Productive Urban Landscapes

Research and practice around the CPUL design concept

Title page of the Community Garden Program (source: Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection Berlin, 2022)

Berlin’s Community Garden Program goes live

On the 12th of September, Berlin’s first network evening “Berlin gärtnert [ Berlin is gardening]” took place at Prinzessinnengarten Hermannstraße. Many long-standing community gardening activists and new urban gardeners followed the invitation by the Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz [Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection] via its Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün, coordinated…

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Katrin Bohn's chapter uses a Berlin food network project to illustrate thoughts on a meso perspective in urban design and planning. (source: Katrin Bohn 2021)

Thoughts on the importance of a meso perspective

We are pleased to announce the publication of a book chapter by Katrin in the book Urban Open Space +, edited by Carolin Mees and published by Jovis in October 2021. Subtitled Strategies in between architecture and open space planning, the bi-lingual publication (English/German) explores ‘commonly used and designed open spaces [as] anchor points in…

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The development of the Gemeinschaftsgarten-Programm is led by Undine Giseke and Lisa Reis (bgmr landschaftsarchitekten) and Carolin Mees (mees architecture). (source: bgmr 2021)

Interim presentation of Berlin’s Community Garden Program

Last Thursday, Berlin’s Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection [Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz] invited to the interim presentation of its Gemeinschaftsgarten-Programm [Community Garden Program]. The Community Garden Program is the next step in consolidating a future for Berlin’s more than 200 community gardens and closely linked to the Plattform Produktives…

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The community garden Peace of Land, one of the guest speakers at the launch event, presented not only its garden spaces but also its managerial structure. (source: Peace of Land 2021)

A community garden programme for Berlin

On the 3rd of March 2021, more than 100 people gathered online to kick-off a long-awaited project by Berlin’s Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection [Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz]: the participatory creation of the city’s first community garden programme. Organised and run by Berlin-based landscape architecture firm bgmr Landschaftsarchitekten with…

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Parzelle X specialises in landscape architecture and nature pedagogy. (source: Parzelle X 2020)

Berlin Senate competitive tender for community garden strategy

We are pleased to have heard today that a team led by landscape architecture practice Parzelle X and comprising Katrin Bohn as consultant was selected into the last round of a competitive tender by the Senate of Berlin. If successful, the team will be working for the next one and a half years with local…

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The online platform invites dialogue on and around Berlin's 212 community gardens. (source: Bundespreis Stadtgrün www 2020)

Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün shortlisted for National Prize!

Congratulations! Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün [Platform Productive Urban Green], a project completed by the AG Stadt & Ernährung in cooperation with local stakeholders and the Senate of Berlin has been nominated by a national jury for the Germany-wide Bundespreis Stadtgrün [Federal Urban Greenery Prize]. For more than one year, Beatrice Walthall and Katrin Bohn from the…

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Extract of the flyer advertising the seed exchange at Allmende-Kontor (source: Allmende-Kontor 2020)

INVITE: Resistance with distance! Seed exchange and joint film this Friday

Urban gardeners in Germany embrace new opportunities to allow the gardening seasion to start during the current corona pandemic. Please feel free to join them this Friday 17th April 2020 for two events: At 7pm, the “joint film watching” of O´pflanzt is – 6 Jahre Gemeinschaftsgarten happens on Zoom using these entry details: Meeting-ID: 734…

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One of the four main pages of the new website Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün (source: SenUVK www 2020)

Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün goes live!

It is with great pleasure that we announce the full going-live of the interactive website Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün [Platform Productive Urban Green] ! Commissioned and hosted by the Senate of Berlin, Germany, it can be found here: https://www.berlin.de/gemeinschaftsgaertnern/ Please do use the website abundantly! It is open – and hopefully useful – to anybody, regardless…

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After the actual live testing of the website, participants discussed its role in the development of Berlin's city-wide concept for community gardens and allotments. (source: Beatrice Walthall 2019)

Successful launch of the Platform Productive Urban Green for Berlin

About 40 people attended the (test)launch of Berlin’s new Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün [Platform Productive Urban Green] on Tuesday 26th November 2019 to which the Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection [Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz] had invited. Ursula Renker, Head of the Office for Open Space Planning and Urban Green [Referat…

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Extract of the draft project flyer (source: AG Stadt & Ernährung 2019)

INVITE: Launch of the Platform Productive Urban Green in Berlin !

