Co-founder of GEN Declan Kennedy Receives Recognition for his Lifework

Declan Kennedy is a pioneer of permaculture and co-founder of the Lebensgarten community in Steyerberg. For his contributions, the 90-year-old was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. Growing staple foods like vegetables and fruit within natural cycles — that is the core idea of permaculture. Declan Kennedy has been committed to spreading and advancing this approach for decades. His efforts are closely linked to the development of the Lebensgarten ecovillage in Steyerberg. On the 20th of May, the Irish-born pioneer received the Federal Cross of Merit.

The Lebensgarten community in Steyerberg was founded in 1984. Declan Kennedy, who served as Professor of Urban Planning at the Technical University of Berlin from 1972 to 1986, is one of its co-founders.
“I just wanted to focus on permaculture at the time” Kennedy says, reflecting on the early days of the ecovillage on the edge of Steyerberg. Back then, the use of land —such as the specific building of humus and soil for growing food— was intended to be much more extensive than what actually came to be realized.

He was very surprised to learn about the upcoming award of the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon from the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
“I found out about it in March through a letter from the Lower Saxony State Chancellery,” he says. He later learned that freelance journalist and author Peter Krause, who wrote a biography about him published in 2020, had nominated him for the prestigious award.

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