Welcome to Dawal!

Dawal is:

  • A safe place to meet, discuss, learn together, where people can take refuge, slow down, rest a bit, or create..
  • A collective of humans, made of residents and travellers, to foster and maintain this place.

We welcome people and small groups. For more information, please get in touch with Boris.

Dawal is also a self-organising site for communality and experimentation.

Another focus is on providing a low-cost, temporary work space for individuals and groups so they can to come together and take the time needed to develop their practices and projects. This can be in the form of nightly stays for up to one week, or day use of the house and site.

There is no formal application to stay here – all are welcome to use this space. There is zero requirement to present your project, and Dawal does not seek to lay claim to any work produced here. It is a flexible, non-pressured environment, where all types of practice are welcomed and valued.

Our Values

Dawal is a space for sharing. We nurture it every day through Respect, Solidarity, and Mutual Kindness. Together, we’re committed to growing a peaceful, welcoming atmosphere for everyone (and we mean everyone!).

Living Together

For us, living together starts with deep respect.

  • We respect all living things: This starts with ourselves and each other, and stretches out to the nature that hosts us — the animals, the plants, and the very ground beneath our feet.
  • We cherish our shared ecosystem: We take care of this place and all the beings and objects that weave it together. (Yes, even the stubborn garden tools!)
  • We stay true to our values: We welcome everyone’s beliefs, follow the laws that protect our community, and stick to the rules we’ve built together.

How We Listen and Speak

At Dawal, we cultivate kindness and thoughtfulness:

  • We listen to one another: We make sure there’s space for everyone. We also value silence — out of respect for our members and the local wildlife who might be napping.
  • We balance our conversation: We ensure every voice is heard without judgment, always staying aligned with the raison d’être of our space.

Expressing Our True Selves

We come from all walks of life and different realities — that’s our superpower! To make it work, we need to communicate with kindness and integrity.

  • We speak with clarity and sincerity: We aim for transparency. No riddles, just honesty.
  • We learn to own our words: we practice patience as we strive for a “yes” to be a real “yes,” and a “no” to be a real “no”. We support each other in finding that clarity. (Boundaries are healthy!)
  • We welcome disagreement: It’s okay to disagree! It can actually make our conversations richer, as long as we keep it friendly. If things get a bit heated, we follow our collective steps to find a peaceful way forward.

Our Common Contribution

We all pitch in based on what we can offer, in the spirit of solidarity:

  • We pitch in: Whether it’s through financial support, giving some food or supplies, offering your skills & abilities, giving of your time, or getting your hands dirty with some manual work, every single contribution is precious.
  • We practice mutual aid: Those who can afford to give a little more help support those with fewer resources through our free sliding scale of contributions. Because that’s how a real community rolls!

Communality and Intentional Community

Dawal is an ongoing experiment in communality. Most often, you will be sharing the buildings with others, and use of work and living spaces is to be negotiated.

Dawal has no staff and no cleaners. It’s up to everyone to contribute towards the upkeep of the building and space, spending 30 minutes a day (or more!) cleaning and giving care to the space where it’s needed.

Please care for it as you would your own home and leave it in the best possible state for the next person. Behind the kitchen, there are cleaning products, material and a laundry machine for washing your sheets before leaving.

Don’t know what to do? Here you can find some ideas:

  • collect, stack, or chop firewood
  • clean the dishes
  • feed the chickens
  • clean the chicken coop
  • take out the trash
  • clean the toilets or bathrooms
  • vacuum the common areas
  • dust the common areas
  • do some gardening work
  • whatever you think needs doing, do it!

We have some seasonal work during which we can use more hands. This includes e.g. cherry picking in summer, collecting and processing chestnuts and quinces in autumn.

The Place

Getting here

We are located in the Morvan region; it’s in the country side, and we are surrounded by fields, cows, and trees. It is very nice, but quite distant from the busy towns and train stations. You can get there by car, bike, or we can come fetch you from a nearby bus or train station.

On a map, it is roughly one hour west of Dijon:

Dawal location on a map of France

You can check out the (openstreet) map for a better idea.

By car

The physical address is: 81 Route de la Charnière, 58230 Moux-en-Morvan. Coordinates are:

  • Latitude/Longitude : 47.1549454, 4.1494906
  • Degrees/Minutes/Seconds : 47° 9’ 22" N, 4° 9’ 29.8" E

By public transport

Closest train stations are Montbard or Dijon. From both towns, you can take a bus that will go to Saulieu. We can easily get you from there. Please get in touch if you have any doubt.

Facilities

The place is fully equipped to receive people:

  • Big kitchen
  • Living room with wood-burning stove
  • Winter garden / conservatory
  • Library with workspaces & wood-burning stove
  • A cellar with a pizza oven (for summer)
  • Barn with many tools
  • Terrace with BBQ
  • Gardens and Forest (we grow vegetables and fruits)
  • Multi-purpose room for meetings, gatherings, etc
  • Internet connection & WIFI

Note: Have you noticed there is no TV set? 😉

Staying over & rooms

Dawal currently has comfy beds for up to 4 stayers, and space for tents and trucks on the outside. Duvets, pillows, sheets and towels are provided.

There is a dorm on the first floor with:

  • 2x single bed
  • 1x double bed

Bedrooms are non-gendered, but if you have particular preferences, we can work out arrangements together.

Arrangements can be made for additional sleeping spots if necessary. Especially bigger groups can bring mats and sleeping bags, or when the weather permits can camp on-site.

What about food?

Dawal is self-catering and is well equipped to cook for larger numbers. In the kitchen, mealtimes are often gatherings, with stayers sometimes choosing to cook and eat together.

There is a small shop and bakery close by within a 20-minute walking distance or 5-minute car ride. Bigger supermarkets and shops are about 25-minute car drive away.

Kitty & Costs

There are two kitties at Dawal, one is Pitchounette (pronounced: PI - CHU - NET).

There is also a kitty aka a common pool for shared food and other common expenses.

Basically we practice free and fair pricing — i.e. pay what you can, depending on your resources and ability. We are currently working on a suggested scale, to help people understand what the cost is to us, and make the whole place sustainable.

For overnight stays, we have a suggestion scale for what you could pay. We will not ask you to explain your financial situation, no will we check. This is a rough guide to be able to allow for space to be used by individuals and groups and continue Dawal. We are also happy to accept material donations (see our list of wanted items), in-kind contributions such as taking on responsibilities for improvement, ongoing or one-time tasks.

For longer stays, please get in touch & let’s discuss.

Suggestion scale (daily rate per person)

  • Cost covering [FIXME: amount/rate].

We are still working on this! Any input is more than welcome! 😉

As an example & a comparison, while there is no fixed price, the monks at the abbaye of Solesmes suggest a donation of about 40 euros per day per guest, to cover the costs of one-night stay and three meals. 😀

This is supposed to cover the heating, food, water and electricity — well, everything that one has to pay for in our society, basically.

We do want to receive anybody who needs it, independently of their resources. For this reason we recommend an adapted contribution, based on good will and understanding.

  • Solidarity rate, for those who cannot afford much: 15€ /day.
  • And a benefactor rate at 40€ /day, if you are able to pay more, or an institution/funding body is paying for your stay. It does subsidise the stays of those who can’t pay.