Ecovillage Sieben Linden
The ecovillage Sieben Linden is a socio-ecological model settlement and community in the Altmark municipality of Beetzendorf ( Saxony-Anhalt ). It sees itself as a model and research project for a future-oriented way of life in which work and leisure, economy and ecology, individual and community, cosmopolitan and village culture find a balance in small circles of life. The ecovillage is also part of a worldwide network of ecovillages, the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN).
history
At the end of the 1980s, the brochure Self-Sufficiency as Self-Determination described the vision of a car-free settlement in which people again have time and interest for one another and live in harmony with one another and with nature. The idea of a self-sufficient, ecological village was further developed in 1989 in Heidelberg by people from the circle of the ÖKODORF-Informations magazine . The first interested parties were found and looked for other interested parties via newspaper advertisements.
In the same year the first meetings to found an ecological village took place. From this the Freundeskreis Ökodorf e. V. with around 270 members throughout Germany today. From 1992, attempts were made to implement the concept of an “eco-village”. The former village of Stresow was selected as a possible location . It had been torn down during the GDR era because it was too close to the border. The mayor of the community on whose boundaries the site was located was very interested in resettlement. The responsible regional council was also ready to issue the necessary approval so that the construction project seemed feasible. Ultimately, however, the project failed, among other things because of the refusal of the owners to sell the land.
In 1993, a provisional project center for preparation and village planning was set up on a former farm in what was then the municipality of Groß Chüden near Salzwedel in Saxony-Anhalt. Soon a growing number of eco-villagers were living together there, who had previously been scattered across Germany as initiators and supporters of the project. However, initially only a small group moved to the project center or in its vicinity, while the majority of those interested remained involved in everyday life at home.
In 1997, the new and final project location was found , again a former farm area: On the Bronsberg pieces, about one and a half kilometers from the center of the village of Poppau , which is now part of the municipality of Beetzendorf . Since spring 1997 the ecovillage Sieben Linden has been built there on a piece of land that is now 81.5 hectares .
The filmmaker Michael Würfel spent four months in Sieben Linden and during this time produced an extensive film documentary about life in this community. Since September 2007 he has also lived in Sieben Linden. Another film was produced by Andi Stiglmayr . It's about the movie People, Dreams, Deeds. The protagonists do not perceive this film as a realistic representation of Seven Linden and emphasize that statements in this film have been cut together to change the meaning.
Infrastructure
The former courtyard was not connected to the public sewer system . The decision was quickly made to use this as part of the ecological project and consistently self-developed composting toilets with urine separation were used right from the start . The fake compost is not used in vegetable cultivation, i.e. not integrated into food production.
In 1999 an important part of the infrastructure (energy, paths, plant -based sewage treatment plant for the gray water , fire-extinguishing bathing biotope pond) was created and the old farm was rebuilt according to ecological criteria. It now serves as a regional center, seminar and guest house as well as a meeting point for the community and also houses the offices, a food co-op , a jewelry shop and a common room . An amphitheater offers space for outdoor cultural festivals. The first residential buildings were built in 2000. These low-energy houses offer living space for around 20 people in families and shared apartments .
Since then, the houses have essentially been built using straw bale construction. In 2004, the first house with straw bales as an approved building material, a two-storey straw bale dwelling house was completed. This house was built entirely by hand using only regional building materials such as round wood, straw , clay and other ecological building and recycling materials . In 2005, the construction of a three-storey house in a plastered straw bale stand construction was completed. It is the first of this size in Europe and offers living space for around 20 people (three shared apartments and two apartments on around 500 m² of living space). It was funded by the Regions Active Program . Settlers who do not yet have a place in a residential building live in construction trailers. In 2003 the wood workshop was built, which also includes a self-help workshop. Since then, various other houses have been built using straw bale construction. There are now nine large (150 m² - 500 m²) and several smaller straw bale houses in Sieben Linden.
The residents build their houses with their own building organization, but must adhere to the standards set by the Ökodorf eG settlement cooperative as the landowner. For example, only building materials that are safe for health and the environment may be used. Energy that is used for space heating and for the production of hot water may only be obtained from renewable energy sources . Real estate should always be owned by a legal person who is part of the project. Private ownership of real estate is avoided in order to avoid the long-term difficulties that can result from sale or inheritance.
In the meantime, several businesses have also been set up in Sieben Linden: the wood workshop , the eurotopia directory , jewelry & stone , Uga's fruit tree nursery , community advice and cooperative horses .
The eco-village is a dead-end road connected to the original village Poppau.
Resident structure
In 2019, about 145 people lived in Sieben Linden, including about 40 children. Around every sixth resident came from one of the eastern German states . The oldest resident is 80 years old, the youngest less than a year. In the nearby village of Poppau, a larger farm was bought in which around 15 people belonging to the community live.
organization
In 1991 the non-profit Freundeskreis Ökodorf e. V. formed. A circular, which appears every six months, informs the nationwide around 320 members and interested parties about the current status of the project. Further concerns of the association are public relations work , the networking of similar projects and the commitment to sustainable regional development in the Altmark. Together with the Paritätisches Bildungswerk , he also conducts around 80 seminars a year.
The common goals of the settlers are organizationally summarized by the settlement cooperative Ökodorf eG , founded in 1993 , which functions as the highest self-administration unit in the village and as the landowner. In 1996 and 2000, the German Federal Environment Foundation and the German Institute for Urbanistics awarded the settlement cooperative Ökodorf eG the first major public recognition, the Tatorte prize "for the development and implementation of a socio-ecological model settlement in rural areas."
All adult residents of Sieben Linden are members of this cooperative and pay around 130 euros per month for water, electricity, firewood and the use of the common rooms. In 2019 the cooperative had a good 90 members. They are committed to the development of the project with their own money and work. The SiebenLinden eG housing cooperative also exists to organize housing construction . Sieben Linden eG is the owner of most of the houses in the eco-village.
