Lively discussion at the OpenForum 1 (Berlin)
Lucia Gonzalez | January 25, 2008
From right to left: Dr. Mehmet Alpbek (Turkish Union Berlin-Brandenburg), Frank Burgdörfer (Citizens of Europe), Dr. Dorothea Kolland (Department of Culture, Berlin-Neukölln & Citizens’ Foundation Neukölln), Fadi Saad (Neighbourhood Manager at the Körnerpark-Quarter in Neukölln), Prof. Dr. Claus Schmals (Free University of Berlin – not in this picture!)
“Discontent is the first step towards success” was a key opening sentence to the panel discussion of the OpenForum I Berlin. And yet the reasons for discontent in Neukölln, Berlin, seemed to be absent during most of the discussion: although our guest speakers came from such different backgrounds as the Free University Berlin, the district management Körnerpark, the Culture Ministry and the Turkish Community, they all agreed on the great potential that this Berlin quarter has to improve its inhabitants’ quality of life. This optimistic outlook was a good example of the energy and creativity that have emerged in Neukölln as a reaction to decades of severe socio-economic problems and a bad reputation consciously blown up by the media.
After presenting good practices such as the projects Stadtteilmütter and Tek stil, both speakers and the audience engaged in a lively debate on the challenges and possibilities of civic engagement. How can we get people talking and committing to each other? Why do some projects for social engagement fail and others succeed? Are the root causes of problems misperceived, namely focused on ethnicity instead of on social problems? After 2 hours of animated discussion, the drinks and snacks that followed were received with open arms by all participants.
See also: Zwischen Problemdruck und Modellbezirk. Report at the website of our project partner Neukölln-Plus (in German language).
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