These are our nominees!
The application period for our BIObegeistert 2025 grant program has now closed, and we’re excited to present all 28 projects! Each of these projects showcases its ideas and commitment to organic farming, quality, and responsible practices. Now it’s up to you to decide which project deserves your vote. The project with the most votes will receive a grant of up to €5,000 from Byodo! Second place will be awarded €3,000, and third place will receive €2,000.
Discover these inspiring ideas and use your vote to make an important contribution to responsible action.
Nominated projects:
Free School Unterneukirchen
Project: Eat, enjoy and grow consciously
The Freie Schule Unterneukirchen is a young school still in the process of being established, with a focus on collaborative learning and individualized support. In addition to traditional academic content, the school places great emphasis on responsibility and environmental awareness—both in the classroom and in daily interactions. Through the project “Eat Consciously, Enjoy, and Grow,” the school aims to help children experience the connections between nutrition, nature, and health firsthand. In this process, students explore food in several stages—from cultivation to preparation. They learn how vegetables grow, the importance of regional and organic products, and how to turn them into healthy, delicious meals. Together, they garden, cook, and eat. This fosters an awareness of how closely our food is connected to the environment, climate, and well-being. The funding is specifically allocated to finance field trips to farms, print a cookbook designed by the children, procure organic ingredients for hands-on activities, and improve the school garden’s facilities. Funding for a greenhouse, gardening equipment, and building materials for additional garden beds will strengthen the hands-on learning environment. The goal is not only to impart knowledge but also to foster a lasting interest in mindful eating and to promote practical skills.
Training association Rhöner Lebensmittel e.V.
Project: Cooking WG in all-day care: saving food – saving lives
The Rhöner Lebensmittel Training Network is a regionally based provider of institutional food services that combines cost-effectiveness with high product quality and social responsibility. The “KochAG – Save Food, Save Lives” project brings children in full-day care into direct contact with the origins of food, its preparation, and how to value it. Participants learn how meals are planned, ordered in precise portions, and prepared, and become familiar with simple food preparation techniques. From an educational perspective, the program combines nutrition education with social goals: developing an appreciation for food, preventing waste, and providing guidance on careers in institutional food service. The funding will be used to finance labor hours for conducting the cooking programs, to purchase organic ingredients for hands-on experiments, and to replace or purchase necessary kitchen equipment. This will enable workshops to be offered systematically, improve the quality and accountability of the meals, and teach children practical, career-relevant skills.
Social Ecology Association
Project: Summer bakery: Organic bakery meets farm experience
The SozialÖkologie Association is expanding its educational offerings with the “Summer Bakery,” an extracurricular learning program that combines the art of baking with farm life. Children experience the journey from grain to bread: from the field, through milling, to baking in a wood-fired oven and sharing the bread together. The program fosters an understanding of regional value creation, ecological production, and artisanal skills. The grant funding covers educational fees, farm usage fees, and the rental of technical equipment—such as a professional oven—as well as consumables needed to run the program. Travel expenses and organizational preparations are also included in the budget. The funding will be used to implement a multi-day, inclusive educational program that teaches children practical skills, provides sensory experiences, and fosters a mindful relationship with food.
BRK Nature Daycare Center Leesten
Project: Creation of raised beds, field, flower meadow, compost and nesting aids
The BRK Naturkita Leesten runs a large outdoor area on the edge of the forest and places particular emphasis on nature-oriented, year-round educational activities. The project aims to expand raised beds, create a potato and cereal field, fence in a flower meadow and install nesting aids and insect drinking troughs. The aim is to integrate biodiversity, the circular economy and food education into the children’s everyday lives. The funding will be used specifically for building materials, high-quality organic soil, peat-free substrates, organic seeds, fencing material and nesting aids, as well as for additional composting areas and small jars for bottling home-made products such as dandelion honey. This creates permanently usable learning spaces where children can experience sowing, care, harvesting and processing in a practical way, develop an understanding of ecological relationships and take on responsibility in a participatory way.
