The refugee garden project "Die Gärtnerei" - a story of self-empowerment and displacement

The aim of the "CoopCampus - die Gärtnerei" project, which was initiated by raumlabor and Schlesische 27, was to work with young people who had reached Germany and Berlin via various escape routes to pose questions about new forms of coexistence in the city. The group of young refugees had renovated an abandoned stonemason's house, which stood on the site where the Spore House is today, and set up a small garden school where German lessons, vocational skills, gardening and landscaping were taught and refugee experiences were shared with the neighborhood as an improvised adult education center. The project came to an inglorious end for the district when the  councillor responsible for environmental protection and nature conservation, a former member of the Afd and then working for the CDU, used the protection of an owl as an excuse to oust the project in 2019.

We invite those involved in the nursery as well as all interested parties and neighbors to a joint exchange. We will walk through the cemetery together and share stories and memories. Fetewei Tarekegn, the gardener and central protagonist of the project, as well as Andrea Hofmann and Christof Mayer from raumlabor will be there. We additionally show the film Terra Nova (2018) by Constanze Fischbeck.