• What challenges or barriers were addressed (based on the report findings)?

[X] Waste management and disposal
[   ] Energy/resource use
[   ] Infrastructure limitations
[X] Seasonality
[X] Skills and capacity gaps
[X] Low awareness of CE
[   ] Behavioural resistance
[X] Financial or funding constraints
[   ] Other : ________________________________

• How were these challenges overcome?

The Essgarten addresses low ecological awareness and capacity gaps through immersive education: guided tours, workshops, and hands-on culinary sessions. These allow participants to directly engage with sustainable food production and biodiversity. By combining gastronomy with learning in a natural setting, the centre builds both knowledge and appreciation for circular food systems. They also consist of a resilient mini-ecosystem that thrives without fertilisers, pesticides, or irrigation, reducing waste and resource outputs. Furthermore, thanks to their workshops, such as “Wilde Fermente”, they help preserve seasonal produce by fermenting vegetables, extending their shelf life and reducing potential food waste. The garden is also focused on the high season, tackling seasonality by running most activities from May to September, when the ecosystem is most productive. Lastly, they have multiple revenue channels (events, products, vouchers) through which they can tackle any financial constraints. They also make use of low-cost labor with volunteers and employ energy-efficient, low-maintenance designs.

• Which circular economy strategies does this practice address?

[X] Waste reduction / reuse / recycling
[   ] Renewable energy / energy efficiency
[   ] Water conservation
[X] Circular product/service design
[X] Sustainable food systems / short food chains
[   ] Eco-certifications or green standards
[   ] Repair, refurbishment, or reuse of infrastructure/furnishings
[   ] Digital tools for circularity or sustainability

• Describe why this practice can be considered as a ‘best practice’ and how it contributes to one or more circular economy principles:

The Essgarten exemplifies circularity through the integration of educational, gastronomic, and ecological functions. Its forest garden produces edible plants locally, supporting sustainable food loops, while workshops like fermentation or herbal salve-making show product lifecycle and upcycling concepts. The educational model fosters circular economy literacy, given that participants learn through different practices how edible landscapes can provide food, medicine, and biodiversity services when managed holistically. The place embodies the principle of resource regeneration, showing how human actions can align with ecological cycles without exceeding natural limits. This practice also contributes to sustainable tourism by creating low-impact, high-value experiences, by connecting visitors to place, biodiversity, and seasonal food systems.

• Describe why this practice can be considered as innovative. What new, creative or underused approach brings added value to circular tourism development?

The Essgarten’s innovative aspect lies in its holistic integration of biodiversity, gastronomy, and education within a tourism experience. Unlike conventional community gardens or farm visits, Essgarten has curated a collection of around 1.200 edible plants from across the world, all of which are adapted to the local climate of Northern Germany. This approach introduces visitors to a wide variety of plants that are rarely found in home gardens, many of which are not commonly recognised as edible. By presenting unfamiliar species and showing how they can be incorporated into sustainable diets and culinary practices, Essgarten broadens both ecological knowledge and gastronomic creativity. This makes the garden not just a place for recreation or food production, but a living laboratory of plant diversity and culinary innovation, offering visitors novel sensory and educational experiences.