Marburg Waldorf School
Project: Redesign of the school garden and equipment for processing
The Marburg Free Waldorf School uses municipal garden spaces as a central learning environment and plans to convert individual garden beds into larger communal areas to promote collaborative work and support the school kitchen. The focus is on combining gardening education with food preparation skills in the school kitchen. Funding is provided for tools for working side by side (digging forks, swing hoes, spades), organic seeds, and equipment for preserving and processing food, such as a dehydrator, juicer, grain mill, garden shredder, and a lawn mower. These purchases are intended to enable students to learn hands-on, from soil to plate: soil care, communal harvesting, processing, and storage. The funding enhances the school community’s capacity for action, supports a healthy diet, and teaches practical skills as well as an appreciation for regional foods.
Free Waldorf School Learning Center Nieperfitz
Project: Learn better with organic berries
The Lernort Nieperfitz Free Waldorf School is located on a farm and combines academic learning experiences with hands-on agricultural practice. Through the “Learn Better with Organic Berries” project, approximately 150 organic berry bushes will be planted, which students will tend, harvest, and process into products such as jam or fruit leather. The project teaches cultivation, fertilization, and mulching techniques, harvest cycles, and processing steps; teachers receive professional development in horticultural education to ensure the program’s effectiveness. The funding will go toward purchasing the plants, procuring processing equipment such as a Thermomix and a dehydrator, as well as drying sheets, jars, tools, and soil, and toward professional development opportunities and teaching materials. The goal is to closely link nutrition education, hands-on nature experiences, and health aspects, and to teach students skills in growing, processing, and appreciating organic food.
Rehberg School Roßdorf
Project: Visit to the organic farm Hofgut Oberfeld
The Rehbergschule Roßdorf is an elementary school that promotes learning through all the senses. During a project day at the Oberfeld farm, the children experience the process “From Grain to Christmas Cookie”: a tour of the fields, grinding the grain themselves, preparing the dough, and baking in a wood-fired oven. The funding covers participation fees for children and accompanying adults, ensuring access regardless of individual financial circumstances. From an educational perspective, the field trip links classroom topics such as harvesting and grain studies with direct sensory experiences. The project promotes an understanding of organic farming, an appreciation for food, and mindful dietary choices.
Elementary school by the lake
Project: Healthy and lively: Workshop “Small bakery – snack time”
The Am See elementary school has been recognized as an international sustainability school and plans to supplement its health concept with extracurricular workshops. In the “Small bakery – snack time” workshop, pupils in years 3 and 4 work out how bread is made from regionally grown grain. The funding covers participation and travel costs to ensure that all children can take part. Through practical work with grain, flour and dough, the children learn about manual processing steps, experience seasonal connections and strengthen healthy nutritional awareness. The project combines subject lessons with practical life skills and promotes an appreciation of regional foods.
Werkstattkinder e.V.
Project: From the workbench to the cooking pot
The WerkstattKinder parents’ initiative combines creative, manual work with nature and nutrition education for crèche and kindergarten children. The project includes converting the kitchen into a hands-on kitchen suitable for children, holding an organic workshop week, an overnight stay on an organic farm and planting a small organic garden. The aim is to give children practical experience with organic food and manual production. The funding will be used for the kitchen conversion (induction stove, child safety locks, ergonomic work surfaces), materials and fees for workshops, transportation and accommodation costs as well as garden equipment. These funds will create a safe environment for participatory cooking and learning.
Day nursery Neunhof
Project: Conversion to organic food
The Neunhof crèche is a small facility in a rural area that is planning to switch to organic food on a trial basis. Within one to two weeks, all meals are to be organic, accompanied by tastings, discussions with parents and educational activities for the children. The funding covers the additional costs for organic purchases, material kits for tastings and information materials. The aim is to improve the quality of the children’s diet, to inform parents about the benefits of organic food and to examine how a permanent changeover is practicable.
