About us

Here you can read more about why Andelsgaarde was founded, who our members and board are, and delve into our statutes and values.

New co-operative movement

Andelsgaarde is a new Danish co-operative movement (andelsbevægelse) with the goal to buy, rebuild and lease farms to cultivate land regeneratively in a modern and sustainable way. We are doing our part to reduce the climate and biodiversity crisis and to produce more healthy food, while also giving nature more space. The association was founded in 2018, acquired its first farm in 2019 and surpassed its first 2,000 members in 2021.

Members

As a member of Andelsgaarde, you are helping to rethink the original cooperative movement. In a nutshell, the cooperative idea is that we come together to solve problems that affect us all. The problem we want to tackle in Andelsgaarde is the climate and biodiversity crisis. With your membership, you make a significant difference by contributing to the establishment of cooperative farms across the country. Together we take responsibility for ensuring a more sustainable future for our children and grandchildren.   Volunteer groups The volunteer groups provide volunteers to work on specific tasks. Right now we have an events group that gets ideas for and organises events, a biodiversity and nature group (Brinkholm) that initiates actions that help nature, a building group that helps with small and large building projects, and a panic group that responds quickly if the shit hits the fan on one of the farms. In time, as we get more farms, the groups will probably become more locally anchored around a single farm. If you are interested in participating in one of the volunteer groups or have an idea for a group that is missing, please write to us at info@andelsgaarde.dk.

Your membership - your farms

For your monthly membership fee you, get the title of farm owner and a vote at the annual general meeting. At the same time you get the opportunity to actively participate in the work on the farms, take part in social activities such as talks, community dinners and harvest festivals. And you will have the chance to buy good vegetables from the skilled stewards at your farms – they sell both at the farms and markets.

Or you can simply become a paying member because you want to make a difference for nature and the climate.

Who is a member?

Andelsgaard’s members include students, pensioners, executives, regular employees – and all kinds of other people. Some join as families – the membership is the same. Just remember that if you join as a family, you do so in the name of one person. Each membership only has one vote at the annual general meeting. Would you like to join Andelsgaarde?

Scalable cooperative model

We have rethought the old cooperative model, where you typically paid DKK 10,000, 50,000 or 100,000 for a share. With us, the membership has replaced the cooperative certificate. We pay DKK 150 a month, and that way we are continuously saving up for a new farm and more land. Without pesticides and with the establishment of forest farming, biodiversity forest and much more.

We got the idea for a new scalable share model from the fitness industry. In Denmark, there are over 800,000 Danes who pay around DKK 150 per month for a fitness membership. We thought, why not supplement that with a membership of Andelsgaarde, so we can all become farm owners and tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis?

Naive? Perhaps, but if you had asked a scientist or a fortune-teller 30 years ago whether they thought over 800,000 Danes would venture into a gym, the answer would probably have been no. It is migration on the same scale as when women entered the labour market.

"I’m a member of Andelsgaarde because it’s necessary."
Christian, member since November 2019
"I´m a member of Andelsgaarde because I want to take an active part in the green transition."
Mona, member since September 2019
"I support Andelsgaarde because each of us has to take responsibility."
Morten, member since November 2020
"I'm a member of Andelsgaarde because I believe in the community's power to act."
Elisabetta, member since May 2019
"I support Andelsgaarde to create sustainable development for me, my children and everyone else."
Per, member since September 2021

Values

We want to restart the cooperative movement and work our way out of the climate and biodiversity crisis together. One farm at a time. Maybe you are thinking the same thing. If so, we would love to have you join us!

Sustainability

The CO2 footprint of Andelsgaarde must be neutral, but preferably negative. We work to increase biodiversity and to give more back to nature than we take.

We aim for all cooperative farms to have a 50/50 split between nature and vegetable and fruit production.

Andelsgaarde also works towards financial sustainability which means that we cannot have significant debt and that any surplus must be invested in acquisitions or new leasing agreements with the goal of converting more land to organic, biodynamic or other sustainable agriculture.

We strive to be socially sustainable, for example by keeping the cost of membership of the association so low that most people can join.

Buildings and community

The goal is that all future cooperative farms will have one or more living quarters for Andelsgaardes’ stewards, a community room for members and the possibility for members to stay overnight either in a community house or in shelters. We renovate with respect for the energy already embedded in the buildings. We carry out renovations with a plan specifically tailored to the individual farm, so the renovation is carried out in the best possible way for the location, the buildings, the resources and the possibilities.

Green Front

Farm by farm, we will convert the Danish farmland, and on the map you can see where in the country there are cooperative farms. The more we are, the faster we can buy up farms all over the country. Green Front!

Green Front

Farm by farm, we will convert the Danish farmland, and on the map you can see where in the country there are cooperative farms. The more we are, the faster we can buy up farms all over the country. Green Front!

