Lårdal Treetop Cabins – Your Sustainable Holiday Paradise

We collaborate with the municipality to serve as a platform where individuals who, for various reasons, have fallen outside the school or work system can receive a meaningful daytime opportunity with us. This helps them fill gaps in their CVs, gain work experience, and obtain references.

“Be a Conscious Consumer”
Ask for information about the products you’re interested in. Buy food, clothing, and other goods from companies that are transparent about workers’ conditions and that respect fundamental human rights. In doing so, you help ensure fair wages for the workers who produce the items you purchase.

We aim to be a reference point for how it’s possible to take responsibility for some of your own food production. As a small local provider, we’ve already exchanged a lot of food within the community and contribute throughout the harvest season to help neighbors make the most of the resources available here. We're also committed to utilizing these resources as efficiently as possible, which is why we have soil factories using bokashi to promote better growth and larger yields, and we work extensively with food preservation.

“Waste Less Food”
You can help reduce food waste by planning your shopping so you don’t buy more than you need. Don’t rely solely on expiration dates—look, smell, and taste food and drink that’s past its date before throwing it away. “Best before” doesn’t mean bad after.

Through therapeutic retreats, healthy organic food, and courses in sustainable self-sufficiency, we aim to share knowledge that will improve health and quality of life.

“Choose Environmentally Conscious”
Many products contain harmful chemicals and substances that can be damaging to both you and the environment. Review the products you use at home and choose those that are eco-certified. Start discussions at your school or workplace and encourage them to make environmentally conscious choices.

By promoting gender equality for women and men, we help reduce disparities in society. At Lårdal Treetop Cabins, we are committed to maintaining gender balance among our owners. We also collaborate locally to support science education and hands-on learning as an alternative supplement to the traditional school day—a program that is open to everyone, regardless of gender, ethnic background, ability, or other special needs.

“Spread Knowledge In many countries, young girls are forced to leave school to get married. Highlight the issue—start a discussion about child marriage with the goal of finding solutions to the problem.”

Both Lårdal Treetop Cabins, the Tvigyva Smallholding, and Prøven Husky are co-owned by all genders and are committed to equal pay for all genders across all positions. Every person has equal value.

“Don’t Take Equality for Granted Stay aware. Demand that girls and boys, women and men, have the same rights in all situations—whether it’s on the football field, at school, at home, or during salary negotiations.”

We will inform and challenge our guests to use as little water as possible during their stay with us. The water tank will be small, and guests will be able to monitor their consumption throughout their entire stay.

“Only What Belongs in the Toilet, in the Toilet Waste like sanitary products, contact lenses, hazardous chemicals, and medications should never be flushed. Treatment plants can’t catch everything, and it pollutes our water, oceans, and beaches.”

We have built a service building with solar panels connected to Lårdal Treetop Cabins AS’s first treetop cabin, and we plan to create similar buildings for all our rental units. This includes the reuse of components such as batteries from old systems and electric vehicles. The building for the Elvehytta cabin is called “Solbui.” Here, you can learn about key principles of renewable energy. Guests will also have access to an overview of their electricity consumption.

“Drive Less Often, you can bike, take public transport, or walk to your destination. Many municipalities, especially larger cities, have good cycling infrastructure. If your municipality is poorly equipped for biking, you can suggest that it invest in this through the local council. If you do need to drive, choosing an electric car over a fossil-fueled one makes a difference.”

We are creating jobs for the future—open to everyone. Several of our positions will not require formal education, providing employment opportunities for young people and those who have not completed their schooling.

“Be a Conscious Consumer Choose food, clothing, and other goods from companies that are transparent about their workers' conditions, treat them well, and reject child labor. The Clean Clothes Campaign has a list of clothing brands committed to creating safe working conditions for textile workers. Open factory lists from clothing chains are essential for verifying whether their environmental and ethical efforts are credible. The organization Framtiden i våre hender (The Future in Our Hands) provides a list of companies that are transparent.”

We want our visitors to be able to use public transportation to get here. That’s why we offer car pickup for guests 6 km from the farm and treetop cabin. Furthermore, we are committed to helping improve healthcare services in the municipality and promoting a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

“Be a Conscious Consumer Support shops, entrepreneurs, and industries that consider social conditions, climate and environment, and a sustainable economy.”

We will share the farm’s resources to demonstrate how we can help reduce inequality. By offering experiences and services accessible to all target groups, we also help bridge the gap between rich and poor. Equality is one of our core values.

“Speak Up Speak up if you witness any form of discrimination or racism. If you notice friends or family saying or doing something hurtful to others, let them know it’s not okay. Everyone has equal worth—regardless of gender, ethnicity, skin color, orientation, abilities, or cultural and social background.”

We are committed to preserving nature as it is and ensuring access to it for everyone—including the elderly and people with reduced mobility. Safe spaces to be in and with nature, for all.

