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The Fulda Südwest Regional Forum is celebrating its 20th birthday this weekend. The association brings together seven communities that work together to promote regional development in the southwest of the Fulda district.
Fulda District – 20 years ago, the seven communities of Großenlüder, Bad Salzschlirf, Hosenfeld, Neuhof, Kalbach, Flieden and Eichenzell formally merged to form the Regionalforum Fulda Südwest association. The collaboration didn't just start in 2006, but in 1998. According to a statement from the forum, we can now look back on almost 30 years of cooperation.
Regional Forum Fulda Südwest is celebrating its 20th anniversary
At that time, the seven municipalities came together as a municipal working group to promote regional development. This was preceded by intensive coordination processes and initial initiatives in the years from 1994, particularly in the context of funding programs and the Local Agenda 21. However, the cooperation was not put on a binding organizational basis until May 2006.
This also laid the foundation for recognition as a LEADER funding region in the EU. “The goal was and still is to initiate and implement projects in the areas of business, tourism, culture, social affairs and the environment and to use funding programs specifically for the development of the region,” says the announcement on the occasion of the 20th anniversary.
Over the years, the Fulda district and other partners from the areas of business, social affairs, education and nature conservation have joined the association. This means we have come step by step closer to the goal of strengthening the rural homeland. As a local action group (LAG), the association has been continuously recognized as a LEADER funding region since 2007. Thanks to the resulting funding, numerous regional projects could have been realized over the past two decades.
10 million euros in funding flowed into regional projects
According to the announcement, these include projects for public services and for the preservation of living and natural areas as well as the development of micro-enterprises and start-ups; a total of more than 10 million euros in funding has been made available. Significantly higher investments by the project sponsors were made possible by the funding.
“Since 2020, a particularly important instrument has been the regional budget, which can be used to specifically strengthen citizen engagement and support smaller local projects,” writes the association. And even beyond funding programs, we are committed to the positive development of the region. “That’s one of the things that goes into the alignment of the Day of the Regions in Fulda Southwestthe cultural days, the museum network, the cycling map, an image film, the citizen service, the position paper on the protection of biodiversity in the Fulda district as well as the craftsmen's summer and also the southwest voucher all reflect the work of the specialist forums.
The association's tasks also include the implementation of tourist offers and social projects. The club magazine “Showcase of the Region”, which appears several times a year, makes projects, initiatives and people from the region visible.
Four mayors have previously chaired the regional forum
According to its own information, the Regionalforum Südwest association is made up of municipal representatives, committed citizens and actors from business and society. The most important bodies include the general meeting, the board and an independent project selection committee that decides on the funding of projects. The structure is supplemented by thematic specialist forums that provide impetus for the further development of the region.
In recent years, the chairmanship of the association has been taken over by mayors of the associated municipalities: the first chairman was from 2006 to 2013 Bruno Block, then mayor of Hosenfeld, who died in 2021 at the age of 72. He was followed by Dag Wehner, then mayor of Kalbach, for just one year. Christian Henkel led the regional forum as mayor of Flieden for ten years. Johannes Rothmund (Eichenzell) has been leading the club's fortunes since 2024.
