Culture

Haushalten e.V.

Heute lebt jeder zweite Mensch weltweit in einer Stadt. Die UN prognostiziert, dass es bis 2050 sogar bereits dreiviertel der Weltbevölkerung sein könnten. Urbanisierung wird damit zu einem Hauptfaktor des Wandels im 21. Jahrhundert. Das stellt uns vor das heute schon vorhandene Problem der fairen Ressourcenverteilung innerhalb des Lebensraums Stadt. Die wohl am härtesten umkämpfte Ressource der Städte ist Raum, genauer bezahlbarer Wohnraum und Räume zur Entfaltung von Ideen.

Bereits heute müssen in Deutschland immer mehr Menschen mehr als die empfohlenen 30% ihres Einkommens für die Miete aufwenden. Damit wird Miete zum Armutsrisiko und Geringverdiener werden immer weiter aus den Innenstädten verdrängt. Dadurch werden sie von einem Großteil der städtischen Infrastruktur und dem sozialen Leben abgeschnitten. Soziale und wirtschaftliche Ausgrenzung sowie räumliche Segregation sind heute unabweisbare Realität. Auf der HABITAT III Konferenz der UN im Jahr 2016 wurde deshalb die „neue urbane Agenda“ beschlossen und „Städte für alle“ als ausgesprochenes Ziel formuliert. Dies meint eine Gleichberechtigung aller BewohnerInnen, was die Nutzung der städtischen Räume angeht. Ebenso wurde anerkannt, „dass Kultur und kulturelle Vielfalt, Quellen der Bereicherung für die Menschheit sind und maßgeblich zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung von Städten, menschlichen Siedlungen und der Bürgerschaft beitragen, indem sie sie befähigen, eine aktive und einzigartige Rolle in Entwicklungsinitiativen zu spielen.“^[1] Darüber hinaus solle Kultur „bei der Förderung und Umsetzung neuer nachhaltiger Konsum- und Produktionsmuster berücksichtigt werden.“^[2]

^[1] United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development: Neue Urbane Agenda; (http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/NUA-German.pdf)

^[2]Ebd.

– Ein Beitrag von Sven Röder

Ein Beispiel für neue Produktionsmuster von Stadtraum bietet der Verein Haushalten e.V. aus Leipzig. Ich habe mich mit Magdalena Friedemann (Magda, Bild unten) getroffen, um mit ihr gemeinsam über die Konzepte und Entwicklung der Initiative zu sprechen.

Magdalena Friedemann, Mitglied bei Haushalten e.V..

Diese besteht seit 2004 und hat sich ursprünglich mit dem Ziel gegründet „an großen Kreuzungen, historischen Eckgebäuden und an historischen Straßen, dem Leerstand ein bisschen entgegenzuwirken und auch eine unkonventionelle Nutzung möglich zu machen“, so Magda.

Anfang der 2000er Jahre war das Stadtbild Leipzigs noch durch Leerstand und zerfallende Gebäude geprägt. Das ist heute kaum vorzustellen, wenn man durch die lebendigen Straßen flaniert, vorbei an sanierten Altbauten, Cafes, kleinen Läden und Kunsträumen. Zu dieser Entwicklung hat auch Haushalten beigetragen. Sie führten das Konzept der Wächterhäuser ein, ein Modell um leerstehende Altbauten vor dem Zerfall zu retten und in eine kreative und nicht-kommerzielle Nutzung zu überführen. Dafür gingen sie damals in Kooperation mit der Stadtverwaltung auf Eigentümer zu, denen oftmals selbst das Geld fehlte die Objekte in unattraktiver Lage zu sanieren.

Leerstand mit der Möglichkeit zur Nutzung als Atelier für Künstler:Innen.

Die Idee ist simpel: Man setzt einen sogenannten »Wächter« ein, der/die nach dem Haus schaut und im besten Fall kleinere Reparaturen erledigen kann oder bescheid gibt, wenn etwas kaputt geht. „Diese Person und vielleicht noch ein, zwei andere haben dann auch die Möglichkeit das Haus für sich zu nutzen. Andere Nutzer die reingehen nutzen dann die Flächen eher kreativ“, erklärt Magda. Diese Nutzung ist als temporäre angelegt und dient dazu die leerstehenden Häuser wieder mit Leben zu füllen. Die Nutzungsdauer von in der Regel fünf bis zehn Jahren wird „vorher mit den EigentümerIn gemeinsam abgeklärt, grade wenn sich der Eigentümer nicht sicher ist, ob er das Objekt längerfristig auf nicht-kommerzieller Basis fortführen kann.“ So entstehen kostengünstige Räume für KünstlerInnen, HandwerkerInnen oder andere Vereine, die auf günstige Flächen angewiesen sind. Diese erhalten einen gewerblichen Mietvertrag mit der Zusage die Räume für den vorher festgelegten Zeitraum zu nutzen und dafür lediglich die Nebenkosten zu zahlen.

