3 Years of Happy Pigeons - Part II
INTRODUCTION
In the first part of this blog post we took a look at our available data to get to know more about ourselves as Happy Pigeons and to see the Coliving scene in Berlin through our lenses. We got to know the profiles of people applying to colive and checked our Prices to the market prices.
Looking back at this data, our interaction with the applicants through the past couple of years and our own community feedback, we realized that we need to change our website a bit to be more transparent. We added separate pages for every Nest as a start.
In this part we try to look back at our efforts in building bridges between our coliving Pigeons and the local community. One of our main goals is to build a diverse community that is integrated and can play an active role in our little neighborhood.
We understand the image of coliving is getting lately linked directly to UFOs international digital nomads that parachute in inner city neighborhoods without any interest in connecting with the local community, even in some cases taking part in gentrifying the neighborhood. However as a small player in this market we try to do the opposite.
This is not an easy task but we know that it is an incremental process and we are paving our way towards achieving it.
COMMUNITY SPACE
Our community space serves several functions. It is a hybrid space that acts as a proxy in between our “inner” Pigeons community and the “outer” local community.
Space usage can be summed up in 4 main categories:
Coworking space during weekdays ( from 9 to 5 )
The space is not exclusive for our coliving pigeons, but it is open for all.
On average we have around 9-11 coworking members and 2 of our pigeons use it as an office. ( daily average usage ranges is around 5-7 people )
Coworkers are either living nearby and /or prefer a small office space where you have your own kitchen and this cozy feeling of knowing your coworkers.
Event space after working hours
Events are organized on Donation basis mainly or on a fair arrangement with the organizers depending on the type of the activity.
All events are open for everyone.
Community use
Usually the space acts as a community space for the coliving “pigeons”, they have access 24/7 and can use the space for their own gatherings, events, workshops.
We tend to host our monthly gatherings in the space as well.
Space rental / Private events
Max 3 days a month, we rent out the space for private events / workshops.
This is a way to keep the space financially sustainable and keep offering low/fair fees for the coworking ( 75 € for a fixed desk per month )
TYPES OF HOSTED ACTIVITIES
Our community space hosts all sorts of activities.
Lately, we have weekly regular events like Stretching, singing classes and Yoga on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays respectively. The yoga and stretching are hosted by Mari participation is on donation basis or via the urban sports club platform. Usually people from the neighborhood and our community attend such events. The singing is hosted by Jared and a group called “Simply Tuning in” . They also host an open mic night every last Friday of the month.
For the regular events, they are completely self organized by now, the organizers have their own keys and they take care of the space, prepare for their events and reorganize the space after they finish.
Other than this, we host a wide range of workshops/events from business related to fun social gatherings. Some of our hosted events were startup development monthly workshops, Fun drama writing nights, panel discussions and meetups about coliving, Networking events, natural cosmetics workshop, dancing, breakfast meetups, cooking and our own community gatherings.
Mostly these events are co-hosted by external groups/individuals. However, some events are proposed and hosted by some of our “Pigeons” ( coworking or coliving ) such as Dance classes, the fun drama writing nights, time management workshop and some take part as mentors for the start up monthly meetups.
LOCAL COLLABORATIONS
The flexible use of the space is strategic for us to connect with the local community and to build connections with other groups.
Besides co-hosting different events that are open to everyone in the neighborhood. The space is also used by other groups to do their own meetups/ workshops.
Lately the space was used by an animal rights activist group to have their community meetups and by a neighbor who is living in the same building to host her own (church) community meeting.
This way we are building some bridges between the local community and our own in an incremental process. One of our members also proposed hosting a dinner to get to know the neighbors, which we will probably host this year.
Other collaboration happens outside of the space as well. We took part in the Zelterstraßenfest last year, that is happening in the nearby Zelterstr. and is organized by the social project Zelterpate. We try to support other local happenings as much as possible even with small stuff like hanging their posters and inviting our community to participate.
GLOBAL COLLABORATION
It is obvious that we have a very local-focused approach. However, we try to connect with like-minded partners in order to exchange experiences, learn and collaborate on potential projects.
We are not against growth, we are just trying to do it incrementally, consciously and with the right partners in order not to lose our initial spirit.
Last year we started to communicate and build partnerships with other potential partners. We started an initial partnership with Coconat, we could see that we have similar goals in terms of local participation and will probably try to connect both communities in the coming year.
We started building bridges as well with Conscious Coliving, they already have a lot of knowledge in the coliving field and could probably work on a potential project together. Same as edgeryders were Kai took part in one of their workshops on building a community based coliving in Brussels.
HOW TO MOVE FORWARD?
This is what we are trying to figure out. There is no clear plan yet, we have more questions than answers. We are trying to move towards a better integrated living between the local neighborhood and the newcomers and strengthen the bonds between them. At the same time we need to reduce our environmental impact and explore more in sustainable ways of living.
It is a journey and we are trying to consciously move forward towards a better model of coliving which is suitable to Berlin’s local context.
You are welcomed to join us, If you have an idea or want to collaborate on a project with a local social impact, or even if you just want to have a coffee and chat.
Berlin Mmm...(Stadt Land) Food - Show social responsibility with right food!
A life full of choices and decisions.
