Participation process Herford - the long way home

Unterwegs © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

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Im Sonnenuntergang © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

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Stadtteil-Mischpult © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

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Spieldorf © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

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Geimensam unterwegs © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

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Bestandsaufnahme © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

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Jugendliche Fotografen in Aktion © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

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Gemeinsames Abschluss-Essen © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

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Unterwegs © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

Im Sonnenuntergang © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

Stadtteil-Mischpult © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

Spieldorf © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

Geimensam unterwegs © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

Bestandsaufnahme © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

Jugendliche Fotografen in Aktion © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

Gemeinsames Abschluss-Essen © 2009 GSS Landschaftsarchitekten

In Herford Nordstadt, latent conflicts between adolescents and older residents are evident, among other things. Young people do not experience appreciation here, and a high level of prejudice creates unjustified fear and a subjective feeling of harassment. Hardened fronts and a deficit of tolerance block dialogues about possible alternatives. There are also conflicts between the individual youth groups and envy towards children, as new areas are planned and designed for them, while the young people keep losing their places.
To initiate a dialogue-oriented process, a caravan trip to comparable city quarters in Bremen served as an opportunity to bring home ideas and visions that had been found. The findings of the participants were recorded in varied photo albums, which will serve in the future as a thread of conversation and "dictionary" in the communication between the various resident groups.

PARTICIPANTS
On the one hand, young men with a Turkish and Kurdish background live in the district, on the other hand, the young people from late repatriate families, who are hardly perceived as a homogeneous group. It is also noted that mainly boys and young
men are in the public space, while the girls and young women
meet more in private places.
In the joint trip, 12 young people with different educational backgrounds and Russian and Kurdish migration backgrounds participated; all have lived in Germany for almost 5 years. The motivation succeeded mainly through the participation
of a social worker with a similar migration background.


PARTIZIPATION
The 5-day trip with the young people together in the caravan is to be regarded as a participation procedure of the fourth stage, cooperation.
The goal was formulated as a nudging of the stalled dialogue between the
resident groups and a gathering of information about
urban design.
The particular concern here was to equip the young people with appropriate tools to empower them to act and have their say. Concrete proposals for action did not have top priority at first.
The examination of what was already there and the broadening of horizons beyond
their own horizons was the decisive entry into participation.
Active conflict reduction through an unfamiliar intensive way of getting to know each other and
reasonable exchange with previously unknown people about previously equally unfamiliar complexes of topics opened up new possibilities for communication and cooperation.

This kind of participation required a further development of the understanding of "participation". Here, the planners took on the role of tour guides, not only on the road in Bremen, but also in a more sustainable form as trailblazers for further communication processes at home. For it is not so much the production of open spaces as the shaping of open processes, especially those of will-formation and decision-making, that is to be placed in the foreground here. Ultimately, this investment in the "organism city" is to be understood as a sustainable, future-oriented process, in which citizens are to be enabled to formulate their needs and thus to participate actively in planning processes in the long term.

METHODOLOGY/PROCEDURE
The project began with the purchase of a caravan including working materials. With this, a 5-day trip to Bremen was undertaken, where in particular the districts of Gröpelingen, Tenever and Huchting were examined more closely. These districts show multilayered parallels to the north city of Herford.

In the run-up to the journey the young people in the quarter were directly contacted and personally invited to this journey. A reliable contact establishment turned out to be difficult at the beginning, a basic curiosity as well as the prospect of a free trip
supported then, however, for a sufficient resonance.
In addition to common activities, the city districts could be explored on walks in small groups and a multitude of impressions and new ideas could be gained through a combination of planned encounters and
spontaneous contacts. These were partly independently, partly supported by a photographer, pictorially recorded. In one-on-one conversations, there was the opportunity to go into detail about certain experiences and more
specific topics, such as urban planning and structures. In principle,
it was possible through flexible reactions to situational events to maintain a concentrated cooperation of the young people over the entire period.

In the context of an exhibition, the results of the trip were then presented to the public and an invitation to talk to the young people was expressed.

RESULTS
Through the trip as a successful confidence-building measure, the problem of the city being something given and unchangeable could be changed into the positive.
The increase in information as well as the collection of positive examples made the
participants more critical of the situation at home.
Tangible results of the trip are varied photo albums that provide insight into the young people's individual perceptions of the city. These albums should and can serve in the future as a thread of conversation and "dictionary" in the communication between the different groups of residents. In addition, the caravan is to serve as a temporary "communication and recreation room" for the young people
of the neighbourhood.

In the area of conflict reduction, the joint undertaking was able to ensure that the companions were able to identify unexpected commonalities and reduce prejudices. Through lively communication, the experiences of the fellow travelers were already passed on to their cliques. In addition, a strong interest in a self-managed but chaperoned meeting place became apparent.

Further wishes formulated are
-the provision of structural measures and technical infrastructure
-an offer of group-specific programs
-a say in youth-specific topics
-an offer of rooms that are varied, without supervision, warm, dry and well-lit, and where the young people can feel that they are not disturbing anyone.
Furthermore, the suggestion came up to make central, fallow areas usable for the needs of the youth.

As results for the planners crystallized that adolescents can be motivated when it is about their own concerns, they are taken seriously
and included in decision-making processes. Furthermore, practical, action-oriented processes as well as a direct connection to implementation are necessary to maintain interest. Decisions made should be implemented quickly in order to correspond to the rhythm of life of the young people and to stabilise the trust that has been built up.

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Planning offices

Gasse | Schumacher | Schramm
Bremen | Paderborn

Project period
2009 - 2009

Client
Diakonisches Werk

Address

Herford