, and relaxed evenings
There is no fee to attend. What we are exchanging is time, effort, care, and presence.
Food
All meals are vegetarian, home-cooked, and shared together.
We can accommodate vegan and gluten-free diets with prior notice.
Volunteers may be invited to help with food preparation and kitchen clean-up as part of the shared work rhythm.
Accommodation
Most volunteers will stay in shared twin or double rooms in either the main farmhouse or guest cabin.
There is also:
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Limited space for camping
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A small number of places for live-in vans
Application & Selection
Due to high interest and limited places, participation is by application.
We use this process to help form a well-balanced group, considering:
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Practical skills and physical capacity
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Experience (or curiosity) around community living
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The relational qualities that support cooperation, care, and shared responsibility
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to a brief online call, offering a chance to meet, clarify expectations, and sense whether this feels like a good mutual fit.
While it is possible to join for a shorter period within the dates, priority will be given to those able to commit to the full 12 days, as continuity greatly supports the community field.
Travel
Our nearest town is Östersund (approx. 1.5 hours away).
You can reach the area via:
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Air to Östersund Åre Airport via Stockholm
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Train from Stockholm to Östersund or Krokom (5–7 hours, including sleeper options)
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Overland travel from Europe by train or car
From Östersund or Krokom there are options for shared taxis or coordinated lifts. Full guidance will be sent once places are confirmed.
Commitment & Capacity
This gathering is best suited to people who:
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Are comfortable with shared spaces and communal rhythms
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Can contribute physically for several hours a day
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Are open to communication, cooperation, and shared responsibility
Questions & Contact
If you have questions about the gathering, accessibility, or whether this exchange is right for you, you’re very welcome to get in touch:
Email: info@bjarkan.org
We look forward to hearing from those who feel called to help tend this place and be part of a living experiment in kinship, community, and regeneration.