One of our largest supporters and inspirations has passed on. Our whole team and the community of Bangladesh, Kenya wish to offer condolences to the friends and family of Dr. Margrit Kennedy. She deeply understood and exposed the fact that our monetary system was broken. She stated that her work on ecological architecture in 1982 led her to the discovery that it is "virtually impossible to carry out sound ecological concepts on the scale required today, without fundamentally altering the present money system or creating new complementary currencies". Some of our work in Kenya was featured in her recent book, "People Money" which you can find `here <http://www.margritkennedy.de/>`_. Without the help of Dr. Kennedy the team might still be in jail and Bangla-Pesa might not have been relaunched.
We hope to continue her work in the tradition of academic rigor, holistic approaches and creative thinking
From Her website:
As early as 1982 she recognized that the broader application of ecological principals was inhibited by fundamental flaws in the monetary system, especially the consistent need for economic growth resulting from interest and compound interest. Through her continuous research and scrutiny she became an expert on the subject [of Complementary Currencies], working on practical solutions for essential Problems:
Margrit Kennedy (born November 21, 1939, in Chemnitz) is a German architect, professor, environmentalist, author and world authority on and advocate of complementary currencies and an interest- and inflation-free economy. In 2011, she initiated the movement Occupy Money.
Kennedy was an architect with a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning and a Ph.D. in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. She has worked as an Urban Planner in Germany, Nigeria, Scotland and the United States. In 1991, she was appointed Professor of Ecological Building Technologies at the Department of Architecture, University of Hanover.
From her obituary in German here.
On Saturday, Kennedy has died of cancer at the age of 74 years. Kennedy was a warm and charismatic woman who walked curious and interested in their conversation partner. She was also pragmatic. If it was necessary, they could explain their theory in a single minute. Taxi drivers, for example, if the destination was in sight. She was married to the Irish architect Declan Kennedy and lived in the eco-village "life Steyerberg" in Lower Saxony. About three months ago the cancer was diagnosed. Although the strength left, Kennedy was active until the end.
Thank you Dr. Margrit Kennedy for being an inspiration to us all.
