The residents of Oberndorf could no longer stand passively by as their village went further and further into decline. The first action was a café run by volunteers. But when the school closes down, the locals and people who had moved there later realised they were facing a much greater challenge. The town needed to make money to keep young families from moving away. With the help of a project developer, they come up with a bold plan and set up a public limited company. They business model is based on liquid manure, which is available in vast quantities. The idea is to build a biogas plant. With the energy, they would raise African catfish – a tasty fish – and build greenhouses to grow exotic fruits like bananas, all in a closed, waste-free system. The idea takes off. But there’s a long way to go before the first fish are ready for market.