In the small Danish town of Ebeltoft, 160 friends did something most people only dream about: they pooled their money to buy a sprawling, decommissioned steel factory. The building, cold and cavernous, wasn’t much to look at at first. But for this group, it represented something rare: a chance to create a community on their own terms. No banks, no landlords, no top-down leadership—just a shared belief that life could be lived differently.
source.image: Kirsten Dirksen
They called themselves Grobund— “fertile ground”— and from the moment they got the keys, they began transforming the space into a self-governing ecovillage. The original 30 members had grown to 160 by the time the purchase was complete, and each one is now both co-owner and co-creator of what’s unfolding inside the factory walls.
source.image: Kirsten Dirksen
Inside, members have begun building tiny homes—compact, creative dwellings to live in or work from. Around them, a patchwork of small businesses is taking root: bike repair, aquaponics, blacksmithing, tent making, mushroom cultivation, electronics repair, a climbing gym built into a tiny house, and a pizza shop. The atmosphere is both industrious and idealistic.
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Grobund runs on a “no debt” principle: anyone who contributes becomes a worker-owner, with rights to use the factory as a workspace. Communal areas, including a shared kitchen, are maintained with a modest membership fee. The kitchen is stocked with surplus food rescued from local supermarkets, keeping waste low and costs down.
Today, the factory is still rough around the edges. They are still waiting for local permission to put their homes on the land, but the group continues to grow, looking to welcome new member who believe in the same idea: that a better future can be built with shared tools, shared values, and a bit of steel overhead.
