The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis is a micronation that consists of five small islands in West-Antarctica. This first sentence alone already surprises a lot of people and the claims look ridiculous for the majority, but is it?
A worldwide community
Flandrensis (official: vzw Groothertogdom Flandrensis) is a Belgian environmental non-profit organisation that focuses on climate change and unites people worldwide who are concerned about global warming. Flandrensis is committed to informing, raising awareness and mobilising citizens about climate problems and encourages them to implement climate-friendly and sustainable measures in everyday life.
An important field of attention is Antarctica. Flandrensis strives to mobilise government leaders worldwide to take strong climate action and to have the entire Antarctic – within the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty – recognised as an internationally protected nature reserve in order to protect and restore wildlife and flora.
To achieve this objective, Flandrensis uses the concept of a “micronation”. It means that the non-profit organisation has the characteristics of a “state”, but which as such is not recognised under international law. The concept of micronationalism is applied to draw attention to climate in a creative way and has no purpose in gaining territorial recognition from the international community. As part of the micronational concept, Flandrensis has developed cultural symbols and characteristics that help promote the cohesion of the organisation and the achievement of its objectives.
In addition, the micronation also aims to let young people and adults develop their talents in a creative way in areas of governance, media, artistic design, communication, etc. and to organize local (cultural and- or ecological) activities. The practical implementation of the micronation is described in an internal regulation, officialy known as the Flandrensian Constitution.
(Translation of the official bylaws)