Haushalten fungiert dabei als Ansprechpartner und Mittler zwischen den NutzerInnen und EigentümerInnen, gerade wenn es um den Ausbau der Objekte geht. Viele der Häuser wurden nach Ablauf der Wächter-Nutzung dann wieder in Wohnraum umgewandelt und in den Wohnungsmarkt integriert. Andere sind an die NutzerInnen übergegangen und wurden zu Hausprojekten. Es sei jedoch wichtig die Nutzungsdauer zu respektieren, da man nur so überhaupt Eigentümer für diese Form der Nutzung gewinnen könne. „Man muss halt damit rechnen, dass dieser vor 5-10 Jahren festgelegte Gestattungsvertrag auch nicht weiter verlängert wird. Es ist nun mal nur ne temporäre Nutzung. Aber wir versuchen da immer zu vermitteln soweit es möglich ist“, erklärt Magda.

Seit den frühen 2000er Jahren habe sich jedoch einiges geändert. Einerseits ist die Initiative inzwischen bekannt genug, damit EigentümerIn von selbst auf sie zutreten und anfragen, ob ihre Objekte nicht für die Modelle des Vereins geeignet wären. „Nicht jede Eigentümeridee passt zu unserem Konzept, sodass wir auch sagen müssen und sagen können, das passt einfach nicht in die finanziellen Vorstellungen unserer Nutzer“, beschreibt Magda. Auf der anderen Seite floriert die Stadt inzwischen und hat die höchste Wachstumsrate Europas. Damit haben sich auch die Bedürfnisse der NutzerInnen verändert — Wohnraum ist heute mehr gefragt. Deshalb hat Haushalten auch neue Modelle entwickelt, allen voran die Ausbauhäuser. Diese fokussieren sich ausschließlich auf Wohnraum, den sich die BewohnerInnen selbst gestalten können. Dabei können die EigentümerIn den Wunsch nach einer bestimmten Bewohnerschaft formulieren, zum Beispiel Familien. Anschließend führt der EigentümerIn eine Grundsanierung durch, die dann als Kaltmiete umgelegt wird. Dabei wird darauf geachtet, dass diese unter der städtischen Vergleichsmiete bleiben muss. „ Das sind so die größten Kosten, die erst einmal abgedeckt werden müssen. Und ab diesem Zeitpunkt, wenn die Leitungen dann alle vorbereitet sind, ist der Spielraum dann doch sehr groß. Möchte der Nutzer oder die Nutzerin sein Highend-Luxusbad, was er selbst gestalten kann oder reicht dem die gefundenen Fließen mit der gefundenen Sanitäreinrichtung“, berichtet Magda mit einem Lachen.

Ein leerstehendes Gebäude welches zum Wächterhaus umfunktioniert wurde.

So werden keine Gewinne auf Seiten der EigentümerInnen erzielt und sie müssen sich auch nichts aus dem eigenen Fleisch schneiden. „Gerade dieses Konzept des Ausbauhauses, diese niederschwellige Sanierung ermöglicht es dann auch auf lange Zeit Quadratmeterpreise festzulegen und auf lange Zeit die Leute dort planen zu lassen, wie viel sie selber dort auch reinstecken können an Material. Und dann kommt man immer noch, selbst wenn man das Material oben drauf rechnet, auf ne super günstige Miete“, sagt Magda stolz.

Daneben hat die Initiative vor einigen Jahren noch die Atelierhäuser ins Leben gerufen. Diese sind Flächen ausschließlich für die Kunst und nutzen alte Industriestandorte, die sonst kaum eine Verwendung finden würden. Sie bieten Flächen zwischen 250 und 600m² für die Präsentation von Kunst, aber auch kleinere Räume, die KünstlerInnen als Ateliers nutzen. So werden riesige Fläche die Jahrelang ungenutzt waren wieder aktiviert. „Und die Kunst, das tut erst mal niemandem weh.“

Ein Atelierhaus in Leipzig.

Bei all diesen Modellen kann sich prinzipiell jede/r erst einmal als NutzerIn bewerben. Auswahlkriterium kann dann, sofern vorhanden, eine präferierte Zielgruppe der Eigentümer sein. Sonst obliegt es dem Verein die BewerberInnen auszuwählen. „Im Optimalfall kennen sich dann schon Leute, die zu den Besichtigungen kommen, sodass sich von alleine Hausgemeinschaften ergeben. Das erleichtert dann den Auswahlprozess. Sonst sitzen wir auch als Verein zusammen und überlegen, wie wir da am besten entscheiden können“, erklärt Magda. Dabei schauen sie, aus welcher Motivation heraus und mit welchen handwerklichen Fähigkeiten oder Möglichkeiten die BewerberInnen an das Projekt herantreten. „Da es bei uns um Wohnen geht, um ne kreative Nutzung, ist der Background sowieso erst mal egal. Da geht’s darum, dass man nicht zwei linke Hände hat. Passt man ins kreative Nutzungskonzept? Und wenn das passt und man sich jetzt nicht schon die komplette Etage zum Feind gemacht hat bei der Vorbesichtigung vom Haus, dann hat man erst mal gute Chancen, sag ich mal. Da hat jede/r gute Chancen“.

Illustration eines Wächterhauses, durch die multiplen Funktionen kommt leben in die Leerstände, was sich positiv auf das Stadtbild auswirken kann.

