The future of villages depends to a large extent on the commitment of their citizens and on how they work to preserve, shape and develop their villages, be it in the municipality, in clubs, associations, churches or businesses. The "Our village has a future" competition, which is held throughout Germany in successive competition rounds (from district to national level), offers participating villages the opportunity to show how they actively and proactively shape the structural, economic and cultural development of their living environment.
On 23.11.2024, the award ceremony took place in the Kreiskulturhaus in Seelow. Many stakeholders from the participating villages came together for the ceremony.
Gregor Beyer, alderman, head of department and head of the Office for Agriculture and the Environment, opened the ceremony with his speech and emphasized: "This competition is something special because it focuses on people's joint commitment to their community and shaping the future of rural areas. It activates local people, brings them together and gives them a common goal."
He also thanked the four sponsors:
- Sparkasse Märkisch-Oderland, represented by Mr. Beutler
- Lindhorst Group, represented by Mr. Hoffmann
- Agrargenossenschaft ODEGA Groß Neuendorf eG, represented by Mr. Krumsiek
- the Landhandel Alt Zeschdorf GmbH
Hans-Günter Müller, Rural Development Officer, then took the visitors on a review of the previous visits to the villages in September. He also explained that this year there would be no ranking of the competition participants and that future villages would be declared instead. This meant that all participants could receive equal recognition.
After the presentation, Gregor Beyer, together with Christin Schütz, Agricultural Development Coordinator, presented the prizes for the future villages of Ortwig, Reichenberg, Werbig and Zechin. The four future villages were each awarded prize money of €1,500.
Dolgelin emerged as the winner of the competition and received prize money of €3,000. Dolgelin will therefore represent the district of Märkisch-Oderland at the 12th state competition next year.