Once a month, the project participants meet at one of the farms. Over coffee and cake, they exchange ideas, develop plans, submit applications, and draft a guide. There is great interest in Green Care. “Even before the project began, many farms were already considering using their vacant space not for livestock or machinery, but for social programs. This also brings life to rural areas,” observes Maria Nielsen of the Schleswig-Holstein Chamber of Agriculture, who leads the project. As a nurse and agricultural engineer, she bridges the two sectors not only organizationally but also personally. She is convinced: “Agriculture offers solutions to care-related challenges in rural areas.”

A Wide Variety of Farms Around One Table

Housing options, day care, or farm vacations for people with dementia: Although—or perhaps precisely because—the participants are so diverse, they have already achieved quite a bit since the project began in November 2023. Conventional pig farms sit at the table alongside organic farms, and small family-run businesses alongside large agricultural operations. In 2023, farming was a sideline for 38 percent of farms (4,850) in Schleswig-Holstein, according to the Bauernblatt of May 31, 2025. What used to be the main source of income has been scaled back due to generational change. It stands to reason that farmers are looking for alternative sources of income.

A Farm-Based Commune Instead of a Nursing Home

One of the pioneers in this field is Hof Gawrisch in Bargenstedt. Bernd Gawrisch runs a cattle-fattening operation there. Now, a residential community for people with disabilities is set to be established in a former barn. Due to a lack of alternatives, even young people with disabilities often end up in nursing homes. In Bargenstedt, they could grow old together in beautiful surroundings, supported by one or more outpatient services. “The great thing about such housing projects is that people can choose who they want to live with. In a nursing home, you don’t have that choice—you’re just thrown together at random,” says Sabine Neubert of Maschinenring Mittelholstein. Maschinenring is also part of the project and currently serves as a kind of service center. As a nurse, Neubert not only advises the “Green Care” project but also organizes daily support and assists with care level assessments.

Male residents are kept busy

“Farms offer a completely different approach to care,” explains Neubert. “Activities for life story work practically arise on their own. And the work as a whole feels more intimate, more personal, and more like family.” At the Frowähr farm in Wisch, North Frisia, people with disabilities are tending to the seedlings in the greenhouse. While they’re at it, they’re also putting a hand-operated seed drill through its paces.

That, too, is part of the project: residents or day visitors who require care can test how user-friendly the new equipment is for them. “This is especially good for the men,” observes Nielsen. “In care and support settings, it’s often difficult to keep residents meaningfully occupied. In agriculture, it happens naturally: the older gentlemen feel useful and can talk shop about the equipment.”

Using an electric wheelbarrow to haul manure instead of cutting out sheep at Easter: At the Meves Farm in Eddelak, people with dementia can try their hand at light work if they’d like. And the Vorwiesenhof in Lübeck has tested a raised garden bed that allows people in wheelchairs to garden as well. For some, it’s an alternative living or day care option; for others, a meaningful business model: in any case, there are plenty of good ideas.

Exhibition Topic Therapy & Activating Care