The special purpose association

A consortium of municipalities

The Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park Association was founded in 2001.

A special-purpose association, as the name almost suggests, is an association formed for the purpose of jointly fulfilling specific tasks. It is often also referred to as inter-municipal cooperation because several municipalities are involved.

In the case of the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park, the special purpose association consists of 11 communities or cities, two districts and the Region Kellerwald-Edersee eV association

The two most important bodies of the Zweckverband Naturpark (Special Purpose Association for the Nature Park) are the board of directors and the general assembly . All organizational matters are laid down in the association's statutes.

Association board

The 11 mayors of the municipalities, two representatives from the two districts, and one member of the association form the board of directors. Every five years, at the beginning of a new term, the board elects a new chairman and two vice-chairmen. District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst has been chairman since February 2022. His vice-chairmen are the two mayors, Frederik Westmeier (Edertal) and Heiko Manz (Jesberg).

The association board meets approximately four times a year for board meetings. In these meetings, current tasks are discussed and important decisions are made.

Association meeting

At the beginning of each term, each municipality and district nominates a representative and a deputy to be sent to the association assembly. A chairperson is also elected at the beginning of this term. Currently, Claudia Ravensburg (Waldeck-Frankenberg district) is the chairperson of the assembly and Martin Dippel (Schwalm-Eder district) is the deputy chairperson.

The meetings usually take place once a year.

In contrast to the board, the association meeting can decide on: changes to the statutes, determination of budget plans, admission and departure of association members, determination of the association levy as well as budgetary and financial matters.