Durch die clevere Umnutzung von Leerstand liefert Haushalten mit ihren Modellen ein gutes Beispiel, wie das Ziel der UN-Kampagne „Stadt für alle“ lokal realisiert werden kann. Hier geht es um die Gestaltung von Stadtraum nach den Wünschen und Möglichkeiten der NutzerInnen, ohne dabei eine enorme finanzielle Schwelle zu errichten. Das ist es auch, was Magda sich für die Entwicklungen von Städten wünscht: „Es ist nicht immer nötig alles tot zu sanieren. Vielleicht würde so vielen Menschen eine weniger durchsanierte Bude reichen, aber weil es der Standard geworden ist und Städte sich natürlich auch gewinnorientiert entwickeln möchten, haben Menschen garnicht mehr die Möglichkeit sich niederschwellige Räume zu gestalten. Dabei ist die Stimme der MieterInnen bzw. NutzerInnen echt interessant. Ich wünsche mir, dass vielleicht auch tatsächlich die MieterIn gefragt werden, ob es in deren Interesse ist, bevor ein riesiges Projekt entsteht oder die BewohnerInnen gefragt werden, ob das Projekt in ihren Augen in den Stadtteil passt.“

Wir danken Magda und den anderen engagierten Menschen hinter Haushalten e.V. für ihren Support!

Häuser
erhalten.
Räume
eröffnen!

Für mehr infos:http://www.haushalten.org

Text und Bilder: Sven Röder und Haushalten e.V.

Illustration und Design: Julian Kolodziey

Bahar explained us how he started his ecotourism project

Ju27872 Culture 0

Turkey

Bahar explained us how he started his ecotourism project

What is ecotourism?

Ecotourism is a way of alternative tourism that focuses on responsible small scale tourism which sustains the well-being of the local people. The idea is to minimize impacts on the environment and on the same way it educates to build environmental and cultural awareness.

In general it sounds simple: buy your own property, dig little bit deeper into gardening, make an account on workaway, invite young volunteers who are realizing your dream and after a while you might reach whatever you are striving for. But is it that simple? In Turkey we’ve met Bahadir Bahar, a 34 years old primary school teacher, who just started to realize his dream of a small organic farm, where people can come, meet and share their experiences. But how did he make it? We asked Bahadir some questions to share his background, how he realized his small organic farm and what does it take to make everything applicable. We hope this one can help you to start with your own project.

Sima and Julian: “Hello Bahadir how are you?”

Bahadir: “Thanks guys, I am fine.”

Julian: “Why did you want to have an eco farm?”

Bahadir: “Well I was always interested in nature and organic food. If you buy something from the market or wherever, you oftentimes don‘t know where it really comes from. So I decided to produce my own natural food without any additives like chemicals. Basically it was my dream and way of living my life, with pure nature, natural healthy food a slow life with all of my friends. I got the idea that with having a eco farm, I can meet up with people who got similar ideas.”

Sima: ”For how long have you been doing this? ”

Bahadir: “I started the project 4 years ago when I bought the land. Honestly, for the first time I had the project on my mind 12 years ago. I was planning, collecting ideas and gathering informations about vegetables and how a permaculture works, which was not popular at that time here in Turkey. Now it becomes more popular in Turkey.”

Overview of some buildings of the farm.

Julian: “Was it easy to implement everything?”

Bahadir: “No, it wasn‘t so easy after I bought the land but once you believe in something and take the first step, then it starts. When you start with a team it‘s a lot easier. If you are alone and just by yourself, it is way more difficult. You have to coordinate yourself, nothing is scheduled, you have to manage everything by yourself. I could just work for the project on the weekend because of my job.“

Sima: “What was the biggest challenge?”

Bahadir: “I think the construction of the houses. I made a contract with the woodmen, they never made the things on time. I had lots of issues with people, because you have to manage everything to make things on point. Everyone wants just money, which is a basic problem in Turkey. Sometimes they had a 5 month delay to finish something. “

Sima: “Do you have any suggestions for others?”

Bahadir: “The location is very important. You have to know who your neighbours are, you might learn a lot from them or might have to face compromises to keep a healthy connection to them. It is very important to have access and enough fresh water on your piece of land.”

Julian: “Why do you use workaway?”

Bahadir: “It is nice to meet people from all over the world, to learn different point of views, it is inspiring. Workaway gives you the chance to meet people from all around the world, it strengthens the cultural exchange. Many people who came have similar projects or even want to develop those, because here they learn how it works in practise and may combine or learn about the difficulties for their own projects.”

View on his wooden houses to accomondate volunteers and guests.

Julian: “What about support, do you got any support by someone? How much was workaway involved in that procedure?“

Bahadir: “The volunteers who came here helped me a lot. The colombians for example made a pathway and a small road, the french guys helped me with the production of wine and with painting. I mean two weeks of volunteering here is not enough to maintain everything. Especially in summer, because it was super hot during the day so you just have a short time frame to work on something.”

Sima: “How do you finance this project?”

Bahadir:“Yeah, my salary was definitely not enough, you can not make this with just 900 € in a month. So I got support by my family. I think you get the money back in some years with eco tourism.

Sima: “Can you live self-sufficient or do you have to buy any externalities from the market for example?”

Bahadir: “No not really. So for example exotic fruits or beer i buy at the market, since now I am also not producing my own milk so this will be an upcoming task.”

Julian: “Where do you see yourself and the project in the future?”

Bahadir: “I am at the beginning now, I have to learn much more. In nature you learn so many new things, you defenitely feel yourself more alive. You consume your own products and then replant them for the next generation, it‘s like a circle. This makes you really calm. What I miss here is to share everything with someone, like my own family. Anyways in the future I want to combine teaching , with my gardening project to show how important nature is and that we are all able to produce our own food.”

