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Enlargement of the supporting community e.V.
The supporting community of the municipality of Schafwinkel provided an exemplary leading presentation for the renewal of their village in the region Lintelner Geest.
Here, two former estates were converted into social projects supporting and caring for the disabled. This institution offers within the framework of the concept " holidays for and with the disabled", day care and consultation also for the guests in the region. The renewal and the enlargement of the institution continued consistently during the last years. The life and work conditions, also for guests, were improved in the institution with the conversion of the studio and garden centre as well as the extension of the living areas.
School for herbal medicine in Schafwinkel
The popularity of the region for creative and committed people and projects is also reflected in the foundation of the school for herbal medicine in Verden. A Diplom-biologist took over an old farm, partly renewed and converted the building superstructure, added a house and also created an educational herbal garden. Here courses and seminars take place, you can learn about the cultivation of herbal plants and you can also participate in walks through the herbal garden. This creation is unique for the North of Germany and it adds to the enrichment of the village-region Lintelner Geest.
Estate coffee shop and the court yard theatre Bendingbostel
It was a success, against the usual trend, maintaining at least a few village restaurants during the time of the village renewal Lintelner Geest. The construction of an estate coffee shop in Bendingbostel provided an enhancement of the culinary facilities. The coffee shop, which opens in the afternoon, is located in an ideal place within the estate where already a few holiday apartments were upgraded. The husband of the owner is an artist and director at the theatre in Bremen. He organises literary and theatre performances on a homemade stage and in the yard. In total the offers complement each other and contribute to the diversity of the activities in the village region.
Expansion of the tourism activities in the community
The village renewal in the Lintelner Geest commenced at the beginning of the nineties with the aim to create additional sources of income through the development of tourism with the motto of "soft relaxation" in an area dedicated to agricultural structural change. This change was achieved through the utilisation of regional potentials with the active participation of the local population; these efforts provided the main foundation for the European Village Renewal Award in 2000. At the same time the award for the project created a development boost, which encompassed the complete community of Kirchlinteln.
The success of the project provided the occasion for the expansion of the tourism activities far beyond the initial planning position and for the new definition of the community policy. In the year 2001 the tourism association Kirchlinteln was founded. By now approximately 22 person and companies are member of the association, which manages the coordination of offers and the brokerage of holiday guests. Amongst other activities the association issued in close liaison with the community following publications:
Image brochure Kirchlinteln and performance calendar
Leaflet and brochure " Holidays for and with the disabled"
Commentaries on the Internet page www.kirchlinteln.de
Furthermore the association represents, partly in close cooperation with the district of Verden, the community and the complete region on fairs and exhibitions. In recognition of the concepts and achievements the concept "Holidays for and with the disabled" received an award on the CMT-tourism fair Stuttgart in the year 2002 and the community Kirchlinteln was honoured by the horse riding association Bremen/ Lower Saxony for the horse friendly engagement.
Due to these activities many further projects were initiated in the community and they became finally a reality.
Exemplary some of these projects are listed here:
Information - office of the tourism association
Already in the middle of the nineties there was an attempt to bundle the first tourism related approaches of the Lintelner Geest within the so called tourism exchange. In the meantime the foundation of the tourism association created a strong organisational framework. The establishment of an information office at a central position in the town of Kirchlinteln was of paramount importance for the external visibility. Here you have a first contact point for visitors of the community at their disposal. The guests of the region can receive up to date information and advice concerning general issues in the community up to touristic aspects like accommodation offers, excursion destinations etc.
Expansion of holiday apartments
Already during the period of the village renewal the development of holiday apartments in a rural environment was the start point for securing additional income in the region.
The renwal and the reutilisation of former acricultural buildings was of particular importance. These approaches were taken up by the entire community surely due to the economic successes.
There are a number of further newly built holiday apartments within the localities which participated in the promotion program. Remarkable is the fact that some owners of these holiday apartments designed their facilities in a special way for the needs and requirements within the tourism concept " Holidays for and with the disabled".
Conversion of a caretaker apartment into day care facilities
Within the framework of the village renewal Lintelner Geest the concept of " Holidays for and with the disabled" was develop as a niche segment. It reflects a combination of barrier-free accommodation and special offers for day care and leisure time organisation for the mental and physical challenged people. Until now the facilities of the supporting community of Schafwinkel remained at the disposal for the care services.
Using this concept the community renovated and converted the former caretaker apartment of the school centre Kirchlinteln with the support from the ETLR-program (Development of typical landscapes and countryside). The facilities were refurbished for the education and outpatient care for the disabled as well as for the relief services of the association Lebenshilfe (life support) in the district of Verden e.V. These facilities can be also utilised as supplemental offers for day care guests in the region.
In total one can summarise that the economical factor tourism in the community of Kirchlinteln achieved a new meaning. Not only the relevant people like the hosts benefit from the specified projects but also further economic sectors like the local craft industry.
Finally one can conclude that the rural area gained an increased quality within the awareness of the people. The village was and is being rediscovered as a natural habitat. This fact is supported by many cases where families remained part of the village or return into the region. The conversion and reutilisation of former buildings contributes excellently to the village renewal creating contemporary solutions.
However this all functions only due to the fact that the economical living conditions in this rural environment could be improved. Especially in view of the development of the land based tourism we succeeded due to the realisation of public infrastructure measures (e.g. nature and culture paths) in creating incentives for private investments. Reversely the strengthening of the tourism development was well received and reinvigorated the social and cultural life within the community.
A few examples demonstrate that this process is still on-going in Kichlinteln. These projects unfold a continuing impact connection with the, in the meantime, old established tradition of the village renewal:
Renewal of the former dairy plant in Schafwinkel
Extension of the children care home Michaelshof
Reutilisation of an old farmhouse into a Geest museum by the local association Kirchlinteln e.V.
Finally it remains to conclude that the village renewal project in the village region of Lintelner Geest succeeded in creating a positive contribution to the development of quality life conditions in the countryside thereby also promoting positive regional economic effects. The planning region could maintain their attractiveness and develop new ones. This was due to the fact of a rediscovery of their regional potentials and their autonomy being the basis for the positive development. It should be particularly mentioned that the experiences and successes of this project stimulated the development of the complete community Kirchlinteln and it serves as an impulse and trend setter for many regional countryside development projects in the district of Lower Saxony.
The award of the European village renewal in 2000 supported this development process. The success awareness regarding these achievements was lastingly strengthened. The new acceptance of the village renewal to the inside and the gain in prestige to the outside open new opportunities and chances and offer very good preconditions for a positive rural development in Kirchlinteln.
For the community Kirchlinteln
Hanover, the 27th May 2003
Planning team urban landscape
(Georg Böttner)