Social work and sustainability: Herzogsägmühle shows how it's done

Important visit to Herzogsägmühle: On his summer trip, Diakonie President Pastor Ulrich Lilie stopped in the village.

On site, the question was how climate protection and sustainability can be implemented in social work.

Some answers have already been found in Herzogsägmühle.

Peiting

- They had chosen a wonderful place in Herzogsägmühle for lunch for the guest of honor.

The beer tables were set up right in the nursery next to the greenhouses where tomatoes and all sorts of other vegetables ripen.

You couldn't get any closer to the local products that were served on the plates.

Ulrich Lilie should have taken note of this with appreciation, after all, the President of the Diakonie had traveled to Herzogsägmühle precisely for such experiences.

It was the second of a total of eight stops on his summer trip that Lilie put this year under the major theme of climate protection and sustainability and that lead him to diaconal companies that are considered pioneers in the field.

A reputation that has long preceded the Herzogsägmühle.

Not without reason, as the Diakonie President was able to convince himself on site during the three-hour tour.

For several years now, Herzogsägmühle has been dedicated to the topic of sustainability

Managing Director Hans Rock proudly reported what had been achieved in the past few years in terms of sustainability.

It began with the upgrading of the buildings, which thanks to thermal insulation and new heating systems have resulted in the heat-related CO2 emissions being reduced by around 30 percent over the past six years.

When it comes to mobility, they are in the process of converting the vehicle fleet to electric cars, which are charged as far as possible with the electricity generated by the local photovoltaic systems.

In order to avoid single trips and to reduce traffic on the streets, the company also uses a special commuter app.

And then of course there is the nursery.

Not only does it offer important jobs - in the past 30 years, according to Rock, 200 people with mental illness have completed vocational training as gardeners - but, as a Naturland business, it also operates organic farming, the products of which are used directly in the canteen or sold in the Mühlenmarkt.

What is lacking in products is procured wherever possible in the region.

Diakoniepräsident praises commitment and makes demands on politicians

For several years now, all of these efforts to achieve greater sustainability have also appeared in the balance sheet for the common good. Herzogsägmühle also plays a pioneering role here. As the first company in the Diakonie, it has committed itself to the alternative economic model, which takes into account values ​​such as human dignity, solidarity, ecological sustainability and transparency as an alternative to the system that is purely based on financial profit.

The Diakonie President received a lot of praise for this commitment. The example of Herzogsägmühle shows how sustainability can work in social work, said Lilie. However, he also addressed the dilemma in which one is stuck. In order to be able to implement the socio-ecological change, appropriate framework conditions are needed, for example by anchoring the goal of sustainability in the Social Security Code. Rock also agreed. So far, only two attributes have applied to social welfare: as economical and economical as possible. This leaves little scope to invest sustainably, for example in more expensive but, in the long term, more energy-saving buildings. Politicians are called upon here.

Their local representatives - including District Administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiß and Peiting's Mayor Peter Ostenrieder - also sat at the set table in the middle of the nursery that day.

Lily used the meal for a short exchange.

Then it went on - the next stop on the summer trip was already waiting.

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