Study Visits

 


             Photo: Prinzessinnengärten, see: http://prinzessinnengarten.net/about/

There were a number of study visits to showcase community-driven initiatives in Berlin, which form part of urban transformation processes.

  1. Prinzessinnengärten
    A guided tour and hands-on gardening in the Prinzessinnengärten, a community gardening project in Berlin Kreuzberg, on a site which was a wasteland for over half a century. This site is located in the immediate neighborhood of the conference venue.
    Marco Clausen, co-founder of Prinzessinnengarten, will give a guided tour. he will talk about the original idea for this social and ecological space for urban agriculture and how it came into being with the help of hundreds of volunteers. he will explain the main principles and goals of the non-profit organization Nomadic Green.  Its main focus lies in promoting social and environmental policy, especially in the fields of education for sustainable living, resilient food systems, community empowerment and sustainable city development. He will give an overview of the recent struggle to keep the garden and the engagement in city policy making, especially in regard of the usage and management of public property. After the tour, participants  will have the chance to make their hands dirty and work practically in the garden.
     
  2. Aufbau Haus
    A guided tour around the Aufbau Haus, the creative center in Berlin Kreuzberg, and home of our conference venue, the tak.
    The Aufbau Haus at Berlin's Moritzplatz is an innovative new presence in the city's cultural landscape. Following a two-year construction phase, the publishing group Aufbau Verlag (which gave the building its name) took up residence on the upper floors of the renewed building. Modulor, along with its numerous partner companies from the production and service realm (Planet Modulor), occupy the other floors since June 2011. The roughly 17.500 square meters of the Aufbau Haus accommodate a wide variety of contemporary artistic and creative industries. On the rooftop the Kindergarten Wildfang provides all-day child care. Dancers and theater players find rehearsal space in newly build studios and time to share their experiences.
     
  3. ÏMA Design Village and betahaus
    A guided tour of two different coworking spaces for creative minds, the  IMA Design Village  and the betahaus.
    Founded in January 2009, ÏMA Design Village has established itself as a creative community space—an open initiative that seeks to enable exciting platforms for dialogue and production. At a short walking distance lies the betahaus, a coworkingspace offering about 2,000 sqm room for innovations, creativity, events and professional working. Since 1 April 2009 about 200 freelance professionals from the creative scene have been working here and a number of great start ups grew up in the betahaus.
     
  4. Space for Change Bike Tour
    A guided bicycle tour along a selection of Berlin's community-driven transformation hotspots (for the action-oriented biker).
    The tour will start off at Kulturbrauerei, a restored brewery which today houses theatres, a cinema, clubs and event locations, and has become an integral part of Prenzlauer Berg’s cultural scene. Major destinations along the way are the Willner Brewery, hosting artists and exhibits, the Mauerpark, Alexanderplatz, Mediaspree and Project Spree 2011, living examples of Berlin's ongoing transformation.
     
  5. Former Tempelhof Airfield
    A guided outdoor walking tour of the former airfield of Tempelhof, which today is being developed into an urban parkland. It has been open to all since 8 May 2010. Since that time, visitors to the former airport site have particularly enjoyed the luxury of its broad open spaces, located deep within the city. The present form of the open space is a transitional stage and starting-point for what will be an ongoing development process. From this space, once used only for airport operations, publicly developed, multi-use, structured urban parkland will gradually arise. The organization of the International Horticultural Exhibition Berlin 2017 will be a particular milestone on the way to creation of the new park landscape, and will be an important engine in the overall development of "Tempelhofer Freiheit".