The big moment is close! The first section of the online platform “Productive Urban Green” will go (test)online during the final presentation of the project on Tuesday 26th November 2019, 5pm – 7pm, at Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz, Am Köllnischen Park 3, 10179 Berlin. This is a public, free event. However, we do…

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A garden day in the Community Garden Bad Düben (source: Torsten Reinsch www 2018)

Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen joins Platform Productive Urban Green

Last week, Katrin Bohn met the German writer, journalist and activist Dr. Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen in Berlin, Germany. Together with Beatrice Walthall from the Working Group City & Food [AG Stadt & Ernährung], they discussed Elisabeth’s involvement in the project Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün [Platform Productive Urban Green]. Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen is one of Germany’s leading experts in…

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Presentation of the results of one of the discussion tables by an urban gardener (source: Beatrice Walthall 2019)

First public presentation of the Platform Productive Urban Green

More than 30 people came to the first public presentation of “Platform Productive Urban Green – Design and planning of open green space” [Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün – Gestaltung und Planung des öffentlichen Grüns] which happened last week in Berlin’s Alte Zollgarage. After a brief welcome by a representative of Berlin’s (Germany) Senate Department for the…

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The new Platform Productive Urban Green and its 1st key component, the website “Community Gardens”, are embedded into Berlin’s political, activists and administrative processes. (source: AG Stadt & Ernährung 2019)

Platform Productive Urban Green holds its 2nd participatory workshop, Germany

After its successful first stakeholder workshop towards the end of March, the Working Group City & Food [AG Stadt & Ernährung] invited a selected group of Berlin-based community gardeners to the 2nd workshop in this participatory process. Aim of this meeting was to present and discuss the current developments of the Platform Productive Urban Green,…

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INVITE: A Productive Urban Green platform for Berlin, Germany

Today, the Working Group City & Food [AG Stadt & Ernährung], on behalf of Berlin’s (Germany) Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection [Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz], sent out an invitation to Berlin-based community gardeners to the first public presentation of “Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün“ – Gestaltung und Planung des öffentlichen Grüns…

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Berlin develops a charta for its urban green

Last week, Berlin’s (Germany) Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection [Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz] started the second round of a particiaptory online process aimed at the development of a charta for its urban green [Charta für das Berliner Stadtgrün]. The Charta contains concrete aims and guidelines for the development of…

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Participants discuss the potential use and usefulness of the new platform in several break-out sessions. (source: ScholzConstructors 2019)

“Platform Productive Urban Green” starts in Berlin

Thursday, 28th March 2019, marked the official beginning of Berlin’s new Platform Productive Urban Green [Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün]. This new website and communication format aims to engage the public and city officials in discussing the future of the capital’s open (green) urban spaces by focussing on distinct spatial typologies. The first of those is dedicated…

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The data to be used in the map function of Platform Productive Urban Green - Community Gardens comes from four main sources. (source: AG Stadt & Ernährung 2019)

Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün meets Berlin’s community gardening activists

Yesterday, the AG Stadt & Ernährung discussed their initial ideas for a new online platform about Berlin’s productive urban green spaces with some of the city’s community gardening activists. Since having been commissioned towards the end of 2018 by the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection [Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und…

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The first part of the Platform is dedicated to Berlin's community gardens. (source: Beatrice Walthall 2012)

A networking and information tool on productive urban green

Contracts have been signed between the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection [Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz] and the AG Stadt & Ernährung [Working Group City & Food] to begin their joint work with Berlin’s community gardeners. Aim of the project Plattform Produktives Stadtgrün [Platform Productive Urban Green] is to…

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