Beeboxes to keep the bees as helpful pollinators.

Julian: “Looking back, if you would start your project today, what would you do differently?”

Bahadir: ”I travelled to some farms, I could have travelled more to other places and farms which would have made stuff more easier. I would have loved to gain a deeper knowledge about how to run a garden from others, but this is something no one will teach you. Of course it takes much of practise and the real live shows you where the boundaries are, but I think it is important to share this knowledge. Especially because the majority of people here in Turkey think that you should start with gardening when you retire and that it is impossible to start gardening before.“

Finally we asked Bahar what makes his project “casa do sol” so special and why people should come to his place? He just answered:
“Everything starts by dreaming. People feel so calm and relax here by being in the pure nature, this makes it special for me.”

Simple sheme to show the relation between bees and the bee keeper.

In just four years, nearby Cesme in Turkey, Bahar developed a beautiful eco farm on a small hill next to the mediterranean sea. With a total size of 15000 square metres, having four stone houses and 4 wooden houses for hosting volunteers, friends and people around the world who are interested to learn more about a nature connected and self sufficient life, Bahar has definitely created his dream on this piece of land. Still under construction he already hosts 100 olive trees which he uses to produce his own olive oil. He accommodates 80 different fruit trees and produces almost 15 different types of vegetables. He is keeping his own bees, chickens and of course producing his own vine. Nowadays he is almost able to live completely self sufficient just because a small idea in his mind became to growth.

Bahadir Bahar who developed this project.

We wish you all the best Bahar, thank you for eveything, we will definitely come back to your lovely project one day. To get further informations about his project and how to visit check out links below:

workaway:

https://www.workaway.info/

Email:

evrimbahar@yahoo.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/agroturizm_baharbahce/

Nature, Culture

Ecotourism Bahar Baçe in Çeşme.

We asked Bahadir some questions to share his background, how he realized his small organic farm and what does it take to make everything applicable. We hope this one can help you to start with your own project…

German English

E-mobility solution made in Freiburg

Ju27872 Culture 0

crowded streets, traffic jams, noise and pollution – today it’s part of our everyday urban life.

Factors that certainly not only reduce the quality of life in a city, but also contribute to global warming. According to the UN, more than 75% of all people are expected to live in metropolitan areas by 2050. Some ways of facing these social, economic and environmental challenges and to cope with this development is using more public transport, an increasing range of sharing concepts, as well as the expansion of the bicycle infrastructure. Some cities are reacting to this change with so-called „green zones“. Other’s try to ban traffic from the City centers.

Nevertheless, the growing issue remains, traffic is a huge challenge.
It is difficult to deliver products punctually in urban areas, and residents and workers equally stand in daily tough competition for the few available parking spaces.

New traffic solutions and concepts are needed in conjunction with city structures and planning, especially in urban traffic zones in order to be able to react better.

In Denzlingen, just a few minutes from Freiburg, mobility will be tackled by a new concept for the future. ‘Carla Cargo’ – a start-up which produces bike trailers and handcarts designed for larger loads, the idea has already began to grow.

Normally, such weights of goods are only transported with vans that unlike the Carlas cannot enter the pedestrian areas. The aim of Carla Cargo is, making a climate friendly solution for the urban life and gradually replace cars from the inner city area.

From a hobby project, which at the request of one of the largest SoLaWi `s of Germany, the Gartencoop, was born, and developed in recent years as a small start-up, with their new innovations in Transportation for daily urban problems. The Gartencoop, with its fields is located far outside the city center of Freiburg therefore it is dependent on a suitable transport method of their goods. The idea to bring the vegetables in an environmentally friendly way into the city and thus to support the garden scooter, was ultimately the first Carla. „I saw that the vegetables are transported by bicycles and then we looked at it with an engineering perspective, what could be optimized on the existing system?
The realization came quickly that we definitely need an new brake system,“explains Markus Bergmann, founder of Carla Cargo and sympathiser of Gartencoop.

„The beginning was difficult. Many prototypes were made, a lot of trials, testing and we welded into the nights .“Markus and his small team soon realised that without financial support the reality of the project would not have been possible. He came up with the idea of Crowdfunding, i.e. the support of a community, to advance and make the project a reality. Using crowdfunding they collected about 7000 € which in the implementation and further elaboration of the idea helped decisively.
In 2015, a first functional prototype was created, representing a completely new concept. The feedback of this novel product was great, but with the collected funds it was only the beginning.
„From a >>“ Hippie idea „<< we have become business people.“ More Carlas’ should see the light of the world.

Markus and his team followed the ideology, using open source blueprints of the Carlas for everyone accesable. Due to the swarm intelligence of the masses, the Carlas should be further developed and optimized. ”Unfortunately, the open source concept brought not the desired impact, we just received little input from the swarm intelligence.“ For Markus, Open Source is not as easy to implement with hardware or products than software. „It was difficult, added with the economic pressure. There were about 20 Carlas’ worldwide according to the manual built. As a result, ideas have come in, but they can not be directly implemented or economically exploited.“

Nevertheless, Carla Cargo should remain as a concept open source, despite the lack of a patent and with added Competitors in this field. Another thought of the free availability was to simply see more Carlas in the world. „Every Carla replaces a car in urban surrounding. This creates less CO² – that was our biggest motivation. “

Therefore, in order to found the company and to be able to produce more Carlas, a loan had to be taken. With the credit the economic pressure grew on Markus and his team. Carla Cargo is currently instructed to have its parts developed in Denzlingen manufactured in Europe and Asia. 2016, 60 frames have been ordered from Poland. Brake-system parts come from Hungary. The exchangeable batteries, which are installed in a Carla come from China. The lithium probably won in Africa. „That the lithium is won in Africa, probably under severe conditions for the workers, of course, we do not find well. We are aware and we are looking for better solutions. “To found the company and to be able to produce more Carlas, a loan had to be taken.

