And it goes bUm!
The new house for civil society in Berlin Kreuzberg has opened its large gates. It offers social entrepreneurs, activists, volunteers and others who are committed to social and ecological progress (or saving the world from collapse) a space for co-working, conferences, workshops, collaboration and regeneration.
On October 1st, after several years of reconstruction, we were able to celebrate the grand opening of the bUm — Raum für die Engagierte Zivilgesellschaft (The space for dedicated civil society). bUm — that stands for the heartbeat of the city and society. (And yes, we are aware that bUm has many meanings in English and we happily embrace that ambiguity).Originally the space was meant to be a new Google campus, but due to local resistance and community conversation, Google decided to hand the old electricity transformer station to betterplace and Karuna.
Hundreds of guests from civil society, politics and business gathered in the foyer, underneath the impressive installation by conceptual artist Erik Sturm. Erik and the young people of the initiative Momo — the voice of disconnected Youth — had removed posters from Berlin’s oldest advertising columns layer by layer and hung them up at the entrance of the former transformer station.
The bUm Team opened the evening with Eva, Florinn, Natascha and Marcel presenting the house and its programme on the stage of the beautiful auditorium, the former generator hall, which is now available for rent for very little money. Starting from October, 7th, 80 Co-Working places are available there (bookable as daily, weekly, monthly and (few) yearly passes), as are well equipped conference areas, rooms for workshops and other meetings. The first tenants have already moved in, including the action artists Cesy Leonard and Katharina Haverich. As the “The Radical Daughters” they provide exciting creative and political education. Other tenants include the Al-Farabi Music Academy, the Purpose Foundation and the Autism Learning Platform Auio.
Let’s promote unusual collaborations!
After this introduction Carolin (betterplace’s Secretary of State) and Jörg (founder Karuna) talked about their plans for the house. Both emphasized how many opportunities the big new space offers for civic engagement and how much it invites co-creation and collaboration. Apart from the existing programs of both organizations (check betterplace lab for a broad spectrum of topics around digital-social innovations, as well as Karuna and Karuna Social Cooperative) our aim is to forster new partnerships and collaborations between activists and initiatives that otherwise would not come together. A precedent for such cross-organisational cooperation is the bUm itself: The conflictual pre-history of the house has resulted in something unique for Kreuzberg — a developement that was only possible because betterplace and Karuna sat down at the same table with Google and the concerned neighbourhood.
Thematically, the main focus will be on shaping inclusive, equitable and sustainable development (in the city, the country, and the world). This also includes a tech sector that focuses on people and their well-being. We strive to do justice to contemporary complexity — also by addressing and recognising tensions and contradictions. This includes a reflective approach to our own enterprise: betterplace and Karuna take on Google’s conflict-laden legacy in the house without sweeping it under the rug. At the same time, we are deeply grateful for the opportunity to make use of the house for the next five years, free of rent and ancillary costs, and would like to thank our contacts at Google — Ralf, Myra, Max and Rowan — for their cooperation over the past months.
A Regenerative culture as the basis for bUm
In addition to the promotion of unusual collaborations for the benefit of society, the topic of regenerative culture and physical and mental well-being is at the top of the bUm agenda. In recent months, together with Sebastian Baier from the neighbouring Co-Creation Loft, I have spent a lot of time looking for a partner who could help us to anchor more subtle qualities such as PRESENCE and BEING in the house.
This need stems from the fact that digitalization is confronting us with a much more complex and accelerated world in which many stable external structures are dissolving. In order not to be completely overwhelmed and flooded, we must develop new inner competences that give us security and orientation and thus lay the foundation for innovation and creativity. These include competencies such as self-contact and self-reflection, empathy and multi-perspectivity, but also meta-reflection and intuition. These skills are extremely important for people who play a decisive role in shaping our social and ecological future. But as many studies show, it is precisely these people who suffer above average from exhaustion, burnout and precarious living conditions. In order to actively counteract this situation it was important for us to provide regenerative spaces and tools.
Thus we were very pleased to present the Benediktushof, one of the flourishing retreat centers in Germany, as well as the Williges Jäger Foundation as our new partners on the opening stage. Starting in November, the Benediktushof will regularly offer various forms of contemplation, including Zen meditations, in a room specially set up for this purpose.
I want to take a moment to give a huge thanks for this amazing commitment!
As a small teaser, Erik (Zen practitioner and founder of the Macha Macha Teeladen in Berlin) and I conducted a short presence exercise which also served as a lively opportunity for our guests to get to know each other better.
Colourful projects and confetti in the basement
Afterwards our guests distributed themselves in the 3000m2 large basement, where initiatives like the consumer academy and the Museum of Values exhibited their work in playfull ways. The Karuna Kompass, a homeless magazine adorned the walls and the betterplace lab celebrated the launch of its new website, CI and the move to bUm with a large confetti cannon. The evening ended with Syrian live music.
A big THANK YOU to all guests and co-creators for a wonderful evening. We are all greatly looking forward to the next years in this amazing location. We are ready to work on the many social and ecological challenges, tensions and conflicts, including the many creative impulses coming from civil society, but also from the public and private sector. I am sure it will be colourful and complex, exciting, creative and touching.
