Atlantis was founded just three years ago in the period immediately following Germany's reunification, and by mid-1992, already had 240 people at work in the field of ecology. Their underlying assumption is that it costs less for the state to create jobs than it does to sustain the costs of unemployment. Atlantis is also demonstrating that it costs less economically and environmentally to use renewables and implement source reduction strategies. The employees work for a maximum of two years at one of Atlantis' four different networked sites in the Berlin area. Each site is purposely limited in size and has a transparent and modifiable organizational structure that encourages solidarity.
Departments have autonomous authority over administrative decisions.
In addition to job training and working, each employee studies or teaches other subjects four hours weekly. Social workers are on staff to help regenerate social and psychic energies, an element Atlantis considers integral to their ecological work. As the program's graduates return to their homes across the country, they'll continue their work in environmental technologies. Currently, two of Atlantis' workshops produce solar thermal and photovoltaic products for home and municipal applications. At their administrative offices, passive solar architecture, efficient interiors and drought-resistant landscaping are being developed that utilize new technologies as well as traditional materials and construction techniques.