At Carla Cargo`s production in Denzlingen.

In the future, the Carlas are no longer dependent to suppliers from Europe and Asia. A Carla „Made in Germany“, directly in the Black Forest is Markus wish. To make more sustainable Carlas However, higher volumes are needed. “Due to the low number of pieces, it is not currently possible to lower prices. Recently a SoLaWi called us and their concept was similar to the garten coop. Of course we were excited and see such projects as a dream client, but they wanted the Carla without financial compensation, which caused of the economic pressure was not possible for us.“

„The Carla is simply worth its price,“ explains Markus. There are currently about 100 Carlas in the Circulation. 100 more will be added this year. The use of the carla is diverse and creative. After only three years, the Carla has other uses as its means for companies, mobile beehives and used as a dining and music cars for example.

We asked where he sees the future of his project, Markus replied: „We have a top motivated Team, we will go ahead step by step. We do not want to get stuck on innovation, but continue to improve it. We do not know yet, where the journey with Carla Cargo goes. I would like, to see more movement towards e-mobility in Germany in general. Rental stations for Carlas would be for example, a topic of the future.“

We are sure that Carlas will shape urban traffic in the future. With Carlas the mobility behavior of suppliers could significantly changes and thus large amounts of CO² could be saved. With the help of their flexibility, it can be appropriate to the characteristics of the urban surroundings. We hope that many Carlas will see the light of day and thus the future plans of Carla Cargo will be realized. We thank Markus and his team sincerely for the Insights at Carla Cargo.

Links

www.carlacargo.com

Culture

Carla Cargo in Denzlingen

Carla Cargo is a young start-up which produces electric supported cargo-trailors to tackle the nowadays chaos in urban surroundings. The idea is to change the transportation to realise it almost emission free. Read more in the article and get inspired!

German English

Know your food!

Ju27872 Culture 0

Jena

Nowadays, in our globalized world, most people are alienated from the food they consume. One is used to go to the supermarket and get everything s/he wants. Oftentimes we don’t know – or it is simply of no interest to us – where our food comes from or which fruits and vegetables are in the season. We even don‘t have a clue about how those plants look like on the field or in the wild.. But there are some initiatives that try to tackle this issue and change the way people think about and consume their food.

To meet up and learn more about that, we have been in the City of Jena in Thüringen and talked to the founders of some of the local initatives.
Precisly, we looked at three urban gardening projects in Jena, marked as red leafes on the map. But what actually is urban gardening?

Urban gardening is the process of growing plants of all types and varieties in an urban environment. Urban gardening, which is also known as urban horticulture or urban agriculture, encompasses several unique gardening concepts, including Container gardening, Indoor gardening, Community gardening, Guerilla Gardening and Greenroofs.

I sat down with Roland Bischof, a biologist from Jena, who is part of a few of those initiatives, and talked to him about the projects he’s engaging in. Initially having come to Jena to study Biology in 2002, Roland came back in 2009 and since has been working in the field of agronomic research and education. After the research projects lessened, he wanted to expand his scope ofactivities, starting to work with farmers, schools and engineering offices to make the most of hisknowledge. This is how he came to work with the local projects Solidarische Landwirtschaft („Community Supported Agriculture“) and Essbare Stadt („Edible City“).

This is one Urban-Gardening spot at the Eichplatz „Gemeinschaftsgarten“ in Jena nearby the Jentower.

The latter, Essbare Stadt, is a projec t which, starting in 2009, tries to achieve a closer connection between the local growers and the consumers, minimizing the transpor t distance of the food. Work ing together with a local gardening center and integrating handicapped people, the registered association cultivates an area of 2000 m². At the beginning of the year, all those who are interested (up to 25 parties) can buy holdings of the harvest for around 480 Euro, guaranteeing the deliver y of one box of fresh and seasonal vegetables and fruits per week – if available, even juices and honey.

Thus, as shown on the left, it is a perfect example of a regional economy: Locals connect to regional growers through financial support and in return the growers cultivate and harvest vegetables and other products for them.

Naturally, the amount of food they get varies throughout the year: “During summer and autumn, it is oftentimes more food then the customers alone could eat themselves. If that is the case they share it with others, for example inviting friends for dinner“, explains Roland, who supervises the plant cultivation. In the winter months, the customers get a box every two weeks only, because of the lower yields. “You get more excited about the products if they are not available all throughout the year. You get a greater appreciation for the goods.“ All costumers have the possibility to visit the fields and take a look at the plants and how they are grown.

