New living and working in the countryside

It’s not every day that the organisers of the lecture series from the Faculty of Society and Economics at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) see a seminar room filled to capacity as part of the Mittwochsakademie.

And the visitors were not left disappointed. Following an invitation from our project, Frederik Fischer, Managing Director of Neulandia UG from Berlin, gave an inspiring and engaging lecture on communal forms of living and new alliances for the common good before taking plenty of time to answer questions from the audience.

The KoDorf

Inspired by the garden city movement that emerged in Great Britain at the beginning of the 20th century, Neulandia, which describes itself as ‘equal parts social enterprise, movement and network’, is planning so-called KoDörfer in rural areas. Two are currently being planned or built: in Wiesenburg, Brandenburg and in Erndtebrück, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Organised as cooperatives, they are intended to combine the best of town and country. Preferably located on industrial wasteland that is being converted for this purpose, small, ecologically built wooden modular houses with a maximum living space of 80m² will be constructed. Where possible, existing buildings, such as a former sawmill in the case of Wiesenburg, will be used for the large communal areas. According to Frederik Fischer, this makes the most sense from an ecological point of view, as the consumption of resources can be reduced. The land will be acquired by the co-operative on a leasehold basis.

Frederik Fischer emphasised that the KoDörfer are not intended as so-called ‘gated communities’, i.e. residential complexes separated from the outside world, but are open to everyone from the region.

He also expressed his honest opinion about the financial aspects: A first-generation co-operative, such as the one that must be founded to build a KoDorf, must finance everything from which later generations will benefit. At least 30 per cent of the respective house costs are acquired by the members as usage-related cooperative shares. The lifelong right of residence is inheritable. Shares can also be resold in order to withdraw.

For people interested in living in the countryside with like-minded people on a trial basis, Neulandia offers the Summer of Pioneers.

The Summer of Pioneers

According to Frederik Fischer, one reason why many people shy away from moving from the city to the countryside is the fear of social isolation. The Summer of Pioneers brings like-minded people together for a fixed period of time. Neulandia puts together a so-called all-inclusive service package, which includes a small monthly rent for accommodation and a free space in the coworking space. The service in return: supporting the host community on a voluntary basis in creating an environment worth living in and contributing individual skills. Over the past few years, the so-called pioneers have managed to awaken civic engagement from its slumber with their projects in several municipalities in Germany and in Lichtensteig in Switzerland.

Relevant book recommendations

Three very different books that contribute to the topics discussed were recommended to the audience by Frederik Fischer. And we don’t want to withhold these recommendations from you either:

• ‘Resonance – A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World’ by Hartmut Rosa
• ‘Imagined Communities’ by Benedict Anderson
• ‘Capitalism without Democracy’ by Quinn Slobodian.

New life and work on the Lower Rhine

We here in the Lower Rhine region are now keen to see how the EcoParkKleve initiative, winner of the second Klever Birne 2024 sustainability award, will progress in the coming months. Quite a few of the members who are planning life for the common good in a small residential park listened attentively to Frederik Fischer’s presentation and perhaps picked up one or two ideas.

They also heard recommendations from Frederik Fischer, such as using standardised forms of housing to keep construction costs low or only opening up the group to interested parties once planning permission has been obtained, for example. This is because the larger the group grows, the greater the need for communication.