Every day we eat food and drink all kinds of beverages next to water. But do we all really know what we are eating or drinking? Where does it come from? What routes did it take to come into your stomach? What kind of additives does it contain? How much money is left for the people in the first part of the industrial-chain? Only the minority of people in the “first world” really has a clue about what they consume. Most of the times, price matters a lot. Nevertheless, more and more people invest their time to gain knowledge about the life demanding supplies they consume. In this movement many small companies were created with the goal to have a product with a social impact. As a matter of fact, there are many reasons why we should be more aware of what to eat and drink.
Experience: Food
If you go into your supermarket next door, many everyday products are either distributed by no name companies, in that case you might ask yourself what they have done to their product to be that cheap; or big names, where you just think their product must be good according to the price. In other words, many of us (I hope I’m right if I use “us” if not, sorry for that) have no idea about everyday products, their quality, and if the price is justified. In addition, many people lack the luxury to buy expensive products due to their living status. Is it possible to combine quality and price to make the experience of good food possible for everyone? The “Stadt Land Food” festival, which took part around the Markthalle Neun in Berlin, Kreuzberg from the 1st -3rd of October, was a place where questions like these were asked and answered. Furthermore, it was a great chance to gain more knowledge about essential food supplies and become inspired by the passion and tasty foods from the vendors.
The Festival
From Saturday till Monday, about 150 different local producers, distributors, or organizations gathered around the market hall. Being hosted by the Markthalle for the second time after 2014, the food festival attracted many people onto the streets nearby the Görlitzer Park. Next to the vendors that you find at the weekly farmers market from Tuesday till Saturday (for more information scroll a bit down), different vendors displayed and sold their goods and showed that food is not just food for them. It’s a big part of their life, locally produced and distributed, out of eco-sensitive goods. Furthermore, many experts also offered workshops in different “food-labs” in order for the customer to improve their knowledge of the product and the process of making it. Next to workshops for drinks like spirits, wine, beer and coffee, the food-labs for cheese, different kinds of vegetables, sausages, fish, and bread were very interesting. For example, we never knew how easy and cheap it was to make your own “sauerkraut”. Another thing we learned was how the production of honey works and that there are two different types of methods: pressed and hurled honey. → FLo filz Oh honey soundcloud link
Another spot at the market hall where inspiration hit us, was the stand of Slow Food Berlin. “Slow Food” is a movement with a growing community out of Italy which tries to “prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat” (www.slowfood.com). Furthermore, they offer skill-sharing events or information evenings where you can enlarge your own knowledge about food and everything around it. All in all, the Stadt Land Food festival was an experience that was very inspirational. It demonstrated that with a bit of practice you can make everyday products by yourselves and therefore control what you eat. Nevertheless, there are other goods which you can’t make by yourself but to whom companies were founded in the last years to ensure you fair traded, high quality products.
Companies with Social Impact
The Berlin-based company Coffee Circle portrays one of these companies which create a quality product with a social impact. Coffee is an example where you can only create the end-product but to grow a coffee-plant in Germany is not possible. Often times farmers of coffee plantations have to work under inhuman conditions or even kids have to work so that the coffee-beans can be offered for a low price in the supermarket. There are many companies with a fair-trade seal on it, but fair trade does not directly mean that it has a positive, long-lasting effect on the farmers and their lives. What it definitely means is that the companies pay for a third party that the farmers earn the minimum amount of money they deserve. Coffee Circle ensures a fair traded coffee without a seal, as they only roast high-quality coffee which they buy directly from plantations they visited. Their goal is to have a greater impact and directly help the people with important problems like their lack of education or clean water.
Coffee circle only portrays one of many companies which were created in the last couple of years. Others which need to be mentioned are lemonaid, soli-mate, or viva con aqua. The last one is a subsidiary of the non-profit organization that tries to improve water quality in developing countries. The goal of the growing company is to socialize water, which is mostly under control of huge companies like Nestlé, as they want to donate 60 percent of their profit to drinking water projects.
It is nice to see that more and more cafés become aware of what products they buy and sell in their store. A growing amount has local roasted coffee (damn we have nice Coffee roasters in Berlin; check the bottom list) and other social food and beverages like the ones mentioned above. As a consequence, people get to know these companies and maybe also think about what they consume.
Maybe you can also have an impact on the world with only a small effort. In the end, we in Europe have the great luck to decide what to drink or eat. In other parts of the world this is not the case.
Food and Coffee Starter Kit:
Markthalle Neun
Ancient market hall (first opened in 1891) in the Eisenbahnstrasse 42/43
Weekly farmers market opened Tuesday-Friday 12-18 pm , Saturday 10 am -18 pm
Streetfood Thursday with, like the names says, tasty street foodà Thursday 17-22 pm
For workshops and other dates visit the website à www.markthalleneun.de
Berlin Roasters (https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1ryJ07RkbND-EASyLaI_0nrM4f3c&hl=en_US) Map with all the Third Wave Coffee Roaster in world
Berlin Coffee Roasters
It started very small, but now we are here. It is hard to count all the roasters in Berlin. Every year there are new openings and a serious coffee culture with focus on high quality and perfection has developed. Here are a bunch of classic suggestions of very established ones:
For a full list, just have a look at this Google Map created by guys of Third Wave Wichteln! Or can also just buy some beans online at Coffee Circle - they are also roasting in Berlin-Wedding.
So it's up to you to decide, what kind of food do you want eat and what do you want to change in the world. Every single meal, cup or drink counts!