The Essbare Stadt collective pursues a pretty similar concept. People who are growing up and living in the city sometimes have not seen the matching plant to the food they consume in everyday life. A simple reason for that is that usually those plants do not grow in an urban surrounding – unlike the Essbare Stadt. The collective was founded in 2013 by around five people who had heard from this idea that had been established in other cities before. The idea is simple: Use urban areas to grow fruits and vegetables, thus people are able to see how it is done! Furthermore, some people may see that it is possible to use even a very small area to grow food and to not always have to rely on supermarkets. This is what Roland emphasises about the project: “For me, the educational part of this project is the most important. You probably will not grow enjoyable food right next to a busy road. “When founded, the collective approached the public authorities to ask which areas could be used for the project and, after about half a year, they achieved an agreement. “The areas were not ideal, but we made the best out of them“, explains Roland. They now look after three areas in the city, with two people responsible for each. They meet once per week to discuss upcoming events, oftentimes right in the concerning areas and work on
developing them afterwards. One of those areas is located right in the city center, next to the biggest parking lot of the town. With flowers and different shrubs they transformed it into a place where people now enjoy the sun and pick strawberries, naturally for free, between the shopping centers. The project furthermore addresses the community spirit, which is about usingthe city together. Even some local companies joined the movement and put little raised beds in front of their offices.

Roland Bischof

If you drew some inspiration from those projects and maybe want to start similar ones in your city, Roland advises threesteps: “First search for allies, because together you are more likely to convince people of your concept – especially the officals. Secondly, inform yourselves about how other people tackledsuch projects and, believe me,there are lots of them. Once you are well prepared, go to the citys‘ officials and pitch them your idea.“

Here is some information about the projects that were mentioned in this article:

www.wurzelwerke-jena.com
www.jenaparadieschen.wordpress.com
www.essbarestadtjena.tumblr.com
www.ecolife.com

Nature, Culture

Urban Gardening in Jena

Jena is just an example how some initiatives try to change the relation between food and their consumers. Oftentimes people don´t know where their food comes from and what is the matching plant to the fruit or which fruits and vegetables are in season. Urban Gardening tries to tackle this issues…

German English

Gartencoop – SoLaWi based in Freiburg

Ju27872 Culture, Nature 0

Ronny, with his forest garden project of Permakultur Dreisamtal e.V., got us to think about how globally the existential question of food could be solved in the future. In Freiburg, we found an agricultural project which represents a model of how we can shape an alternative way of living with humans, the earth, plants and animals in order to contribute to societal change. It‘s about changing the food production so that environmental, resource-saving production methods and strengthened of small-scale structures are created.

The Garten Coop sees itself as part of a movement of solidary agriculture and is organized in a democratic way. Their goal is to produce healthy food that can be produced independently as possible from market pressures. In addition, the harvests are distributed equally within the community and regardless of the income of its members. Fairness and good working conditions for gardeners and farmers are the central aspects of the association.

In 2009 spurred on by such visions, a community of equal interests came together, so that only two years later, a lease agreement for a nine-hectare land could be signed in Tunsel near Breisach. The Garten Coop started with 170 members and grew up to 260 members today. The running costs of the whole project will be supported by the principle of „common economy“. This means that the financial burden is shared by all members and everyone is equally involved in collective ownership.

Film tunnel for vegetables in Tunsel nearby Breisach.

The infrastructure of the farm in Tunsel set many things and gave the borders of the project. The farm has several large barns for housing agricultural machinery and production resources which is own by the Community. In the middle of the courtyard is a large container that is used by the gardeners and members as an office, operations center and kitchen. After harvesting, the vegetables get washed in the yard and processed for bringing them to Freiburg. The aim of the Garten Coop is to produce climate-friendly and locally. For this purpose, a separate storage room and the production of their own fertilizers is essential. Cows provide the fertilizer for the field, thus creating a closed production cycle. The Garten Coop takes care of the animals, even if one gets sick, the community decides how the situation is handled. The cultivation of the varieties will also be decided together.

Here you get your equipment for the different tasks on the field.

But how does the association manage to supply all of the 270 members?

Lukas, one of the gardeners, told us about the beginnings, in his lecture about the cultivation planning of the Garten Coop: “In 2011, there was no concrete cultivation plan. First, 170 lettuces – one per member – should be harvested weekly. Only 2 hectares were planted with the best soil quality, the rest of the 9 hectares was first planted with clover grass to promote the humus structure. In the second year, a cultivation plan was developed to serve 300 households.”

Fabian, a gardener has designed a plan for a twelve-year crop rotation. Various plant varieties are divided into strong and low-growing crops. The cultivation phases are then adapted to the nutritional needs of the plants. In the foil tunnel, the crop rotation changes every six years. Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, salads, corn, kohlrabi, arugula, radishes, beetroot and sweet potatoes are grown here.

Strongly nutrient-demanding plants are plants such as pumpkin and cabbage. Medium nutrient-demandings are carrots and spinach, for example. Weak nutrients-demandings are legumes, herbs and cress. Fertilizing with clover which will planted in the field.

As the financing of the cultivation is carried by all members, growing the vegetables can be independently of yield and competition. This concept makes it possible to grow not only high-performance varieties, and thus contributes to the preservation of rare vegetables. These are immensely important for biodiversity. „In our project, we have the freedom for cultivation experiments, but it has nevertheless an agricultural pragmatism, so in the tomato example, we have the main variety Tika. Tika accounts for about half of the stock, there are still 3-4 minor varieties and a few varieties of trial, „says Lukas. „It‘s about whether the plants are profitable and able to supply the community, but they are not sick and that they can be distributed well. It is especially important that they do not burst too fast.“

The lecture by Lukas is exemplary for the communication between the cultivation team and the members. Why were certain crops selected and why do only certain vegetables end up in the boxes at the distribution point?

