Future-Oriented Land Use Fund

Against the backdrop of climate and biodiversity crises, structural change, digitalisation and changing societal expectations, the pressure for change is increasing on various forms of land use, on agricultural and food systems as well as on forests and protected areas. One thing is clear: business as usual is not an option in many cases. The question is how change can be shaped.

Starting from the premise that the necessary transformation is a societal task, questions arise about a more sustainable and climate-friendly agriculture and forestry that is in harmony with nature and climate protection goals, as well as about greater food sovereignty, the future of rural areas, of cultural landscapes and of areas that are not subject to production. These go hand in hand with democratic processes of searching for ways to organise future-oriented land use in a more adequate and equitable manner.

The aim of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation F.V.S.'s Future-Oriented Land Use Fund is to promote and support initiatives, projects, and individuals whose work addresses the concerns, questions and conflicting goals of future-oriented land use in the sense outlined above. The funding is intended to contribute to promoting change in the direction of future-oriented land use and to enriching the societal debate on this issue. Key requirements for funding are non-profit status, the transformative potential or the desired multiplier effect of the project, and the linking of ecological and social aspects.

Possible areas of funding are, for example:

• Innovative networking, qualification, and educational offers on issues of future-oriented land use in the sense of transformative learning.

• Practical testing of future-oriented (ecological and social) methods and approaches in agriculture, forestry, and nature conservation, combined with active dissemination of the results (peer learning, public relations, and educational work).

• Collaborative research on issues of societal change or socio-ecological sustainability in land use (citizen science, small-scale transdisciplinary projects, projects with explicit involvement of societal actors in the implementation of scientific results; NOT eligible for funding: pure research projects, literature studies, book projects, etc.).

• Civil society engagement or organisation of processes for more sustainable agricultural and food systems or in nature conservation; projects that deal with the societal position of land use and nature conservation and advocate for a democratic shaping of the discourse.

Initiatives, projects, and individuals with a practical, political, societal, scientific, or artistic orientation and a recognisable connection to the concerns, questions and conflicting goals of future-oriented land use in the sense outlined above.

Applicants must be able to prove that they have non-profit status or cooperate with an institution/organisation that has this status. Eligible for funding are also projects in the field of education and science that serve the above-mentioned objectives.

The focus of funding is on (Northern) Germany; in individual cases, projects in other European countries or beyond may also be funded.

To help initiate innovative projects or to enable the scaling, reorientation or transfer of projects, the Toepfer Foundation, within the scope of its possibilities, offers financial (partial) support for projects of up to 5,000 euros. The financial support is usually limited to a one-time grant.

Funding is available for, e.g.

• Remunerations, e.g. for speakers or researchers

• Costs of materials, e.g. handouts for educational or public relations purposes, seeds or small equipment (if these become the property of a non-profit organisation)

• Costs for room rental, rented equipment, catering, etc.

• Travel costs

As a rule, the following are excluded from funding

• Institutional or recurring funding

• Costs for existing infrastructure

• Pure printing cost subsidies for books, especially dissertations / scientific papers

Please use the following template of a cost and financing plan for your funding application.

In the following document you will find information on the background, objectives and funding areas of the fund, on its target groups, the amount of funding, the eligible items as well as on how to apply for funding.

Here you can download the information on the funding fund (opens in new window).