Nomazine – a ticket into the world of digital nomads

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Angela Ivanova in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

*Picture*: *Arctic Coworking Lodge, in Lofoten, Norway*

The youth energy, amazing stories and inspiring places are the focus of the Nomazine – a magazine about digital nomads in the countryside. The colourful and youth-friendly magazine brings 11 stories of digital nomads with an insight into their world and places. Prepared by the international European Team from Slovenia, Spain, Germany and Croatia and as a part of the Nomadland Erasmus+ project, the magazine Nomadland is a journey into a modern countryside, combining the best approaches from rural and urban areas!

Rural areas in Europe face both challenges of the outmigration of young people and the increase in the ageing of the population. Day by day, there are fewer job opportunities, and challenges are growing. Although the trend started already before, the COVID-19 pandemic showed us that a countryside is a place for creativity. Due to the digitalisation of jobs and the emergence of new industries, a new trend has begun – an increase in remote work. Many employees began to understand that they could be as successful working from their home garden as in the office.

11 authentic stories of digital nomads

*Nat Riley has been an entrepreneur, business coach and digital nomad since 2020. She’s one of 11 digital nomadas, presented in the Nomazine*

We asked 11 digital nomads about their first steps into stepping out of their comfort zone and searching for their new home in the countryside. The journey was not easy; many obstacles and challenges were on the way, but benefits prevailed. Nature and rural life make way for an inspirational new start, as Gokulnath, interviewed digital nomad, acknowledged: »Walking in nature daily is a great inspiration and makes me more productive. I even noticed that I achieve better results at work now«. Each story is unique, revealing a part of the modern digital nomads’ world.

Soil, Sea, Ice and fire

“Coliving life, especially rural coliving, is like umami in cooking – many ingredients, colour, sensations, tastes, aftertastes, emotions, passion, laughter, tears, work, fun, relaxation… and all this – in perfect balance.” Katya Dimitrova, founder of Burgas Coliving in Bulgaria

Digital nomads have their stories, but the same applies to places that connect them to the local community and other digital nomads. Many new colivings, retreats and other projects have recently developed around Europe. A former farm has become a centre for makers, and a castle again has become an ideal place for remote work. In Nomazine, 20 unique places in the countryside are presented for the first time – each a hotbed for creative and innovative projects. Exploring interesting places has never been easier – complemented with attracting images, information about its funding and impact, and founders’ quotes. To quickly navigate the sites and their stories, we have sorted them into four groups: Soil, Sea, Ice and Fire.

Understanding sustainability

*The Anceu Coliving in Spain has many activities where they also work with the local community*

The new trend of digital nomadism is about new sustainable approaches for the countryside. Many digital nomads in Europe have found a new home in former or abandoned mansions, farms or houses. Instead of building new houses and creating an unnecessary carbon footprint, the precious cultural heritage is revitalised and ready for new settlers. Many ambitious and inspiring founders understand what technology and digitalisation can bring to the countryside. As co-founder of Project Bay, Toni Gurski said: “A supposedly structurally weak rural region can become a technology hotspot through the shift to digitalisation and thus lose its image as a purely agricultural and touristic region.” By settling in the countryside, digital nomads bring life, new skills and knowledge and support the local community by buying local food, developing new local projects and making new connections.

Some coliving places, such as Anceu Coliving or Coconat, support working with the local community by organising unique festivals (Rural Makers, Coconauts programme).

Coliving – when young people return to their roots

Recently, many European rural areas have experienced the ageing of the population. Many young people have moved to the bigger urban areas. Established good practices and stories of digital nomads show us that new and innovative solutions already exist. Colivings are spreading into the rural areas from overcrowded cities.

Based on our survey, also published in the Nomazine, the cost of living is the most important aspect for digital nomads when choosing a place to live, followed by a reliable internet connection and a strong community.

The Nomazine serves as a first step towards the guide for attracting digital nomads in the countryside, which will be published in autumn 2023. It will be aimed at tourism workers, youth workers and other decision-makers interested in bringing the philosophy of digital nomadism to their areas. In May 2023, a training activity will be implemented in Iž, Croatia, which will help us to develop a strategy for attracting young digital nomads to the countryside and improving rural youth work. As recognised in the survey, 90 % of digital nomads would prefer to have a local facilitator to help them settle down in the area. Within the project, we will explore how youth organisations, including youth centres, can make a change by attracting digital nomads to the rural areas.