Fresh spinach in the box is ready to wash.

Currently, the Garten Coop produces flour and different vegetables, but they can`t afford a complete supply because the yard area is not big enough, or the plants wouldn’t simply not grow there, like cacao or bananas, which are inseparable part of life quality for many people. Not all wishes can be put into reality, for example, nutmegs pumpkins or strawberries, would grow magnificently in Tunsel, only the further processing or harvest would be too much work. „In principle, however, anything is possible, if only enough dedicated members will be find,“ says one of the gardeners Vincent to us in an interview.

„In the Garten Coop quite different realities comes together. It‘s a compromise between people‘s utopias and the reality. We must find compromises, how we can put these things together. “

As there was a high turnover among members and there were also changes in the team of gardeners, it is particularly important that the communication between the cultivation team and the remaining members works well. Via an e-mail distribution list, members receive news about the field and are invited to events and member operations.

Lukas, who has been a long time part of the project, will soon leave the Garten Coop. „We had some conflicts in the team, which was also because there were many changes. There are certainly 15 different gardeners who are working in different constellations here. Despite such conflicts, we are now entering the 8th year and the project exists and operates at a certain size and is still in a process of progress. Different working groups are contributing, and I think that is very important, because this idealistic cultivation can only take place when people take the self-governing cooperative seriously and invest time. „

The Garten Coop is a flagship project in solidarity agriculture, with a strong involvement of members at all levels. Not only on the field, but also in the organization. Different working groups have been formed in order to be able to solve the different tasks.

Organization how the harvested food will be brought to Freiburg.

Values are taught through educational events, such as crop or cultural care assignments. Each member should come to at least four missions a year. „That shows just how much work is needed until the carrot is on the plate, it must be sown and flamed, will be weeded by hand and chopped, then comes the harvest and so we have some of it in the winter, it is stored in the cellar. For distribution, it is then taken out again and washed. That‘s a lot of work steps and if you know what you mean, that‘s again a whole different appreciation for food, „says Vincent.

During the assignments, the agricultural practice will be introduced under guidance in different areas. From the dunging of the stables and liberate the plants from the weeds, to the harvesting of spinach leaves, experience can be gained in many ways. Most of the missions begin in the early morning. After a few hours you meet for coffee or tea. With a light meal in the stomach, it goes back to the field until there is a delicious lunch that is always cooked from the fresh vegetables harvested on the field. Especially it is nice to talk with the others on the field while working, this strengthens the sense of community.

During the spinach harvesting on the field.

In the future, the Garten Coop wishes further cooperations. From the Demeter nursery Piluweri, which is one of their cooperation partners, they received, young plants for example. In addition, there is the possibility that they give their own seeds to Piluweri. Collaborations like this shows how important good networking is.

Not only the anticipation to cycle to the distribution point at the weekend, to pick up the delicious vegetables and to prepare it together with your friends, but also the opportunity to get involved, participate and learn makes the Garten Coop so special for us. We are curious how the Garten Coop will evolve in the future and we are looking forward to support them in the upcoming tasks.

Links
https://gartencoop.org/
https://solidarische-landwirtschaft.org

Nature, Culture

Garten Coop in Freiburg

Garten Coop sees itself as a member of the movement solidary acriculture. How we can shape an alternative way of living with humans, the earth, plants and animals in order to contribute to societal change? The Garten Coop wants a change in food production so that environmental, resource-saving production methods and strengthened of small-scale structures are created.

German English

Zusammenleben e.V.

Ju27872 Culture, Humans, Nature 0

Freiburg

In the south of Germany lies Freiburg im Breisgau, a city that hosts many different sustainable projects for humans, culture and the environment. It is an inspiring place, filled with great spirit and therefore what we as Funkenwerkstatt call our home: From here we want to establish our sustainable network and connect people.
No matter if exploring the partly car-free district of Vauban or communities such as the Grether area, Freiburg`s people are just like the city, open and inviting and fully committed to actively shaping the place. Thus, it was not a surprise that when we were in search of a repair cafe in the Grether area, we encountered a special place called Strandcafe. There we came in touch with the team of zusammen leben e.V., and immediately, we realized that this is an ideal starting point for our magazine. Zusammen leben e.V. is an initiative that aims at connecting people of different ethical backgrounds, cultures and lives by offering a welcoming space to them. Through diverse projects and a wide range of programs, visitors are introduced to a culture of sharing and living together. The association’s basic principles are the three aspects of social, cultural and a more sustainable understanding of each other.

This concept is realized through the threefold projects: zusammen Kaffee, zusammen kultur and zusammen garten.
Everyone is welcome in the „zusammen Kaffee“, which opens its doors at the Strandcafe in the Grether area from Tuesday to Thursday. It is a cafe that is entirely based on donations, an idea that originated by the „Caffè sospeso“. In addition, it invests its profits in free food for those in need. But not only is it truly collective and social because of its financial approach, also the integrative concept is extraordinary: The cafe involves people from all over the world in the cooking process, and thus obtains various meals from different parts of the world, leading to an outstanding culinary delight. Additionally, group tables in the interior invite visitors to start chatting. Hence, a space is created in which people can communicate regardless of their background and get connected. „It builds equality and allows us all to sit around a table, share meals together.

