13 Netzwerk Flächensicherung
Founded in 2018/2019
Started as a coalition of seven initiatives, now an alliance of twelve civil society organisations across Germany.Core mission
To secure land for small-scale, organic, and regionally rooted farming by addressing the question of land ownership and removing land from speculation.Support for young and new farmers
The network facilitates access to farmland for new entrants into agriculture, providing a basis for long-term farming perspectives.Land protection through acquisition
Member organisations collectively acquire agricultural land to preserve it for sustainable farming and protect it from agri-industrial and speculative uses.Diverse membership
Includes organisations such as Bündnis Junge Landwirtschaft, Kulturland eG, Regionalwert AG, and NABU, representing farming, regional food economies, and nature conservation.Public platform
The network runs the zugangzuland.de platform to connect landowners with sustainable farming initiatives and raise awareness of land access challenges.Policy engagement
The network contributes to policy discussions, publishes position papers, and supports campaigns to reform land laws for fairer access and against speculative ownership structures.
History and Mission
The Netzwerk Flächensicherung (Land Conservation Network) was founded in 2019 as a platoform for experience exchange between access to land initiatives. There was a shared concern among grassroots organisations, farmer alliances, and civil society actors about the erosion of access to land for small-scale, organic, and community-based agriculture in Germany.
The network brings together diverse member organisations that work at the intersection of land access, ecological farming, food sovereignty, and democratic land governance. Its members include initiatives that acquire land collectively, support young farmers, promote regional value chains, and engage in nature conservation.
At the core of the network’s mission is the conviction that land should serve the common good. By focusing on the question of land ownership and promoting cooperative and non-speculative land use models, the network seeks to preserve farmland permanently for ecological and socially just farming.
Through political advocacy, knowledge exchange, and public outreach, the Netzwerk Flächensicherung works to:
Secure agricultural land for future generations,
Strengthen collaboration among land-saving initiatives,
Raise awareness about land as a public issue,
Influence land policy and regulation at the state and federal level,
Bridge the gap between urban and rural land movements.
The network sees land as a foundational issue of social and ecological transformation – and works to ensure that those who cultivate land in the interest of people and ecosystems can access and protect it.
The Netzwerk Flächensicherung is a registered charitable association (gemeinnütziger eingetragener Verein) under German law. Its non-profit status reflects its mission to serve the common good by promoting fair and sustainable access to land for ecological and community-oriented agriculture.
The general assembly elects the board which consists of three members. Currently these are Timo Kaphengst, Stephanie Wild and Hannes Gerlof.
Activities
The Netzwerk Flächensicherung is active in advocacy, networking, and knowledge exchange at both national and European levels. As part of a European Erasmus+ project, the network has worked to strengthen advocacy efforts for fair land access across different countries. It also contributed to the research and dialogue process of the KOPOS project (Kooperation und Commons), which explored cooperative approaches to regional food systems and land governance.
Currently, the network is developing new formats for cross-sector collaboration through the Heidehof-funded “Brückenland” project, which aims to build bridges between urban housing and land movements and rural agricultural actors. These activities reflect the network’s commitment to connecting civil society, science, and policy to shape land access systems that serve ecological and social needs.
Results So Far
Since its founding, the Netzwerk Flächensicherung has successfully brought together a broad alliance of organisations working to secure land for sustainable farming in Germany. It has helped raise public and political awareness about the importance of land ownership structures, contributed to policy debates on land regulation, and supported collaboration across different sectors.
Key results include:
Stronger collaboration between land initiatives through intervision groups and shared advocacy efforts.
Co-organisation of the “Stadt-Land-Boden” workshop in 2023, bringing together actors from science, activism, planning, and agriculture – resulting in a joint publication on integrated land policy to be launched in 2025.
Joint political interventions, and counseling of land policy initiatives
Contribution to European exchange through participation in the Erasmus+ and taking part in different working groups of the access to land network.
Development of practical tools and materials for bridging urban and rural land struggles, such as policy guides and strategy papers under the Brückenland project.
Visit www.zuganzugland.de for further infos in german!
