Our vision
The vision of espaceSélah is to run a sustainable and well-managed farm that serves not only the core families, but also a wider community. As with our predecessors, the aim is to complement the agricultural business with tourism, a caring community (care-farming) and a social commitment.
Farming
On the farm, we raise cattle and pigs for meat and keep mules as trek animals. We will continue leasing additional pasture land nearby to be able to keep the current herd size. Two team members are completing farming training in order to be able to take over and run the farm. However, as it is too small to feed two families, we want and need to offer additional services on the property.
Caring Community
A core community lives on the property together with the farming families and primarily helps run the social projects and tourism activities such as trekking events and farm-stay holidays. We have a conversion project for a timeworn building on the property, so we can provide additional living space for this.
Social impact
We want to create space for people to live with us for a short- or mid-term stay. The aim is to give people with challenges a home for a period of time; a place where they can regain strength and confidence by being able to contribute by living and working alongside us, connecting with animals and nature as well as our community.
We intend to close the holiday home which is currently part of the infrastructure and build a new “residential home” in its place. This will provide housing for the people who stay with us temporarily, who are dependent on a daily structure with an opportunity for meaningful employment and socialising with other people.
Together with the income from caring for these people, the farm should be self-supporting, i.e. the aim is to run it professionally.
Tourism
The touristic offers include mule trekking, special events and the holiday flat.
Stories like this could emerge here in the future…
Who are the people who might opt for a stay on our farm? Which situations might they be facing in their daily lives? The following fictional short portraits give insight into what we believe our project can achieve.
Claudia Meier, Manager
Claudia Meier, a successful manager in her late forties, was experiencing a phase of profound self-doubt at the beginning of her midlife crisis. Despite her professional success and a well-organized life, she began to question whether the path she had chosen still made sense. Exhausted and inwardly restless, she decided to take a three-month break at espaceSélah, a quiet retreat in the seclusion of the Bernese Jura.
There she found an unexpected inner peace through daily walks in nature and helping care for the animals. She was particularly fond of Lena, one of the mules. The many spontaneous conversations with the people she met on the farm helped her to reorientate herself. In her own words: “I was feeling lost and being in espaceSélah helped me find myself again.”
Looking back, Claudia describes her time at Chaux-d’Abel as crucial in helping her to reorganize her life and rethink her priorities. She initiated a career change that gave her life a new direction. At the same time, she found peace with her environment and, above all, with herself. “It was a groundbreaking experience,” she emphasises.
Philipp, long-term guest
Philipp, 28 years old, has been a long-term guest at espaceSélah for some time. Although he has a busy job as an online marketing manager, he feels a deep longing for “more”. He has long been preoccupied with the idea of a communal life in which people not only live side by side, but together, supporting each other. His search has led him to Chaux-d’Abel, where he now lives and works with three families – as best he can alongside his job.
Philipp particularly appreciates the moments when the whole group comes together to celebrate a party. When everyone is sitting around a big table, laughing, talking and enjoying life together, he feels the most fulfilled. This loud, cheerful togetherness gives him the feeling that he has found a place that not only offers living space, but also a home.
Philipp is also passionate about participation and sustainability. He is deeply fascinated by the idea that everyone can make an active contribution to a common life and at the same time use resources sparingly and considerately. At espaceSélah, he has the opportunity not only to explore these principles in theory, but also to live them in everyday life. The balance between his work, communal living and the project’s focus on sustainability gives him a new perspective, and he hopes that one day he will find a way to integrate these values into all aspects of his life.
Jonas, an 18-year-old youth
Jonas, an 18-year-old teenager, was facing an uncertain future after quitting his apprenticeship in the winter. Unsure of what to do next, he spent weeks weighing up various options without being able to come to a decision. In the end, he decided, semi-voluntarily, to help out on the espaceSélah farm in Chaux-d’Abel in the hope of clearing his head.
Working outside in nature proved to be unexpectedly good for him. The physical activity helped him to ground himself and distance himself from the worries of the last few months. The support of and discussions with his family broadened his view of possible career paths.
Today, Jonas looks to the future with confidence and is looking forward to starting a taster week in a new professional field in the next few weeks. With fresh motivation and growing interest, he feels ready to break new ground again.
Maria, after a hospital stay
Maria, 57, was struggling to regain her footing in the everyday after a severe episode of depression and a lengthy stay in hospital. Still on sick leave, she is facing the challenge of returning to work – something that is currently causing her great anxiety. The idea of returning to the demands and hectic pace of her former everyday working life seems overwhelming. At the same time, she is suffering from a deep sense of loneliness, even if she rarely admits this out loud.
In recent weeks, she has found moments of peace and comfort at espaceSélah. She particularly enjoys sitting by the woodstove with a cup of tea. She draws comfort and warmth from the presence of the farm dog at her feet. She often puts on her snowshoes and goes for short walks through the snow-covered landscape.
The vastness of the landscape around Chaux-d’Abel and its remoteness give Maria a feeling of safety and security, which helps her to slowly open up again and gather her strength. Her path back to work is still unclear, but the moments of silence and simple living have shown her that it is possible to find herself again, step by step.
