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Eng Äerd – a documentary, pointing out ideas, not problems
The new Luxembourgish documentary “Eng Äerd” by Tom Alesch, produced in cooperation with the Centre national de l’audiovisuel (CNA) and the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL), explores one of the main issues of our generation: the overexploitation of our natural resources and the following insatiable consumer behaviour.
The statistics do not lie. Our country is the European leader in resource depletion, since Luxembourg would require 8 Earths to satisfy its yearly consumption. The Earth overshoot day 2020 for our small country dated the 16th of February.
Instead of, like many other documentaries before, portraying only the negative aspects of global change, “Eng Äerd” demonstrated the countermovement by showing 19 initiatives of various sectors from agriculture, energy, housing to mobility. The documentary portrays those people and companies, that want to influence their socio-ecological environment with their work and who want to build a sustainable future.
Änder Schanck, one of the founders of the OIKOPOLIS Group, was part of the project. In an interview shown in the movie, he illustrates the principles of the Economy for the Common Good. The Group (NATURATA, BIOG, BIOGROS) dedicated itself as the first company in Luxembourg to its objectives and rules. The Economy for the Common Good built an economic model, whose main pillar is not solely financial wealth, but a system that also integrates the ecology representing the environment and the social part regarding employees and business relations. Hence, the film offers insights into a typical round table between all the members of the value chain. Moreover, the organic wholesaler, who dedicates a lot of effort to innovative and sustainable packaging methods, allows a closer look into its packaging processes.
Ever since the pioneering years in the 80’s, the directors of the Group paid close attention to support an “Agri-Culture” and to promote organic and biodynamic farming. Conform to the interest of the Economy for the Common Good, the principles agriculture, fair cooperation, social coexistence and education are incorporated in the Group’s mission statement. Even though the documentary does not provide any universally valid solutions, the different initiatives pave the way for a more sustainable future nonetheless. The OIKOPOLIS Group too contributes to a sustainable food production and distribution and thus to the overall solution.
The movie is broadcasted in many theatres in Luxembourg. More information under https://www.engaerd.lu/ and https://kinepolis.lu/en/films/eng-aerd.