It is an integrative approach that I find very beautiful. I am already excited whom I will get to know and talk to in the upcoming weeks“, explains Hannah, a young student from Freiburg we addressed at the café.
What someone pays for the meal is at his or her own discretion. A donation of just 5€ for example covers the entire costs for the dish. Everything that is paid in addition, is spent on a free meal. Dishes vary moreover on a daily basis. Tuesdays for instance, Syrian food is served and Wednesdays are aligned to the Vietnamese cuisine. People from the respective countries then prepare the traditional meals. These are often refugees who then receive the possibility to share some of the culture and heritage they had to leave behind.The ingredients

used in the dishes are all organic and locally sourced, with exceptions for exotic ingredients due to a lack of availability. In addition to the culinary offer, the cafe also invites to a series of cultural events in order to further expand and promote the exchange of culture and people.
„This place should be like a journey without movement, where people can come in contact with each other over different tastes, music and ideas.“ shares Leo, co-founder of zusammen leben e.V. and bartender in the cafe her vision.

How can someone actively participate in the lives and access the stories of people from other countries? According to zusammen leben e.V., a big step is the cultural understanding of the countries of origins of everyone in the community. Therefore, collaborative mediums like „singing together“ and „together onstage“ are offered. Folk instruments and songs that provide a sense of cultural origins of the musicians are then being played, giving an idea of the diversity of the world. Hence, people can share their stories and establish an exchange over ideas and life events at zusammen Kafee.

The open stage invites everyone to get in contact with new culture and people, bring their own instruments and express their stories. These stories are additionally translated in the respective languages, so that not only contents are transmitted, but also as authentic as possible the feelings and emotions from the countries.

At the village brook in the Vauban district, the zusammen garten is located. Since July 2016, many small ideas have come together on a plot with an area of approx. 3500 square meters. The garden is mainly divided into two large sections: The first section consists of small garden plots, which are arranged crescent-shaped. This part of the garden is used privately. Anyone who would like to participate in the project can plant and design his/her own plot here. Whatever the plot in the end throws off can then be kept for personal use. The second large section of the garden consists of a communal garden, which is also groomed and peeled collectively. Unlike the individual parcels, the harvested vegetables are also used for joint cooking events or for „zusammen Kaffee‘s“ joint table.

If one follows the gravel paths that surround the beds, he/she comes across an herb snail: A twisted herb bed that spirals upwards just like snail shell. Due to the different heights and positions of the herbs, an optimal light supply of the different plants is taken into account. Herbs that require a lot of light are at the top of the spiral, for example thyme. Another advantage of the herbal snail is that different plant species, which actually prefer different locations due to differences in soil, can thus be grown on the same area. Along the way you pass a fireplace that invites you to join in the cooking. The fireplace is the central point in the garden and is connected to the „Geodome“.
The term „geodome“ refers to a geodesic dome fully covered with transparent foil. Through the translucent foil, the „geodome“ warms up inside, so that the construct works just like a greenhouse.

Its spherical and triangular struts design is very stable against weather and earthquakes. The construction also ensures better air circulation and sound distribution compared to conventional greenhouses. In addition, the „Geodome“ is used for events in the evening as it heats up quickly and stores the heat.

The herb snail in the garden, planted with thyme and co.

Insights in the garden: Some common areas are displayed in the foreground, the „Geodome“ can be seen in the background.

Schematic representation from the utilization of excremental products up to its reuse as nutrient for plants.

In zusammen garten, a humus toilet is currently under construction, which is jointly designed and built by the society. The „humus toilet“ is barrier-free so that even wheelchair users have access to the toilet via a ramp. Excrements are then separated: The urine migrates into an external container and can be tapped off there with a pouring can as an extra phosphate dispenser for peas. In turn, the feces are composted and used as a nutrient basis for plants. This actively creates a cycle between man and nature.

Another project in the garden is a separate mushroom breed. Nutrient and suitable for mushroom breed are mainly hardwood species such as beech and oak. However, mushroom growing is also possible with fruit and natural woods. Mainly oyster mushrooms and herb saplings as well as chestnut mushrooms are harvested. The cultivation is carried out by means of biological injections, which are used in a suitable tree trunk. Depending on the type of fungus, the first fungi develop in early or late autumn depending on the external conditions.

Together with its three aspects, „zusammen Kaffee“, „zusammen kultur“ and „zusammen garten“, zusammen leben e.V. combines all the topics that we as Funkenwerkstatt tried to highlight in our categories “Humans“, „Culture“ and „Nature“. Hence, zusammen leben e.V. shows that in an association, the combination of these three topics is possible! We thank the whole association for the interesting exchange, the joint work and the opportunity to present our first article of Funkenwerkstatt about them.

The heads behind zusammen leben e.V. from left to right: Leonora Lorena, Johanna Dangel, Stefanie Koch, Jan F. Kurth and Sophia Maier.

Nature, Humans, Culture

Zusammen leben e.V. in Freiburg

Zusammen leben e.V. is an initiative that aims at connecting people by its three projects zusammen garten, zusammen kaffee and zusammen kultur…

German English

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