Directory of Eco-villages in Europe - Kennedy Bibliothek

OkoDorf Initiative Osnabriick
The project was started by the secondary school teacher Ebba Ehrnsberger
and a group of five people, including the architect Rolf Brinkmann
and the engineer Aloys Graw, in the fall of 1993. The goal was to
build an eco-village in or close to Osnabriick (north Germany). About
50 persons responded to newspaper advertisement. From this core group,
a working committee was formed having the task of setting up a detailed
brief for an ecological community. An energy concept was worked
out by Energy Graw, a concept for waste disposal by AWA and a water
and decentralised sewage proposal by Cyclos. We are
still discussing the urban design,
the landscape planning and the
"social" concept, but we know
we want acceptance of senior
citizens, the handicapped and
foreigners and the physical integration
of offices, practices,
shops and a cafe.
An association of interested people
was founded in 1997, obtaining
non-profit status in 1998. The
legal form for the implemen-
^ tation of the project will be
quite complicated because of
German law. A Genossenschaft
(i.e. a Co-operative)
will take over the building
and maintenance of the roads,
paths, squares, and infrastructure
like gas, water and sewage
as well as the community building.
The site plan avoids sub-division
but dictates large building
"windows", as we are calling
them. The large plots can be
85
Germany
Osnabriick
eco-village
initiative