On my way to the creation of a coworking and coliving space in the French Alps, experiencing and learning from similar places are obvious keys to success. Coconat had been on my list for a while, but I somehow never found a time slot for a visit… Until the beginning of April, after I decided to apply for a 2 month long opportunity as a community manager. I got in touch with Julianne, one of the co-founders, we talked about technical details and quickly agreed on dates.

What does Coconat look like?

The space at Coconat (which litterally stands for COmmunity and COncentrated work in NATure) consists of a wide garden and several buildings for people to work and stay in a small hamlet in the German countryside. Those who don’t come by car usually take the train and the bus to reach this workspace located about 1h20 from Berlin. There are 18 rooms, most of them being private rooms with private bathrooms. Other type of rooms are also available, including a nicely arranged dorm style “tiny house village”. During summer time, hanging tents, regular tents and glamping tents are popping out too. The garden has a big lawn, a vegetable and herbs garden, fruit trees, beehives and a pond that you can even cross with a raft (how cool is that?). Wifi is available accross the whole property to allow people to work outside. Other options for work are one of the 3 dedicated rooms, the skype room, the library or the pub for those who like working in music. The property is constantly evolving and there are projects to create a shop, dedicate a space for big groups, build up a fab lab, etc. …