KiKu Bärenbande daycare center
Project: Turning an Allotment Garden into a Conscious Organic Garden
The KiKu Bärenbande daycare center has leased an allotment garden and plans to develop it into a sustainable organic garden. The project includes repairing existing raised beds, filling them with organic soil, creating a herb spiral, composting, and planting bee-friendly perennials. Children are actively involved in sowing, tending, harvesting, and processing to develop an understanding of ecological farming principles. The grant funds will be used for building materials, organic seeds, child-friendly gardening tools, storage jars, a food processor or Thermomix alternative, and documentation materials. The goal is to incorporate seasonal harvests into the daycare’s meals and to promote hands-on experiences with nature.
Uckersternchen daycare center
Project: Snack garden at the children’s restaurant
The Uckersternchen daycare center runs a children’s restaurant with a children’s kitchen and is planning to transform the outdoor terrace into a snack garden. Raised beds, a plant pyramid, a small greenhouse and planters are to be created there, in which children can grow vegetables, herbs and strawberries. Initial equipment, plants, soil and materials for project days as well as ongoing purchases for maintenance are funded. The concept combines gardening practice with direct utilization in the children’s kitchen, promotes responsibility and enables children to experience the origin of their food directly.
Solidarity agriculture Ackervielfalt eG
Project: Experience organic: Agroforestry for schools and daycare centers
Solidarische Landwirtschaft Ackervielfalt eG cultivates an organic field with an agroforestry system and would like to open it up more as a place of learning. Plans include a school bed for a special school, planting and harvesting days, day-care workshops and field days that bring agroforestry principles and regional value creation to life. Funding will finance materials for beds, cooking and learning utensils, the development of teaching materials for specialists and the implementation of activities. The aim is to create modular educational offers that schools and daycare centers can use in the long term and to strengthen practical approaches to organic farming.
Friends of farm animals move people e.V.
Project: The chickens are laughing
The organization runs a Bioland-certified farm that incorporates animal-assisted education and has been offering inclusive farm tours and hands-on programs for years. The project-based program “Da lachen ja die Hühner” is designed for students with physical disabilities and focuses on year-round visits that use chicken farming, animal welfare, and feed production as examples. Educational content includes species-appropriate care, feed production, animal care, motor skill development, and social participation. The grant funds cover participant support, transportation, on-site materials, staff supervision, and the organizational implementation of a six-month visit program. Through regular, hands-on participation, motor, social, and cognitive skills are fostered; at the same time, awareness of animal welfare and responsible food production is instilled.
Children and Youth Circus Lübeck e.V.
Project: Summer circus a la carte
The children’s and youth circus combines circus education with nature experiences and healthy eating in a vacation format on a pony farm in a nature reserve. The aim is to give children from different social backgrounds access to environmental issues and healthy eating: Circus training, excursions to the nature reserve, animal-assisted activities and preparing fresh meals together are on the program. The funding will be used for catering during the four-week campaign, use of the farm infrastructure and fees for trainers and supervisors. The project promotes exercise, teamwork, ecological education and nutritional knowledge in a creative setting and enables children to gain practical experience with regional foods and nature-based leisure activities.
Kinderhaus Nürnberg gGmbH
Project: Mini organic gourmet: from seed to plate
The supporting organization runs numerous KITAs and is planning a project that will teach children about the organic food production chain: Raised beds and organic seeds will be planted together, children will tend and harvest and prepare simple dishes such as vegetable snacks, herb butter and smoothies. Accompanying activities include craft activities, plant signs and a final party with parents to document knowledge and experiences. Funding is used for raised beds, soil, organic seeds, child-friendly kitchen utensils, aprons, craft materials, ingredients for mini-recipes and a closing event. The aim is to strengthen nutritional education, motor skills, creativity and social integration through participatory everyday activities.
International School Farm Hardegsen gGmbH
Project: New cold scratching room for laying hens
The International School Farm is a long-established extracurricular place of learning that teaches over 3,000 children about practical agriculture every year, including the care of 250 organic laying hens. Due to the age of the existing infrastructure, there is an urgent need for a new cold scratching room to ensure species-appropriate husbandry conditions and the educational offer. Funding will be used for material costs (fencing, wood, trapezoidal sheet metal, guttering, door), dismantling and construction work, disposal of old components and labor costs. The renovation will restore the safety and hygiene of the animal husbandry, stabilize the visitor offer and ensure the long-term implementation of practical environmental education.