“Protect the Green Lungs Around You Do what you can to preserve green spaces in your local area. Be an advocate for insects and birds—defend parks, natural forests, wildflowers, and untouched nature. Natural vegetation and flowers are vital for the survival of bees and bumblebees.”

By staying with us, you will become more aware of your consumption of electricity, water, and food. By participating in selected courses and activities, you’ll gain knowledge on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

“Human Rights in Business Businesses have a huge ethical responsibility, and you as a consumer hold power to influence. Is the company you want to buy from investing in countries that commit serious human rights violations? Get involved in the fight to establish ethical guidelines in the business world. Learn more about sustainable trade from Ethical Trade Norway.”

By promoting a sustainable way of life and raising awareness around it, we hope to inspire change in people that contributes to stopping climate change. As humans, we need to reconnect with nature.

“Eat Sustainably By reducing meat consumption, we can lower emissions. According to The Future in Our Hands, the greenhouse gas emissions from producing 44 kg of beef are equivalent to those from producing 1,400 kg of dried beans. You can also cut emissions by only buying what you’ll actually eat. Today, we throw away an average of 20–50 percent of all the food we buy.”

We know well that plastic and other waste spread into the ocean. Since we are located right by the Telemark Canal—part of a direct waterway that leads to the coast—we place great emphasis on minimizing the use of plastics and other materials that could end up in the sea. We focus on proper waste sorting and regularly use the local recycling stations. Cleaning up litter along the Lårdal River is important to us. Catch your own fish or buy sustainably sourced seafood.

“Choose Sustainably Caught Seafood As a consumer, you can contribute to more sustainable fishing and aquaculture by making conscious choices when eating fish or shellfish. Whether you're at a restaurant or a shop, don’t forget to ask the staff if their seafood is produced and caught sustainably. You can also reduce your seafood consumption to help protect marine life.”

We use as much timber as possible from our own property, selecting trees that are ready for harvest or whose removal contributes positively to forest growth. For every tree we cut, we plant 100 new trees in the forests of Lårdal, in collaboration with local farmers and foresters. The Lårdal River has been “protected” from hydropower development due to its red-listed biodiversity—something we actively inform guests about and use as a real-world example of the balance between renewable energy and nature conservation. Combined with our work experience at Langedrag Nature Park—where we guide and share knowledge about Norway’s endangered species—this creates a holistic, exciting, and educational experience. Guests gain insight into sustainable ecosystems and forest management.

“Get Organized Transforming our society to become sustainable requires more than just changes in our personal habits and lifestyles—though those are important too. Broader societal changes are needed, and you can play a vital role in that transformation through political engagement, for example by joining a party or an organization working to protect nature and wildlife.”

The best, lasting solutions are usually the result of knowledge, collaboration, and purposeful organization. Be an active citizen! Join us in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals!

Landowner Karoline Risan’s social work, including her involvement in child welfare, contributes to stopping abuse, exploitation, human trafficking, and all forms of violence and torture against children here in Norway. Karoline and Magnus, with their smallholding and Lårdal Treetop Cabins, are seeking partnerships with various institutions that can use the cabin and farm—with their activities—as part of a treatment or rehabilitation program.

“Raise Your Voice Speak up if you witness any form of discrimination. Changing societal attitudes is key to eliminating racism, the mistreatment of women, and discrimination in general. Everyone is equally valuable—regardless of gender, ethnicity, skin color, orientation, cultural and social background, or physical abilities.”

We appeal for collaboration with civil society and consider ourselves a “partner in cooperation.” As a visitor, you contribute as a “civil participant” to improving what we offer, while also learning what actions you can take yourself.

“Join an Organization One of the best ways to truly make a difference is to become an active citizen and get organized with others. You can, for example, get involved in a nonprofit organization or a political party. Start with a cause you’re passionate about, then find out which organizations and people are working on it. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something!”

We aim to tell a story through our operations, while also offering guests the feeling of a relaxing getaway—close to and in harmony with both nature and themselves. Our business model actively contributes to increasing the appeal of exploring other parts of Telemark and helps present the region in a new light. The development and launch of Lårdal Treetop Cabins AS will enhance the landowner’s opportunities to expand the services mentioned above, while also providing other landowners and existing providers across the region with a stronger foundation for further development. We want to encourage greater collaboration across offerings and activities, thereby promoting social welfare and public health.

It’s important to emphasize that Småbruket Tvigyva and Lårdal Treetop Cabins are two distinct entities. The treetop cabin will provide accommodation and serve as a space for vocational training for users of Småbruket Tvigyva. Treetop cabins are in high demand, with many providers experiencing occupancy rates above 80%. For us, this means that with an innovative collaborative approach, we will reach key target groups that can significantly contribute to tourism in Western Telemark. The smallholding itself will operate as described above but will not focus primarily on accommodation. It is the synergy between the two enterprises that makes this a truly unique offering—both as a destination for farm tourism and as a service for users of green care programs.