Project archive

The purpose of the foundation has been implemented above all by the IMO Instiute for Marketecology, which was organized as a department of the foundation, and several foreign companies in which the foundation functioned as a co-owner. In 2014, the Foundation has withdrawn from its operational work within the IMO Group, to focus more on the foundation's purpose after a phase of restructuring.

Free thinking and responsible action are the prerequisites for sustainable development. This is why the foundation places a particular emphasis on education and innovation:

• Numerous innovative certification standards, especially in the fields of organic agriculture, sustainable aquaculture, environmentally sustainable wild collection and textiles have been developed. Today many partners worldwide are working to ensure that these standards are observed. In this process new criteria for sustainable development have been defined; they in turn serve the further development of individual sectors and in their implementation constitute a kind of education. IMO, respectively the Bio-Foundation, played a significant role in the development and implementation of methods of organic certification of smallholder farmers in developing countries. Smallholder farmer organisations in Latin America, Asia and Africa now have the possibility of working in accordance with international quality standards and with the certification, can gain access to the international markets.
• The Bio-Foundation is particularly active in training and further education: both the economy and society need young people who are prepared to commit themselves to sustainable development in all different fields. To do this they require both specialist and social, and increasingly, intercultural competences. The Bio-Foundation promotes this: through the IMO Institute, dozens of graduates of different nationalities have been given the opportunity to work and gain experience as trainees in different areas of sustainable development. During the practice-oriented training, they were able to travel in rural areas of developing countries to learn about the problems there and to observe inter-cultural collaboration in practice. This is cultural education in its broadest sense and an active contribution to the education system in our society. The educational aspect goes even further; IMO, respectively the Bio-Foundation, has actively contributed to the setting up of local certification offices (especially in developing countries) and invested in the training and further education of regional staff.
• The Bio-Foundation also sees itself as a platform where horizons can be broadened and ideas and possibilities developed and deepened; this can be in seminars which bring together experts and key people of a specific field or by contributing expert knowledge in the creation of new organisations or in consultation services for all kinds of institutions. Human development depends on mutual contact. Projects mostly come into being spontaneously as a result of interaction between people who inspire each other and work together on putting their ideas and visions into practice. This has been the case with the Bio-Foundation where numerous projects have been developed together with different organisations and associations but which wouldn’t normally be directly associated with the name of the Bio-Foundation. Their realisation is nevertheless to be seen as resulting from this mutual contact.  The spectrum stretches from practical commitment in crisis areas (e.g. Afghanistan, Caucasus) to consumer protection and education as well as the promotion of culture in the broadest sense. With the book „Organic Agriculture“ the Bio-Foundation offers an easily understandable book about the principles of organic agriculture to all who are interested.

What follows is a small selection of projects which were part of our work until 2014.
 

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