Lerbjerggaard
Spaanbrogård
Brinkholm
Djursland
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Board and management

The association Andelsgaarde was founded in the spring of 2018 and gained over 300 members in the first weeks after the founding general meeting. At the first ordinary general meeting in April 2019, the association had over 1200 members. In 2022, the association has more than 2700 members. The Board is unpaid and works on a voluntary basis.
Rasmus Willig is a former Associate Professor at the Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University. Currently employed as Head of CSR at the biotech company Gubra. Author of several books, including the climate books ’Hvad skal vi svare?’, ’Den bæredygtige stat’ and ’Vi ved det jo godt’.
Helene Bjerre-Nielsen the programme manager for the DK2020 climate plan at the Middelfart Municipality. Former director of the foundation Chora 2030, former programme manager of the Velux Foundation and also a board member of Dansk Økojord A/S and member of Merkur Andelskasse’s shareholder’s committee. Farm owner on Zealand.

Morten Dall works with Cloud Infrastructure, former founder of Københavns Fødevarefællesskab. Has an insect hotel on Møn.

Sarah Hellebek holds a BSc in Agricultural Economics and is a Master’s student of Climate Change at the University of Copenhagen. Teacher at Krogerup Højskole, climate activist and co-founder of Den Grønne Studenterbevægelse. Initiator of the Regenerative Jordbrugsskole school in the association Regenerativt Jordbrug.
Phie Ambo is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her films include ‘Good Things Await’ and ‘Rediscovery’. One of the founders of Den Grønne Friskole on Amager.
Jacob Westergaard Madsen is Andelsgaard’s Association Director. He has previously been a project manager on major cultural projects, helped establish the museum for pop, rock and youth culture in Roskilde and most recently worked as a curator at the Workers Museum.

Anders Morgenthaler is a film director, writer, cartoonist and climate activist      

Sofie is a student at SDU, but she also puts in hours at Andelsgaarde, answering emails in a friendly way and taking registrations for various events.
Iain works as an administrative manager at the Vestegnens Sprog- og Kompetencecenter. But 3-5 hours a week he volunteers as cashier of Andelsgaarde, keeping a friendly but firm eye on members’ payments.

Statutes and minutes

The statutes of the association and minutes of board meetings. Statutes: *The Statutes of Foreningens Andelsgaarde*

Questions & Answers

The DKK 150 per month goes towards restoring nature, running the farms, member events, buying or leasing new land and converting to sustainable vegetable production.
As the association is based on long-term investments, membership is binding for 1 year from the registered date of joining. Withdrawal can be made by giving one month’s written notice to the association.

Select “Login” at the top right of the page.

If your payment card is renewed or you have changed bank, you might risk that your payments stop. You can change your payment card here on the site, select “Login” at the top right of the page. Once logged in, select “Memberships”, “View”, “Change payment” and “Change payment card”.

But you can also switch to MobilePay as a payment method, which we actually prefer as it makes administration easier – it’s the same procedure as switching payment cards, just choose MobilePay at the end.

If you have lost your payment card and have had it blocked, you may risk having your membership terminated. You can change your payment card here. Select “Login” at the top right of the page. Once logged in, select “Memberships”, “View”, “Change payment” and “Change payment card”.

Andelsgaarde has a democratically elected board of directors and an association director, who together make day-to-day decisions. Members can submit proposals and good ideas. But we are not going to vote on what colour the chickens should be, or whether the farms should be white or red. If that were the case, we would never get out of the starting blocks.

Yes, that is the plan in time. In the beginning, there may be only occasional opportunities to pitch a tent. But we are planning to set up holiday homes, shelters, etc. so that it is possible to stay on the farms for shorter or longer periods.

No, because whether we are blue or red, we have a duty to give our children a green world with clean drinking water, pesticide-free food and rich animal life.

We will never carry out industrial livestock in the traditional sense. But it can always make sense to have a small group of livestock on the farm to keep its nutrient cycles closed. We will always work to support wild birdlife on the farm, and insects and butterfly life will always be a priority. We want the animals to live good lives in the outdoors with space and opportunity to express their natural instincts.

We grow vegetables and fruit on all our farms and many different kinds and many different varieties. We also establish forest farms/gardens and raise biodiversity forests. In this way, we increase biodiversity and bind CO2. We never use pesticides and our stewards are either organically certified or in the process of becoming so.

Yes, we are happy to accept donations, but please note that donations are not tax-deductible at this time. Donations can be made via MobilePay to 18013.

Yes, you can volunteer for Andelsgaarde. You can sign up for volunteer workdays, where anyone who wants to can help out in the fields on our farms. It’s always nice and good for the mind to get out in the fresh air. You can find announcements of volunteer workdays in the newsletters or under ‘What’s on’ here on the website. You can also sign up for one of the volunteer groups. Read more under ‘Members’.

Maybe you are at a point in your life where you want to go the extra mile and volunteer several hours a week. If so, write to our Association Director, Jacob, at jacob@andelsgaarde.dk. You can talk about whether your wishes and skills match Andelsgaarde’s needs.