In September 2016, the first Refugee Summer School took place at HTW Berlin, University of Applied Sciences. In only eight days, a team of ten newcomers and ten students built a model, which SOZDIA-STIFTUNG-BERLIN want to build in Lichtenberg, for an intercultural home for locals and newcomers. This could happen in such a short time since we had powerful project partners who gave us full support, and secondly because we all believed in the same thing: It is time to welcome people from other cultures who had to leave their country and to support them in finding a new home.
(all photos of this project were taken by Camilla Rackelmann)
Project partner
HTW Berlin - University of Applied Sciences, AStA HTW Berlin, SozDia Stiftung Berlin, degewo AG, Refugio Sharehaus, id22, Institut für Kreative Nachhaltigkeit, Alnatura, MOVING MAN Infotainment, Magda Torres / Simply Yoga
The most challenging aspect for me as a lecturer was to find the right partners for this project and create a concept which guarantees a fast and successful team building process to come up with the prototype in one week.
Everything went well and the students proudly presented their model for the intercultural home in order to test it with SOZDIA-STIFTUNG BERLIN.
„Our cross-cultural house we prototyped provides space for living and working alone or in groups. There is enough space at the ground floor and the rooftop garden for cooking and meeting with guests and the neighborhood. A library, an atelier for artists and a small co-working space is open for all who are interested. Some floors of the house are open for every one who likes to come in for reading, cooking together or meeting people from other cultures.“ Students quoted
Seeking for a name for the intercultural house, Aziz from Pakistan and Tarek from Syria had the following ideas, which describe the spirit of our intercultural house very well:
In the summer school, I guided my interdisciplinary team of 10 refugees and 10 students with roots from eight different nations through the Design Thinking Process together with my assistant lecturer and photographer Camilla Rackelmann. From my point of view, the following activities were the most important for the successful execution of the Refugee Summer School:
The team building process at the beginning decides whether a Design Thinking Project will be successful or not. Becoming a smart team is not only a question about having a chat with each other, but it is more about acting together and getting to know each other better. In a lot of my seminars, I use exercises from performing art to break the ice. In this way, "playing together" means acting like a child full of creativity and without fear to fail. Getting rid of the fear is the most important step for the innovation process.
Game description
Game result
You train your body and wisdom and you learn how to act in a team very easily. Everyone is safe in a network of goodwill.
First, I asked the students to go back to their childhood in order to paint a moment in which they feel very well, and secondly, I want them walk around and write down what they see in the paintings of each other.
Painting opens the door to creativity
Painting is a way to contact with your inner voice, your soul, and your intuition which influences your decisions. Therefore, painting is a powerful method to open the door to creativity. Secondly, it is a training to be able to sketch first ideas so that the ideas can be visible.
Painting Result
This was an easy way for the participants to get to know each other while they were talking about their experiences in the childhood visualized by their paintings. Secondly, they trained their ability to get close to a person. And thirdly, they became aware of their own needs and the needs of their team members.
Next exercise was to work in small teams on a challenge. The team had only 1 hour to develop a prototype for a product depending on the needs of a teammate and to pitch it afterwards.
From Shadowing to Prototyping
They had to „shadow“ a person of the team which talks about her/his daily life. The others had to find out which product/service/strategy would improve the life of this person. The team on the photo developed a machine for a hand massage with Playdoh for a team member who has to type the whole day. In this way, the team trained their ability in „active listening“.
For building a prototype for an intercultural home, we had to go out for Field Research to find out where the house would be built and for interviews with experts for co-housing and intercultural homes, employees from SOZ-DIA-STIFTUNG, and people in Berlin.
Field Research - Building Site
The students visited the building site for the intercultural house which is situated near a kindergarten of SOZ-DIA-STIFTUNG in Lichtenberg. They talked with employees and children about the project to get informed about their wishes for the intercultural house.
Field Research - Refugio Sharehouse
To gain insight view in the organization of an intercultural house, we visited the Refugio Sharehouse in Neukölln for an interview. This was a co-housing project for migrants and locals.
Field Research - Spreeacker Berlin Mitte - Expert Talk with Michael LaFond and Street Interviews in Berlin
Michael LaFond, architect and expert for co-housing, first gave us a lecture about the co-housing project “Spreeacker” and sustainability before he showed us several other places of co- housing projects and urban gardening in Kreuzberg. Having this insight view, the students could understand the complexity of their challenge “How can we design a cross-cultural home for migrants, students, and locals in Berlin which is social and ecological?”
After lunch in Prinzessinengärten at Moritzplatz in Kreuzberg, I asked my students to collect their observations and to continue with street interviews asking “How do you want to live in the coming 20 years?” and with photo circuits in small groups at different places in Berlin. These tasks informed them about the spirit of this town, new trends, and the desires of people from different countries who were either living there or came as tourists. At 6.00 p.m., we met for the “Cross-cultural Cooking” at HTW Berlin.
The next challenge was to collect all the outside and insight views gained through the interviews and the expert talks in order to form the needs of the people for the intercultural house into demands for the design of the house.
For this reason, the students built „personas“ and used role plays to find the point of view of those people who will live in the house.
The Degewo AG , owner of 75.000 flats in Berlin, had heard about our project and invited the students to present their ideas for the intercultural house in the rooms of their executive floor. First, we listened to an overview of their current projects: ,,ToM – Tolerantes Miteinander, Zukunftshaus, Stadrendite” Then we had the chance to present our sketches and ideas. We received valuable feedback from their engineers and board members.
One of the participants who came as a refugee by boat to Europe presented his ideas for the intercultural house at Degewo. Afterwards he told us: “This was the first time after nine months that I feel lively again.” It was very important for him that he could make this experience. We thanked the engineers and board members of Degewo AG for their valuable feedback and for their warm hospitality and kindness.
After this first test of their ideas at Degewo AG, the students were highly motivated to build their own prototype for the intercultural house.
Acting together and working in a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary team for the same goal motivates people intrinsically. In this way, people learn to overcome cultural barriers and welcome refugees and migrants as newcomers who broaden their own horizon.
Working on a challenge with passion in a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary team with the method Design Thinking and Human Values leads to success. It works well when visions and values are shared, and everybody takes over responsibility for the success of the project and the welfare of the teammates. By working with another for the same goal, the participants of the summer school got to know each other very well. They learned to trust in themselves and in others wherever they come from.
