Stiftung Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie

The Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie NRW Foundation is a non-profit foundation established in 2017 and based in North Rhine-Westphalia. It promotes and initiates projects that align economic activity with ethical values. Central to its work are the ideas of the Economy for the Common Good: organizations, municipalities, and educational institutions are encouraged to measure and improve their sustainability performance using the Common Good Balance Sheet. The foundation is economically and politically independent, acquires funding (e.g., EU LEADER, state funds), and develops its own structures for systemic change, such as the "ZINS – Center for Innovation and Sustainability Steinheim."

The Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie Foundation NRW is committed to establishing a new balance between people, the environment, and the economy. Our goal is to initiate projects in North Rhine-Westphalia using the Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie approach, to establish sustainable structures, and to empower stakeholders to align their actions with the SDGs and ethical core values. We believe in systemic learning and promote cultural change towards an economy that is fair to future generations.

The foundation targets stakeholders in North Rhine-Westphalia, including municipalities and public administrations that wish to assess and improve their sustainability performance; companies and common good-oriented organizations (SMEs, social enterprises) that use the Common Good Balance Sheet as a management tool; educational institutions (schools, universities, academies) implementing sustainability education for sustainable development; citizens and interested parties who create a personal sustainability profile through the Common Good Test; as well as network partners from politics, science, and civil society working on socio-ecological transformation.