The story of Ermitaj
In the early 2000s, during a horseback ride, Philippe Coupé, a Belgian who had been living in Romania for about a decade, fell in love with a unique place in the village of Malin. A few years later, in 2006, he founded the commercial company “Pamantul Nostru,” with which he acquired the land, and which would later become “Ermitaj Malin.”
Between 2006 and 2009, Philippe supervised the renovation of the buildings and the construction of a barn. At that time, he focused on ecotourism, notably offering hiking tours with donkeys. It was also during this period that he discovered permaculture, a subject that immediately excited him.
In 2010, Ermitaj hosted one of the first Permaculture Design Course (PDC) organized in Romania, with Pascal Depienne and Steve Read. The experience was repeated the following year with a second PDC. Meanwhile, Philippe deepened his practice of Zazen meditation and organized meditation retreats. These experiences reinforced his vision: he wanted to transform Ermitaj into a place dedicated to permaculture and well-being.
However, Parkinson’s disease forced him to seek a new team to continue his dream. He then issued a call for help around him and on the Internet (the announcement is still online!). In September 2014, Remy Pasti and Jean-Marie Coudou, who did not know each other, arrived at Ermitaj.
Jean-Marie had known Philippe for many years. Both from the city of Tournai (Belgium), they had partied together and had even been roommates. In 2014, Jean-Marie was still working at the Ecole de la Providence, which he co-founded. It turned out that one of the teachers was Romanian, specifically from the city of Beclean, which is near Ermitaj. The world is vast, but essential encounters always find their way. This sign was enough to pique Jean-Marie’s curiosity, who then arrived at Ermitaj just a few days after Remy.
After spending a week at Ermitaj with Jean-Marie and Philippe, Remy was convinced that this was exactly the kind of place he was looking for. Jean-Marie returned to Belgium with Philippe, and Remy relayed Philippe’s call to find other energies to join the project.
Remy assembled a team consisting of: Coline Vanlaeys, Ludo Dubrule, Pierre Dal Borgo, Laetitia Lamoline, and Benoit Antoine. The urgency imposed by Philippe’s ex-partner and associate pushed them to quickly buy out the shares of the company owning Ermitaj, and they arrived gradually in the spring of 2015. This handover marked the beginning of a new phase, rich in learning experiences (in other words: many difficulties!).
Remy and Coline left the project for 15 months in the fall of 2015. They returned when Pierre, Ben, and Laeticia decided, at the end of 2016, to pursue other adventures.
In 2017, the core team formed around Ludovic, Rémy, and Coline. Despite his declining health, Philippe continued to stay at Ermitaj as often as possible, although he spent most of his time in Belgium, in Jean-Marie’s co-housing. Jean-Marie also continued to “coach” them, joined in this task by Pascal Depienne.
That same year, an important step was taken with the registration of the buildings in the cadastre, and part of the land became constructible (“intravilan”), opening up new perspectives. The road leading from the village to Ermitaj was finally mostly graveled, and they never missed getting stuck in the mud!
In 2017, they also organized the first training specifically on permaculture, as well as the first “claca,” which brought together about thirty people, mostly Romanians, for a weekend. They hosted volunteers all summer, and the table often had more than 10 people. In the winters, Coline and Remy continued to return to Belgium, where Remy worked for the federal government.
In 2018, the “Ermitaj Pe Vale” association was founded to coordinate the events held on-site. The hosting of volunteers continued at the same pace as in 2017. Four residential trainings were organized, totaling 24 days, including a certified permaculture course with Graham Bell. 2018 also marked the purchase of a house in the village by Rémy and Coline. We also held a fundraising dinner in Belgium.
2019 was marked by one of our most successful events: the Permaculture Design Course with Pascal Depienne. With over 20 participants for two weeks, we pushed the limits of this off-grid place, thanks in part to our first experiments with alternative water supply systems. This course was quickly followed by the Permaculture Convergence, where we invited our local mayor; we had finally reached a sufficient level of Romanian to take such initiatives. (For the little story, our mayor was quite surprised to meet the mayor of Buzău – a municipality with over 100,000 inhabitants in the southeast of the country – at the event!)
In the fall, Tudor Petruțiu decided to join Ermitaj as a resident and took on the “vegetable garden” project while remaining involved in training activities.
In 2020, after numerous administrative steps, the uncertainties surrounding the commercial company “Ermitaj Malin” (which owns the land) were resolved, providing a solid foundation to secure the project’s future. We organized a “claca” that summer, as the pandemic forced us to cancel planned events. Tudor, meanwhile, seized an opportunity to start market gardening in Austria and left Ermitaj as a resident.
In 2021, the training project organized about 15 days of training and 30 days of “worksite-camps” A new concept that appeared in our offerings: we propose a theoretical training, after which participants could stay a few extra days (as volunteers) to put into practice what they had learned. The concept was a success.
Cantemir Păcuraru was one of the participants in our spring courses. Captivated by Ermitaj and searching for a place of his own, he moved to Ermitaj in June. Cantemir was pursuing a law PhD and was interested in the medicinal properties of mushrooms. He founded the SRL “Cultura de Ciuperci,” which was also based at Ermitaj. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, he became the Romanian representative of the Green road project from GEN Europe network and hosted refugees at Ermitaj for several months, despite challenging conditions. After spending a year and a half with us, he decided to leave Ermitaj to focus on his PhD but continues to act as Ermitaj’s legal advisor 😉
2022 was a mixed year. We struggled to find enough participants for our trainings and had to cancel planned events. However, we hosted our first activity under the European Solidarity Corps (formerly the European Voluntary Service), the “Eco-Living Camp,” which was a great success. At the end of the summer, Philippe passed away due to Parkinson’s disease. We decided to part with the donkeys. Ludovic also left the Ermitaj project permanently, as did Cantemir. One positive note from the year was the arrival of Cristina Colis, who joined as a project leader. Additionally, Rémy and Coline became members of the Romanian Permaculture Association.
In 2023, we organized just one event, but it was a significant one: the first certified permaculture course in Romanian, led by Cristina! Following Ludo’s and Cantemir’s departures, Ermitaj’s other projects, such as the vegetable garden, slowed down. Meanwhile, Rémy experimented with mushroom cultivation, and Coline worked full-time for another association.
In 2024, the year turned out to be very positive, with over 20 days of training, 15 days of camp-chantiers, and between 1 and 3 volunteers present continuously from mid-April to mid-August. The vegetable garden flourished, and participant satisfaction reached record levels. Coline and Rémy took the opportunity to attend training and networking events. They both embarked on their advanced permaculture diploma with the Belgian permaculture network, Permanant, and participated in the first Balkan Permaculture Meeting in Greece.
And tomorrow?
We see two possible paths ahead:
- We find new energy (people, projects, investors) and work to develop Ermitaj to its full potential. This would require significant material investment.
- We continue to live more or less peacefully and simply maintain the current state to limit the effects of time, organizing a few trainings during the warm season.