Dessau › Intercultural Gardens Being a place in which integration and learning processes take place, the garden offers an unique chance for immigrants to actively take part in the process of orientating and positioning themselves in their new home, and furthermore to learn German. It gives them the possibility to share their personal history with others, to exchange their knowledge and to apply their skills. Since April 2003, the garden in the multicultural town centre of Dessau is being rebuild into a "Paradise garden", in cooperation with immigrants, students and members of various associations. The garden is used as a site for interaction and education by people from Nigeria, Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina-Faso, Moldavia, Iraq, Iran and Russia as well as by Germans. The garden offers new, alternative lifestyles and ways of education in a friendly, naturally beautiful and self-created surrounding. Examples for the diverse activities are: Rounds of Talks Migrants from various countries share their knowledge about current issues by means of their own experience and traditions. An example of this is the presentation in which immigrants from Iraq gave an account on the traditional Sugar Festival, which ends the month of fasting during Ramadan. Such events aim at enabling immigrants to act self dependently, by having to lead discussion rounds, confidently report about their own experiences, answer questions and consciously dealing with the vast variety of cultures. Rounds of talks take place twice a month. On one hand, these meetings serve to increase the presence of this project in the city of Dessau and on the other, to construct the offers of further education in such a way, they suit best to the participants. Garden Library Aim of the projects is to create a place that will bring people together and increase their ability to communicate. Via regional development possibilities, the garden library offers a starting point for communication with racially discriminated groups, closer contact between residents and tourists and for jointly offering and marketing regional products. In view of the current situation in this region, which is characterised by a high level of unemployment and removal from this region, new perspectives and opportunities are desperately needed, to prevent especially young people from leaving for good. The garden library will be supervised by unemployed women and young people. With their participation in this project, the migrant population shall be especially promoted and strengthened in their qualifications as well in their personal development. Another goal will be the development of a network of regional participants, initiatives and cooperation partners all around the garden library. Early vocational orientation in the environmental sector On three weekends during a summer camp, we plan to give young people impulses and perspectives on new careers in the environmental sector. Using examples ecological issues, modern biotechnologies and contemporary landscaping will be jointly evaluated and discussed. The inclusion of New Media will be practical part of the project. Photo exhibition "With foreign eyes" Using photography and film media, our fellow foreign citizens should be given the opportunity to document their new homes and share this view with a large audience. The deliberate choice of certain images animates an intensive exploration of the region and at the same time is meant to awaken the interest for a creative study and examination of the environment. The highlight of the collaborative work are educational excursions to culturally formative places in the region. These excursions are also designed as alternative German to language courses. In connection to this, in cooperation with a residential tourist agency, special guided tours are developed and travel guides are trained. Furthermore, these excursions are also an important element to animate and enliven the group dynamic. The participants as well as media pedagogies document these journeys and these documentations will be displayed in an exhibition. The theme that this exhibition illustrates is: the perception of the region, in the eyes of a shortly domiciled citizen, in view of the fact that "foreign eyes" perceive the region differently than those of a resident. Speakers pool The goal of this sub-project is to promote self-organised learning as well as creating the possibility to self-dependently act and create. The development and extension of a speakers pool – following the example of educational representatives – has this intention. Our duty is to motivate the people, to intensively deal with their own cultural background and to examine and expand their knowledge. This is meant to encourage and promote their confidence, enabling them to one day become a speaker, on a certain topic themselves. The speakers become active participants in a project and furthermore motivate people in their surrounding to participate in further education, which they possibly might even develop themselves.  The second International Garden Dessau Dessau is a shrinking city, whose population has been reduced by almost a quarter in the last ten years. The people had been moving away from there because of the excessive decline of traditional industries and accompanying unemployment. In the cityscape this downsizing process becomes visible as tracts of industrial wasteland and other neglected lots. The immigration figures for Dessau are low also – because many people with immigrant backgrounds are afraid to encounter or experience the resentful reactions and xenophobia of the local population. The challenge for shrinking Dessau is to develop a quality of life for those remaining and to win over new groups. On the big area of about 5000 square meters, a former company athletic field at Johann-Meier-Straße, another intercultural garden (Paradise Garden at the Multicultural Center) and an (inter-) cultural meeting place will develop. The space is adjacent to a big housing project with multi-story tenements that don't provide green spaces and therefore serves as garden for them. It's cultivated collectively or in small lots for families, singles, groups, like school classes. In addition, it serves as a meeting place with a cultural program, as well as a kind of small park. To encourage the engagement of the neighbors and to minimize their reservations, the space (status at Ideas Workshop 07.06.) is only partially fenced in and accessible, like a park. In addition to a beach volleyball field, it offers a barbeque facility with seating. This means gardening activities are not required for using the former sports grounds. Kindergartens and schools from this quarter are supposed to be invited as well. Besides the old and young people from the neighborhood, families as well as singles, with immigrant backgrounds (Multicultural Center) as well as pupils, are present – who are cultivating a school garden as a way of early professional orientation. Because of the collaboration with a professional training company an early business education is provided. The area is "cultivated" by heterogeneous groups: as a learning place for environmental education, global learning and intercultural meetings. It invites self initiatives, to contribute one's own knowledge and to join in monitoring the creative process. The project is directed at all inhabitants of Dessau and opens the possibility for learning from one another in a nondiscriminatory and informal context. |