Your neighbourhood is my neighbourhood

How can neighbours get back that community spirit?

People power has long been under-estimated. That is, until a referendum was held and the population of Berlin showed themselves to be very interested in urban spaces such as the Tempelhofer Feld and communal areas of land.
The German capital city contains a larger number of unused corners just waiting to be used by people with ideas. A few years ago, there was a boom in community houses, urban gardening projects started to spring up from the soil – or from roofs – and people started to want to get to know their neighbours once more.
Hannah is 31-years-old, studied Romance Languages and History of Art, and has lived in the Wedding locality of Berlin for over ten years. She likes Berlin and her multicultural neighbourhood; it was just her parents' garden that she'd been missing over the years. Hannah was longing for a green oasis, and for somewhere where she could enjoy a slower pace of life.
In 2013, she started "Himmelbeet" – a community and rental garden with a small cafe in the Berlin locality of Wedding. The garden is split into two parts: there's a community garden where everyone can join in with the gardening, and there are 150 rental plots, allowing social organisations or people from the surrounding area to rent a raised-bed plot and grow their own vegetables. Through gardening together, people will of course start to get to know one another as they chat or drink lemonade together under the shade of an apple tree. "Himmelbeet" isn't just a gardeners' paradise; it's also a neighbourhood meeting place.
The discussion about Hannah's project at #Deutschland25 was primarily attended by people between 20 and 40 years of age. People who are used to life in big cities but who also want to experience change in their neighborhoods. People who want communities to grow together again, and to share more than just a neighbourhood.
How can neighbours get back their community spirit? The biggest dream of Generation25 is to bring back garden parties and street parties. Lilly, 27, would like to see "a garden party or street party once or twice a year."
Marie, 23, goes into more specific details about the idea: "Organised street parties, jumble sales, barbecue evenings... It's amazing how many people are just waiting to be invited to events like this in their neighbourhoods."
Generation25 knows that theoretical plans have only very limited results, and that what is needed is real action. This can be as simple as just saying "hello": "Say HELLO and start chatting to your neighbours" (Jalet, 30). Or, as Stefan, 24, points out, "knowing each other by name would be a great start ;-)".
Hannah is working to promote her "Himmelbeet" project not only in real life, but online too. New media and the Internet are very important tools for neighbourhood and community networking projects, and Hannah finds most of her volunteers via social media. The online social networks help Hannah with the internal organisation of her project and with communication with the outside world. "Without this behind-the-scenes technologies, the "Himmelbeet" project would not be what it is today."
It's certainly true that someone has to put an idea into motion. Ania, 22, concludes her comments with a call to action: "someone has to take the first step!", and she's absolutely right. If neighbours are to start coming together for community projects, it will take instigators like Hannah. People who just "get up and do it."

#DEUTSCHLAND25