Our Coordinator
WWOOF Coordinators offer support to both volunteers and hosts before, during, and after the exchange. They may help resolve conflicts, provide advice on best practices, and ensure that all participants are aware of their rights and responsibilities.
Jandi – Coordinator
Initiator of the Non-Profit Association WWOOF Sweden 2004.
Father of three children. We keep ducks, and hens, and live in a village called Uddebo where there is a focus on doing things together such as growing vegetables.
Also works as a handicraft teacher and practices Capoeira.
“I’ve been WWOOFing most of my adult life both in Sweden and around Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia.”
The board of directors
In a non-profit association, the board is responsible for leading and managing the organisation’s operations according to the bylaws and the decisions made by the members. The board has several important roles and responsibilities that are crucial for the organisation to function effectively and achieve its goals.
The chairperson – leads the board’s work, calls and leads board meetings, and ensures that decisions are implemented.
Sebastiaan – Chairperson of the board since 2024
Bas and his wife started their self-sufficiency journey by WWOOFing back in 2020 in Skåne. Since then, they’ve found and bought a farm on the west-coast (Halland), where they grow vegetables for their own use, care for their chickens, and train horses to help them out with some of the heavy lifting/pulling.
Bas is a chemist by training, pianist by hobby, and boardmember by fate since 2024.
The secretary is responsible for taking minutes during meetings, handling correspondence, and preserving the organisation’s documents.
Gerhard – Secretary of the board
“I have been wwoof-host since 2022 and work on my farm mainly with forestry and vegetable growing. My goal is to develop a self-sufficient agriculture and to achieve ecological goals in all construction measures.”
Passionate about sustainability and self-sufficiency, moved from Austria to Sweden in 2018. With backgrounds in life-coaching and sustainable architecture, he and his wife Anna develop their homestead into a permaculture haven, welcoming WWOOFers worldwide.
The treasurer is responsible for the organisation’s finances, including managing income and expenses, preparing the budget, keeping financial records, and preparing financial reports.
Malin – Treasurer of the board
Malin runs a biodynamic vegetable garden together with her husband. Apart from growing vegetables, she also ferments some of the vegetables.
She grew up in Germany, and lived in Scotland for a while, where she practiced self-sufficiency and learned about gardening. She then returned to her Swedish roots together with her family, got training in organic gardening, and started the garden in 2007.
Directors of the board contribute to the board’s work by participating in discussions, making decisions, and taking responsibility for specific tasks or projects within the organisation. They also represent the members’ interests on the board.
Directors play an important role in broadening perspectives within the board and contributing different experiences and skills. This helps to create well-founded decisions and drive the organisation forward.
Each role on the board is important to ensure that the organisation runs smoothly and efficiently.
Together, these roles create a structured and responsible leadership that can move the organization forward toward its goals while maintaining transparency, fairness, and the trust of the members.
Aina Maj – Director of the board
Long term WWOOFer & flower grower and now also host on a farm on Gotland, Sweden.
Loves making biochar and has an ever growing fascination for effective microorganisms and their uses.
Milena – Director of the Board
Milena has just started hosting WWoofers in September 2024. She loves sharing her home and having people from different cultures around. Her small homestead is located in the middle of Skåne, with a forest, a vegetable garden, cats and lots of raw nature (as good as it gets in Skåne). Having moved from Berlin, she enjoys both the city life in Malmö and the peace and closeness to nature.
Her experience as a social entrepreneur and business consultant is a perfect addition to the board
Ylva – Director of the board
Ylva and her husband Jonas run Östängs Gård together. They bought the farm in 2014 and have since then developed a small scale permaculture farm focusing on vegetables, honey and appeljuice. On the farm you find ducks, chickens, sheep, bees and cats. Ylva and Jonas became wwoof-hosts in 2016. Before they started the farm they worked as teachers.
Lars-Göran – Deputy Board Member
Lars-Göran joined WWOOF in 2022 as a host. His farm is Skogsta, located in a truly rural landscape, not far from Västerås where he has a small scale vegetable garden and keeps a smaller number of pigs (an old Swedish breed – Linderödsgris – that grows more slowly than normal pigs and is more integrated in the ecological system).
Lars-Göran is invested in preserving the cultural heritage which is a part of the character of the farm and its large old garden. He has a background as a consultant in IT Management and Telecom Locally produced food is of great interest to him, as well as cultural and nature events.
Fun fact: Lars-Göran has his own podcast that our chair Bas finds very entertaining.
Nomination committee
Currently, our committee consists of two members, Magnus and Jandi. We warmly welcome both new and existing members to apply for a position on the board. If you’re interested in joining, please reach out to us at info@wwoof.se. You can attend a board meeting to see what we do, or simply apply during the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which usually takes place at the end of March each year.
- Nominations: Members are invited to nominate candidates for the board, either themselves or others some time before the annual meeting.
- Review and Presentation: The nomination committee, reviews candidates and presents their recommendations to the members prior to the vote.
- Voting: During the annual meeting, members vote on the candidates, and the elected members take on their roles, often starting at at the end of March.
Previous board members, Gallery of Legends!
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of you who has served as a board member for WWOOF Sweden. Your dedication, and leadership have been invaluable in guiding us through challenges and helping the association to live and thrive.
The time and energy you have invested in steering our organization have made a lasting impact, and we are deeply appreciative of your commitment. Your contributions have not only shaped our present but have also laid a strong foundation for our future.
Thank you for your unwavering support and for the positive difference you have made. We are truly grateful for everything you have done.
Former Chairperson
Lauren comes from the USA and moved to Sweden six years ago. She has a small farm where she grows a lot of food for the family, plus she has her own business and gives cooking lessons.
She is trained as a biologist and dietician and she loves meeting new WWOOFers.
Former board member
Christina lives on an ecological horse farm where we take people for rides in the forest.
“I have been working on a kibbutz in Israel and traveling to different countries for many years. Before I got pensioned I worked as a medical secretary and also in a Waldorf school.”
Former board member
Sylvia is living on a small property in a charming village in the beautiful countryside of Södermanland. She is now retired from her work at the Swedish Migration Board.
Former Board Member
Our beloved board member Stefan Hörberg sadly died from cancer on the 15th of May 2022, He lived close to Älmhult in the southwest of Småland on the beautiful farm Sagolika Höö. Jandi and Laura from the Swedish WWOOF association attended his funeral. The priest at the ceremony talked about his strong commitment to his farm and how he loved receiving WWOOFers from all over the world. He left us with a great loss. Stefan was a WWOOF hosts between 2013 and 2022.
He had loads of animals and grew vegetables and tried to harvest the things that grow on the island; apple raspberries, blackberries, and mushrooms. The farm consists of two larger islands in Lake Möckeln and has been owned by the family since 1845.
Stefan also worked as an It technician.
A link to his farm Fb page.