Camping Zeeburg
This steward owned city campsite is a green oasis for Amsterdammers, travellers and all living things. A place where staying here is not separate from the surroundings, but contributes to them.
What does this look like in practice?
Camping Zeeburg is a green urban campsite in Amsterdam where nature, culture, and community come together. Since 1974, the campsite has evolved alongside the city while preserving its open and free-spirited character and maintaining a strong focus on sustainability.
As a steward-owned organization, the campsite is held within a foundation with social missions. There is no large corporation or group of shareholders involved, which means that value creation is not primarily financial, but focused on long-term impact for the place, the city, and its residents.
A stay at the campsite contributes to nature development, social connection, and the strengthening of local culture. The campsite functions as a meeting place where different worlds come together.
What makes this regenerative?
• Working with nature
The campsite actively develops a nature-inclusive environment where biodiversity is strengthened and space is created for ecological restoration, located on Zeeburgereiland in the heart of the city.
• Long-term stewardship
Decisions are made with a focus on continuity and responsibility for future generations, rather than short-term financial returns.
• Local stories & cultural continuity
Camping Zeeburg builds on the identity of the place and creates space for encounters, collaboration, and social cohesion between residents, guests, and local initiatives.
• Reciprocity as a guiding principle
Visitors are not passersby, but contribute—directly or indirectly—to the place and its ongoing development.
What changes does this bring to the place?
Zeeburgereiland is developing rapidly and becoming increasingly urbanized. Within this dynamic, Camping Zeeburg remains an open, green, and accessible space.
The campsite functions as an anchor point where there is room for rest, nature, encounters, and alternative values such as freedom and a sense of community. In doing so, it provides a counterbalance within an increasingly dense city.
Where are the tensions, frictions, or ongoing challenges?
The campsite is at the beginning of a new phase as a foundation with a social mission. This brings both questions and ambitions.
There is an active search for ways to:
• strengthen collaboration with neighborhood initiatives and the city
• create more employment opportunities for people with a distance to the labor market
• further develop the site as a climate-adaptive and nature-inclusive environment
At the same time, there is an ongoing challenge in embedding these social objectives into the daily practice of running a campsite—not as an add-on, but as an integral part of core operations—without compromising a healthy and stable business model.
There is also a broader question: how can these ambitions be realized while staying true to the campsite’s free-spirited character and original DNA?
Additionally, there is the ambition to actively share knowledge and experiences with other entrepreneurs and the surrounding community, so that the impact extends beyond the campsite itself.
What does this initiative show about regenerative tourism?
Camping Zeeburg demonstrates that regenerative tourism does not start with a fixed model, but with a way of thinking and acting.
New ownership models such as Steward-Ownership create space to make different choices, but the direction is ultimately shaped by the values and intentions of the people who take responsibility.
At the same time, this place shows that regenerative tourism is not a final state, but a continuous process that evolves alongside its environment and over time.
Essence in one sentence
Regenerative tourism at Camping Zeeburg means that every decision contributes to strengthening nature, community, and place—so that the campsite not only exists within the city, but actively helps improve the city and its surroundings.