Child day care klitzeklein
Project: Greenhouse for child day care
The day care center would like to extend gardening time with its own greenhouse and enable children to sow, tend and harvest all year round. The aim of the project is to integrate gardening activities into the day care center’s daily routine in order to combine early childhood education with experiencing nature and taking responsibility. The funding applied for covers the purchase of a robust greenhouse (6-8 m²), foundation and site preparation, heating and lighting if necessary, interior equipment such as raised beds and shelves, seeds and child-safe gardening tools. The investment creates weather-independent learning opportunities, promotes nature-related development goals and enables several cultivation cycles for educational and consumption purposes.
Landcampus Gröben
Project: Construction of a greenhouse for school classes
The Landcampus Gröben is an extracurricular learning facility that is currently under construction and offers practical project days on topics such as bread baking, vegetable growing and honey bees. A 12 m² greenhouse is planned to enable the year-round cultivation of vegetables and herbs and significantly expand the educational offer. The funding will go towards construction costs, building materials, raised beds or shelves and the equipment so that school classes and daycare centers can experience the complete cycle from sowing to processing. The greenhouse will create additional learning opportunities, regardless of the weather, which will increase the diversity and continuity of the offer and strengthen the campus as a regional educational location.
Mothers and Family Center Karben e.V.
Project: Organic dinner with fun
The MüZe mother and family center wants to establish a monthly parent-child dinner that offers families from different social and economic backgrounds low-threshold access to joint, healthy preparation of organic meals. The format promotes family interaction, strengthens parent-child relationships and teaches practical cooking and nutrition skills. Cooperation with local organic farms is planned for product sourcing and excursions. Funding is used to finance the food per session, the fees for group leaders and preparation as well as the purchase of optional kitchen equipment such as a juicer or flake crusher. The aim is to create a permanent, self-sustaining offer that can be built up through initial funding and later supported by low participation fees.
Child day care Naturzwerge
Project: Greenhouse and vegetable garden
The Naturzwerge child care center follows a nature-based care approach and plans to purchase a small greenhouse and create a child-friendly vegetable garden. The project aims to foster early childhood encounters with nature, strengthen motor skills, and develop a sense of responsibility. Funding will be used for the greenhouse—including its foundation and construction—raised beds, child-friendly tools, a fence or enclosure, and accompanying educational materials. This initiative will allow the gardening season to begin earlier and extend its use into the fall; at the same time, it will help children experience and understand values and seasonal cycles.
TV 1848 Coburg e.V.
Project: Children’s camp “The Bio-Detectives”
The sports club is organizing a five-day summer camp for children ages 6–12 that combines visits to organic farms, herb walks, cooking workshops, and group gardening activities. The goal is to help children experience the origins, cultivation, and processing of food through sensory exploration and play, while also promoting physical activity, teamwork, and nutritional literacy. Funding is used for organic food during the camp, transportation and admission costs to farms, workshop materials, fees for instructors, and gardening equipment. The program promotes mindful eating habits and fosters local connections between sports programs and educational institutions.
Alexander Coppel Comprehensive School Solingen
Project: Outdoor class: Green classroom
The inclusive comprehensive school is planning to develop a green classroom with raised beds, teaching beds, fruit and berry plantations and a barefoot path to regularly take lessons outside. The project pursues inclusive educational goals, enables hands-on learning and promotes ecological education across all year groups. Funding is used to purchase raised beds, plant material, materials for a barefoot path and tools for construction and maintenance. The expansion will create permanent learning spaces that support participatory, action-oriented learning and strengthen school communities.
Cyriakus Primary School Horn-Millinghausen
Project: Organic school and village garden
Cyriakus Elementary School plans to create a community organic school and village garden as a place for learning and socializing, where students, teachers, parents, and seniors can sow, tend, and harvest crops together. The goal is to foster intergenerational learning, teach ecological farming principles, and promote social participation. Funding will be used for accessible raised beds, soil, seeds, child-friendly gardening tools, the creation of an insect meadow, a compost area, and seating. The project creates a permanent learning space, strengthens local connections, and teaches practical skills in responsible food production.
