European sustainable development rural actor database


Ökologisch Wirtschaften! e.V. For an ecological economy!

Back to search

Generals Informations
Creation date: 30/11/1989
Structure type:
- NGO

Intervention type: Local

Employement number: 0

Main objective:

To promote an ecologically friendly development strategy on Pellworm Island



Coordinate
Country:
Allemagne
Adress:

Alte SchmiedeNordermitteldeich 55D-25849 PellwormGERMANY

Phone:
00 49 (0) 48 44 / 12 12
Fax:
00 49 (0) 48 44 / 259
Contact:
Oekologisch.Wirtschaften_ANTI_SPAM_@t-online.de
Web:
http://www.oeko-verein-pellworm.de/

Presentation

OW was founded in 1990 on Pellworm Island by a group of concerned farmers, business people, housewives, craftsmen, teachers, fishermen, and local doctors. “Okologisch Wirtschaften!” means “run the economy in an ecologically friendly way”, or to put it the other way round “let there be economic advantages from ecologically friendly working”.

With its 150 members, OW managed to work out a strategy for local development on the Island, on the basic concept that all economic (and social) sectors on the island are dependent on each other. This strategy aimed to demonstrate possibilities for halting the ongoing loss of population, and fighting the imminent death of the island by means of ecologically friendly development.

Pellworm is a north Frisian island. It is located in mudflats and protected by high dykes from the surrounding Wadden Sea National Park. Much of the surface area of 37 sq. km lies up to 1.0 m below sea level. Agriculture, tourism and service are the main economic sectors. Lately, there has been great structural change within agriculture and so most of the little farms have had to give up. Along with this, the demographic structure has changed. The number of inhabitants is decreasing – nowadays about 1,100 people live on the island, but the percentage of people over 60 years old is increasing in inverse proportion.

Themes activities

Promoting ecologically friendly agriculture, tourism and energy supply on Pellworm Island

Processing and refining local products in the island

Direct marketing of ecologically products

Turning geographic and economic disadvantage into ecological and economic advantage

Activities
  • Agriculture, environment and territory
  • Environmental education and citizenship

      • Agriculture, environment and territory
      Covered topics:
      Support farmers’ diversification
      Actions examples:

      Help 6 farmers to convert to organic production, producing vegetables, milk, crops and meat. They co-operated in the production of fodder and the joint care of livestock, in processing their produce, sharing machinery, and exchanging land, and they also founded a marketing co-operative to sell their products locallyThe “Wool-Connection” cooperative was established between an organic farm and an old spinning mill on the island of Hiiumaa, Estonia.  Ecologically produced wool from Pellworm was processed on Hiiumaa; the finished pullovers came back to Germany and were sold with the help of OW. 

      Europeans partnerships:

      Island of Hiiumaa, Estonia

      Environmental education and citizenship
      Covered topics:
      Education and training of professionals or local representatives
      Raising public opinion’s awareness
      Actions examples:

      Ecological bicycle tours for touristes, taking to organic farms and renewable energy plants (solar panels, photovoltaic plant, wind generators)Educational programme for ecological affairs, offered within the German Education - Programme for Employees.EXPO 2000 within the project “Dorf 2000” (Village 2000), in partnership with the county of Schleswig-Holstein. This was an experimental representation of the future of the countryside, with the emphasis on coastal protection, Nature protection, and sustainable energy supply in accordance with the renewable energy concept