Explore NOMAZINE!

NOMAZINEDownload

IMMERSE INTO THE STORIES OF DIGITAL NOMADS

Are you interested, how digital nomads feel about the countryside? Explore 11 stories of digital nomads who found their new home in the countryside!

LEARN ABOUT NEW APPROACHES FOR THE COUNTRYSIDE

Would you like to find inspiration for your place? Then our magazine Nomazine is a great starting point with 20 selected good practices from all over Europe!

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NOMADLAND – FUTURE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Angela Ivanova in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The project Nomadland is a story about life, new beginnings and adventure. Within the project, we want to show that the countryside is a perfect destination for digital nomads – through stories, a blog, a special guide and a magazine. The future of the countryside is in attracting young people who will become an active part of society!

The rural areas in Europe are facing the outmigration of young people and ageing of the population, leading to stagnation in regional development, social polarization, impoverishment, underutilized public infrastructure and a negative image of these areas.

At the same time, due to the digitalization of jobs and the emergence of new industries (digital content creation, digital marketing, online sales …), a different trend began – an increase in remote work, which became significant during the COVID-19 epidemic. We believe that digital nomads are the new future for the European countryside!

An inspiring gate into the countryside

Henry Miller, a prominent American novelist, once said, that “one’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” We believe that the countryside is an inspiring destination for young people. It’s a paradise, waiting to be discovered.

The partnership of the project is composed of partners that understand, feel and believe in the countryside. The organizations ID20 Institute (Slovenia), ATPERSON (Spain), Prizma Association (Croatia) and INI-Novation (Germany), which are forming the partnership of the project, have one common goal – bringing new hope to the European countryside. The project is co-financed by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ project.

In recent months, a new webpage has been launched, which should become an inspiring gate into the countryside. A webpage nomad-project.com will bring up-to-date information about the advantages and disadvantages of the countryside. Take a tour into inspiring new destinations for digital nomads which are spreading throughout the European countryside or read personal stories of digital nomads who developed their passion for the countryside and delved into the world embraced by nature and adventures. Understand the power of nature by reading the stories of young people, living in the countryside.

A year of new ideas

Next year, 2023, will be full of positive insights into the countryside and life of digital nomads. In the spring, we will publish the first magazine, dedicated to the world of countryside digital nomads and organize a training activity for youth workers from 4 different countries – Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, and Germany. A special guide for implementing digital nomadism in rural areas will be published in the autumn of 2023 with 4 insightful events in our home areas where we will work with the public and private stakeholders in developing new digital nomad paradises!

Many adventures ahead

The Nomadland: digital nomads – a new opportunity for the European rural areas project will:

– explore how digital nomadism can provide a positive impact on the development of youth work and young people’s personal and professional development in rural and peripheral areas (including smaller towns);

– develop the first guide to help youth workers and decision-makers in providing conditions for attracting digital nomads to rural areas;

– present the countryside as an innovative, multicultural area with many new opportunities for young people;

– raise awareness of remote work in rural areas as a possible response to the outmigration of young people (all intellectual results);

– address the digital transformation of rural areas, with a special focus on the areas of Idrija (Slovenia), Odenwald (Germany), Iž (Croatia) and Cuenca (Spain).

– bring together young people, decision-makers, and youth workers to provide new ideas for the local community.

Become a part of our community

Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn) or sign for the regular newsletter! Or just visit the platform of the project: www.nomadland-project.com

Nomadland launched

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Angela Ivanova in Erasmus+, Erasmus+, Erasmus+, Projects, Projects, Projects | Leave a comment

On 12.04.2022, an extremely exciting European project named Nomadland was kicked-off online. The project will tell stories about the young people (millennial and generation Z), about the identity and needs of rural area, about the support and helping each other.

The project is a voyage through different rural areas of Europe, exploring stories of the digital nomads, discovering young people in rural areas, believing in the potential of rural areas between different generations and guiding youth workers on the same path.

The representatives of all partner organizations in the consortium of four European countries Slovenia, Croatia, Spain and Germany met online in high spirits and good mood. Under the leadership of ID20, our project coordinator from Slovenia, we laid the foundations and distributed our first tasks together.