Last Saturday, our member Thomas Wachtel presented the EdiCitNet project at the autumn meeting of the Slow Food movement with around 60 participants from the regional Slow Food working groups. In the online meeting, future possibilities of cooperation between EdiCitNet and SlowFood were discussed. In the evening, there was an interesting online seminar about the production and quality of regional products including a tasting of these products. An informative and at the same time delicious event!

We congratulate our partner Nabolagshager who won a silver medal at the annual Norwegian Honey Championship in the category “honeydew” for the honey produced on their rooftop.

Nabolagshager is part of our Living Lab in Oslo and does a job program for high school students to explore green jobs of the future – including beekeeping. Through that, social challenges like social exclusion and unemployment can be solved.

It is important for the mentors that the youth develop a curiosity for and an understanding of sustainability and biodiversity through their tasks. They also want to build networks with other beekeepers, so the youth can learn more about the professional opportunities in beekeeping, and help the youth see this as a viable and exciting career path.

Find the original article here (in Norwegian): https://www.dagsavisen.no/nyheter/summende-suksess-fra-gronland-med-medalje-i-honning-nm-1.1797614

We are happy to share with you an insight of the IALE Russia Online Conference where our member Dr. Ina Säumel hosted the session “Envisioning multifunctional sustainably productive and biodiversity friendly landscapes: Mainstreaming Nature Based Solutions beyond demonstration projects in urban and rural areas” (IV.) in which a few members of her research group (Multifunctional Landscapes) and of the EdiCitNet project presented their research results. Topics of the presentations were for example: the co-creation of multifunctional landscapes, an insight in the vast collection of Edible City Solutions, the participation in strategy development for food related activities and service in times of Crisis or the perception of residential greenery in Berlin.

From October 6th to 8th, EdiCitNet participated in the third program cycle of the Postdoc Academy for Transformational Leadership on ‘Land Use Practices in a Globalized World’, hosted by IRI THESys. Twenty postdocs from all over Europe met online for the three-day event. The Postdoc Academy is designed to train the next generation of leaders in sustainability and transformation research. EdiCitNet’s active practice partners including Mundraub, Fundació Solidaritat  Barcelona, Erwin Nolde, Prinzessinnengärten, Brighton and Hove Food Partnership and REACT were accompanied by other EdiCitNet & friends ECS Apfelschätze, Slowfood Rhein-Mosel and Andes BIOenergy and acted as the ‘reality check’ exercise for Post Docs in order to assure a connection between science and theory and the reality.

Yesterday the City Team of our Living Lab Neukölln in the Front Runner City Berlin met for the first time for the kick-off meeting.

On a beautiful autumn day, we had a look at the future Living Lab area at the New Jacobi Cemetery in Neukölln.

With coffee and cake, we presented the whole project and discussed the future work of the City Team. A very inclusive City Team is looking forward to the coming months and the next two co-creation workshops in November!

Our city becomes edible: Residents create green oases inside, community gardens and other “edible” initiatives improve the individual quality of life, are important social places and make a valuable contribution to neighbourhood development.

Since September 2018 Berlin has been participating in the EU project EdiCitNet (Edible Cities Network – Integrating Edible City Solutions for social, resilient and sustainably productive cities). One aim of the project is to create a global network to promote urban food production. 12 cities from Europe and around the world are participating as practice partners. Among them there are so-called “Follower Cities” which develop specific “Edible City Master Plans”, Berlin has been participating since 2018 (the Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing is in charge). The input for these plans will be generated in five so-called “Front Runner Cities”, which will test solutions in model projects, each with a different thematic focus (neighbourhood gardens, direct marketing of food, building-related agriculture, etc.) and make the results available to  other participating cities. Berlin has recently also become a Front Runner City and under the direction of the Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing and Nomadisch Grün GmbH, will carry out a Living Lab at the Neuer St. Jacobi Friedhof Neukölln and Gut Hellersdorf. The central question in Berlin is to what extent socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods can be strengthened by solutions of the edible city. Both locations will be accompanied and co-designed by a so-called “LivingLab Team” consisting of decision-makers, practice partners and residents. This team is to be as broad and interdisciplinary as possible so that the solutions found will stand up to the critical eyes of the administration, practice, science and the neighbourhood.

We would be pleased if you would become part of the Living Lab Team Neukölln and help shape the model project on site. The probable time required, apart from 2 initial meetings, is one Jour Fix every 2-3 months. The participation is voluntary. In order to get to know each other and to introduce you to the goals and contents, the time schedule and the methods of EdiCitNet, we cordially invite you to the following dates:

Monday, 26.10.2020 14-18 hrs Kick-Off LivingLab Team Neukölln

Monday, 9.11.2020 14-18 hrs 1st workshop

Wednesday, 24.11.2020 14-18 hrs 2. workshop

The following agenda is planned for the kick-off on 26.10.2020:

1. Guided tour of the Neuer St. Jacobi Friedhof (Nomadisch Grün gGmbH)

2. Presentation of EdiCitNet (overall project worldwide, by HU-Berlin)

3. Presentation Berlin (Masterplan and Living Lab, by the Senate for Urban Development and Housing and Nomadisch Grün gGmbH)

4. Questions, discussion and outlook on the tasks of the City Team

Meeting point is 15:00 at the New St. Jacobi Cemetery (Hermannstraße 99-105, 12051 Berlin). Afterwards we will meet at the premises of STATTBAU Stadtentwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (Hermannstraße 182, 12049 Berlin)

We would be very grateful if you could let us know whether you will be participating in the Living-Lab team in general and in the Kick-Off. Please write to: edicitnet@prinzessinnengarten.net

We are looking forward to a good cooperation and rich insights!