Move it

It all started with a bench. Right next to the four-lane Nonnendamm in the Siemensstadt district of Berlin. A group of elderly people noticed that there was a lack of benches in their district, so they took the initiative and built a bench in cooperation with students from the Schule an der Jungfernheide. Further benches are in planning. And when the younger generation, the students, are asked? How do you see the urban space? What is missing? And what would they like to see? The students of the 10th grade placed their answers directly on the bench: Adorned with QR code, you can now find their ideas and research there—alternative city maps and sound maps, instructions for planking or guerrilla gardening, as well as interviews with district experts, residents, and naturally the senior citizens. Situated somewhere between speculation, transformation, and imagination, it provides a look at Siemensstadt that you won’t find in any guide book—but which can be found on the blog developed by the students themselves: kommunikationsinseln.wordpress.com

The Schule an der Jungfernheide is an integrated secondary school with an emphasis on the natural sciences for grades 7 to 10. The optional all-day school is a member of the Naturwissenschaftlichen Bildungskette (Science Education Alliance) in the Spandau district of Berlin. With senior citizens from the Montagscafé, the author Lutz Oberländer, the teacher Doris Beyer, and Franziska Kaiser from the non-profit company Starke Hände.

büro etaboeklund is dedicated to reflecting on knowledge production and cultural geographies in workshops, interventions, research teaching or advice for educational facilities and institutions, amongst others Haus der Kulturen der Welt, the Humboldt Lab, and the Alice Salomon University. In addition to the joint projects, the two founders of etaboeklund research, teach, and publish: Angela Dreßler with a focus on ethnography and journalism, Stefanie Menrath on pop culture, gender, and transcultural education.

A project in cooperation with SH Starke Hände gGmbH, Casa e. V.