The “ Free School Altmark” was founded as a state-recognized substitute school with an attached day-care center as a result of the eco-village initiative . It is located in Depekolk , 25 kilometers from Sieben Linden. Since June 2002 the Freie Schule Altmark e. V. a forest kindergarten in Sieben Linden for the children of the village and the surrounding area.
everyday life
Supply and Disposal
Vegetables are grown in the residents' gardens. Fruit is harvested from the trees on the grounds of the ecovillage or in the neighboring avenues. Up to now, however, both of these have to be bought additionally, since in-house production only accounts for around 70% of consumption. There is a natural food shop in the village .
Within Sieben Linden, the food in public kitchens or places is exclusively vegetarian , the lunch is mostly vegan . There is a central kitchen that supplies most of the residents. Meat is sometimes also consumed in private kitchens. Three horses are used to work in the nearby forest. Animals are not slaughtered either inside or outside the village, i.e. on behalf of Sieben Linden.
The heating is done by wood. The residential buildings are centrally supplied by a modern wood gas stove. The construction trailers in which some residents live have their own ovens. The firewood is felled in one's own nearby forest or bought. The water heating is supported by solar energy from a thermal solar system .
Gray water is biologically cleaned in the plant-based sewage treatment plant .
decision making
The political structure of the village is based on grassroots democracy . The motto of the first ecovillage concept was as follows: "We are looking for people who want to develop their individuality in the community, that is, look for their own area of responsibility within which they can decide, shape, develop and realize themselves."
The decision-making structures of the ecovillage were repeatedly adapted to the needs of the growing community. A so-called “council system” has existed since 2008: Most decisions can be made by one of the seven “councils” that are responsible for essential areas of community development. There are councils with the headings:
- Food: Everything that has to do with food production, storage, stock keeping, assortment, etc.
- Building: Assess all technical questions about building and settlement planning, the financial considerations are made by the respective boards of the organizations.
- Social: Pay attention to the social elements of living together, crisis intervention, impulses for the development of community life, preparation of intensive periods.
- Settlement cooperative (corresponds to the management board and supervisory board of the Ökodorf eG settlement cooperative): Take care of community infrastructure, self-sufficiency and all financial decisions that affect the Ökodorf eG settlement cooperative.
- Freundeskreis (corresponds to the board of the Freundeskreis Ökodorf eV): Take care of all matters relating to the Freundeskreis Ökodorf e. V., in particular educational operations, cultural events, networking, public relations etc.
- Arrive: deals with all issues related to community growth and new people.
- Housing cooperative: deals with all questions relating to housing construction and housing management for the 8 houses of the housing cooperative.
There are about five people on each council, elected by the community for this task. Care is taken to ensure that the councils are staffed in such a way that they are trusted to “think for the community”. Councilors and all small groups are required to make decisions by consensus. An individual can no longer "veto" decisions made by councils, but they can be challenged with 20% of the Seven Linden votes.
In the monthly plenary meeting, space is given in particular to social issues. In addition, issues are discussed and decided which are not clearly located between the councils or which include “important, irreversible decisions”, such as the construction and financing of houses.
The following voting options are available at the General Assembly: 'Yes', 'No', 'Abstention' and ' Veto '. An application is only considered accepted if there is no veto and at least two thirds of the votes are in favor. This gives everyone the opportunity to block decisions in the form of a veto. However, the motion can be discussed again at another plenary meeting and the veto can be overruled, so that a permanent blockade is not possible.
Social
Almost all residents live and work in the village. They work as craftsmen , gardeners , in self-sufficiency , as employees of the Freundeskreis Ökodorf e. V. in the areas of education (funded by the Paritätisches Bildungswerk ), culture and public relations, as kindergarten teachers, freelancers , in health professions, as seminar leaders, artists and so on. Individual residents also live on unemployment benefits or pensions . In addition, the villagers are required to do some of the reproductive work within the village on a voluntary basis. This includes, in particular, household services for the communal areas. Most residents also volunteer for certain areas of ecovillage development and internal self-administration. In addition, FÖJ positions, European voluntary service and federal voluntary service positions have been offered and filled in the ecovillage for some time .
With Die Bahn stays e. V. and No turkey fattening e. V. , as well as the “Beetzendorf Energy Turnaround”, three citizens' initiatives were formed. The [BürgerEnergieAltmark eG] emerged from the energy transition in Beetzendorf and operates a citizen solar system.
Community life is also expressed in regular meetings of all kinds, in which only part of the community takes part. There are many offers, nothing is “mandatory”. This includes informal “pub” evenings, themed evenings, yoga and meditation offers, joint festivals and so-called forums, which serve to ensure that each other is as comprehensively as possible. Encouragement and criticism are exchanged there and attempts are made to discuss conflicts and resolve them as playfully and constructively as possible.
Culture
There are numerous cultural events such as theater , choir , music performances, lectures, meditations and festivals. On Saturday evenings, people dance to modern light music in the village's own dance room . There is also an exchange with people from the region and contacts with other communities and non-governmental organizations .
There are friendly contacts to other ecologically oriented communities such as Schloss Tempelhof , Lebensgut Lübnitz and the ZEGG .
Web links
- Website
- Documentary film by Michael Würfel
- Documentation by Andreas Stiglmayr
- Family photo of the ecovillage ( Memento from November 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://gen.ecovillage.org/
- ↑ http://www.siebenlinden.de/index.php?id=58
- ↑ http://siebenlinden.org/de/?s=toilette
- ↑ http://www.zegg.de/index.php?forum
Coordinates: 52 ° 41 ′ 22.3 " N , 11 ° 8 ′ 38.2" E