Tomaszyn

Tomaszyn is a small village located in Warmia and Mazury. It consists of ten households and a cooperative. The region is classified as the Green Lungs of Poland and has the lowest population density in the country. There are eight landscape parks in the voivodeship, which shelter natural phenomena on a European scale. It is said to be the Land of a Thousand Lakes.

Tomaszyn has been a farming and prosperous village for many centuries, first written information dating to 1410. However, most of the village buildings were destroyed during World War 2.

The population shrunk to four farms and several vacationers reaching the lowest point in 2017. A year later, the Cooperative Ostoja Natury was formed and settled in Tomaszyn. Ostoja Natury is the ‘agricultural ecosystem of tomorrow’, constituting the reference farm model of the smart village. This organic farm is a closed circuit in which waste is fuel, it produces energy, enables year-round food production, and works more efficiently, ensuring higher yields.

While creating Ostoja Natury, we were inspired by nature’s already existing solutions. Just as in a prehistoric forest – the circuit is everything, waste is non-existent. Our goal is to create an ecosystem designed to provide economic efficiency with minimal influence on the environment. Methods tested over the ages, such as crop rotation, raised seedbeds, home recipes, and many more, are refreshed and implemented, using technological innovations of modern times.

Our cooperative had developed and started the implementation of several strategies in Tomaszyn:

  • Ostoja Natury Village 3.0;
  • Bio Hub;
  • Waste-free, self-sufficient habitat for rural households;
  • Passive, rain based, Ost-Oya irrigation system;
  • Passive greenhouse.

Videos

Ostoja Natury Cooperative, Tomaszyn, recognised as a Smart Village!

Discover the Ostoja Natury Cooperative, set up in 2019 in Tomaszyn. It consists of a group of producers creating high-quality food, distributed directly to customers through a sales platform that does not require intermediaries. This organic farm is a closed circuit in which waste is a fuel, and farm produces energy, enables year-round food production and works more efficiently, ensuring higher yields. Watch this short documentary – ‘Farm Gear on the trail of innovation’ – showcasing the winners of the ‘Smart Village’ competition, including the Ostoja Natury Cooperative, run by the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Resources

The cooperative model: The Polish model for reviving a declining rural area
Piotr Ostaszewski - Ostoja Natury ( 24/02/2021 )
A presentation provided at the 2nd Smart Village Academy of the Smart Rural 21 project during the working group session about the Ostoja Natury cooperative. Ostoja Natury is an agricultural ecosystem of tomorrow, the effect of a synergy of traditional thinking and a technological approach. Methods tested over the ages, such as crop rotation, raised seedbeds, moon wood or home recipes are refreshed and implemented using technological innovations of our times. “While creating Refuge of Nature’s ecosystem, we are inspired by nature’s already existing solutions. Just as in a prehistoric forest circuit, waste is nonexistent, and our goal is to create an ecosystem designed to provide economic efficiency with minimal influence on the environment.”
Language : English
Summary Highlights of the Smart Village Strategy of Tomaszyn (Poland)
( 12/2020 )
The Summary Highlights of the Smart Village Strategy of Tomaszyn has been developed in the context of the ‘Preparatory Action for Smart Rural Areas in the 21st Century’ project funded by the European Commission.
Language : English

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