Primary and secondary school Friedersdorf
Project: The organic garden of the senses
The school is planning an “organic garden of the senses” with a barefoot path, herb caterpillar, teaching bed and jointly cultivated areas, which will be run cooperatively by primary and secondary school pupils. The project integrates subject lessons, WAT practice and handicraft activities, promotes sensory experiences and enables interdisciplinary learning from the construction of small wooden structures to garden maintenance and harvest processing. Funding is used for materials for the barefoot path, planting boxes, lawn edging, fence construction, tools, plants and documentation material. The project combines practical skills, intergenerational learning and conveying an appreciation for food and the environment.
Staudinger GS
Project: Organic school garden
Staudinger Primary School is planning a permanent organic school garden, which will be anchored directly on the school grounds as a learning and experience space. Children from all year groups will experience step by step how plants grow, what the soil and care requirements are and how much work is involved in growing vegetables. The project combines theoretical teaching content with practical gardening: from planting the beds to sowing, tending and harvesting to processing in the existing cooking club, the pupils experience the journey “from the bed to the plate”. The school newspaper documents the project with reports, interviews and photo series, so that sustainability and organic knowledge are brought into the school culture. Child-friendly tools, raised beds and peat-free organic soil, organic seeds and seedlings as well as a small garden shed for storage, growing houses and mini greenhouses for the classroom are to be funded. Optional extras include a rainwater barrel and materials for a composting station. The aim is to establish the gardening club in the long term, raise awareness of nutritional behavior and make practical environmental education accessible to all children. Gardening together strengthens a sense of responsibility, teamwork and an understanding of nature; the school kitchen benefits from freshly harvested ingredients and the school community gains a lively place for intergenerational learning and school projects.
Protestant daycare center Haus Löwenzahn
Project: From the earth to the mouth
The Protestant daycare center Haus Löwenzahn plans to redesign its outdoor area to be more nature-friendly and, through the project “From the Earth to the Mouth,” give children a hands-on experience of organically grown food. Two new garden beds are planned: an organic raised vegetable bed designed with children in mind and a “snack garden” with berry bushes and aromatic herbs. The daycare center consistently uses organic seeds, peat-free growing media, and organic soil, supplemented by care groups, a planting journal, and themed activities on earthworms, bees, and soil. During the planting and harvesting phases, the children taste freshly harvested samples, use the produce in simple recipes such as herb quark or berry muesli, and celebrate a parent-child “snack festival.” The project thus fosters everyday skills, self-efficacy, and a solid understanding of organic farming: What does “organic” mean, why is responsibility important, and what do freshly harvested vegetables taste like? Funding is needed for the construction and materials of the raised garden bed, peat-free soil, plants, and child-friendly tools, as well as learning and decorative materials. The goal is to permanently integrate ecological gardening into the daycare center’s daily routine, strengthen nature-based pedagogy, and foster a positive, enjoyable approach to healthy eating from the very beginning.
Möllers Morgen e.V.
Project: Organic together: cooking with children and young people
Möllers Morgen e.V. operates an educational and learning farm that offers tried-and-true approaches to sustainable agriculture. Through the “Gemeinsam Bio” project, the program is expanded to include the connection between cultivation and food preparation. Teenagers and school groups work together to harvest organic vegan vegetables from the farm’s own fields, bring the harvest to the farm kitchen, and prepare meals under expert guidance. The goal is to highlight the ecological and ethical dimensions of plant-based diets, impart practical skills, and foster an appreciation for regional, plant-based foods. The year-long project is designed to span the growing season and involves multiple school groups as well as open educational programs; educational content includes cultivation, care, harvesting techniques, and climate-related aspects of nutrition. The requested funding is intended to cover fees for instructors, finance seeds, seedlings, and maintenance costs for the farmland, and cover material and operating costs for the cooking workshops. The combination of fieldwork and kitchen activities creates a hands-on learning environment that empowers young people to make informed dietary choices and teaches them practical skills for a responsible future.
