Program
Here you can find the preliminary programme!
All events are now online! There may still be minor changes. So stay up to date & check our channels (instagram & telegram) where we will announce any changes.
🛈 Registration is required for some events. Whether a workshop requires registration is stated directly in the workshop description. If registration is required, go to the Infopoint and sign up on the relevant lists. Some events have a limit on the number of participants but do not require registration – information on how many people can take part in an event can be found on the information sheet in the event room.
🛈 The languages mentioned are those used by the speakers. Whether whispered translation is necessary or possible will be clarified during the introduction.
🛈 Be aware of each other. You will find our awareness concept is at the end of this booklet.
Follow us on Instagram (@rechtaufstadt_forum) or Telegram (Recht auf Stadt Forum) for last-minute changes and room updates.
🛈 You will not find any trigger warnings in the programme. If a warning is necessary, it will be given in the introduction to the event.
🛈Unfortunately, one of our rooms is not barrier-free. However, if you require accessible facilities, please get in touch and we will find a solution!
- Thu 19.6.
- Fri 20.6.
- Sat 21.6.
- Sun 22.6.
Thu 19.6.
16:00 - 18:00 Thursday afternoon
Sex work: between the street, the law and the stage
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
Three initiatives from Chemnitz provide insights into their work. A variety of perspectives are represented: individuals from the fields of counselling, healthcare, volunteering and art discuss their outreach work, their experiences with the Prostitution Protection Act, and the challenges they encounter in their daily lives. Whether official, voluntary or artistic, the result is a joint effort.
This offers a multi-layered look at the topic of sex work in Chemnitz.
Who: Emiely Grubert (Salute e.V. – Beratungsstelle Bella Vanilla und Galerie Rotlicht),
Julia Palmer (Sisters e.V. – Leitung Ortsgruppe Chemnitz)
Lanugage: German
The Sonnenberg is colorful!
Zietenpark | Haltestelle Rundgang
Where are we here? How has the neighborhood where the RAS Forum 2025 is taking place developed in terms of population? What waves of migration have there been?
We will walk with you across the Sonnenberg and visit prominent places, shops, an advice centre and a studio.
Who: Abdulhassan Maytham Jabar, Hanna Remestvenska,Katharina Weyandt
Languages: deutsch, arabisch, englische Übersetzung möglich
Registration: at the information stand
16:00 - 20:00 Thursday afternoon / evening
Critical Walk: Searching for clues - The former Fritz Heckert area and the NSU complex
Zietenpark | Haltestelle Rundgang
The district walk is dedicated to the architectural, social and political history of the Fritz Heckert area. One thematic focus is on the district as a place of residence, networking space and crime scene of the NSU. We will visit the specific places where the NSU network lived and committed crimes and approach the questions of how the NSU network was anchored in Chemnitz and what a locally connected reappraisal might look like.
Who: Offener Prozess
Language: German, English on request
With registration to: vermittlung@offener-prozess.de
19:00 - 20:00 Thursday dinner
solidaric kitchen @Zietenpark // all vegan! // bring your own dishes & cutlery!
20:00 - 21:30 Thursday evening
The urban crisis in Chemnitz
Meeting point: Karl Marx Monument
The right-wing authoritarian riots of 2018 have become part of the city's collective memory, known as 'the events'. This city tour is dedicated not only to the riots themselves, but also to the long-term developments of a city that has experienced repeated crises.
The focus will be on the state of local civil society, the demographic situation, and the political economy of eastern Germany. Last but not least, we will also discuss the hopes associated with the Capital of Culture Year 2025.
Who: Dominik Intelmann
Language: German
Retropy of property - The Treuhand privatization of the moated castle Dobitschen (Hearing audio contribution and discussion)
Stadtwirtschaft | Dachluke
Dobitschen, Altenburger Land, Thuringia. We tell the story of the former GDR national property Wasserschloss Dobitschen. It is a reflection of the social upheavals and political decisions in East Germany since the 1990s. In the course of extensive privatization processes after the peaceful revolution, carried out by the Treuhandanstalt, important buildings that shaped the community in numerous places in the former GDR fell into the private ownership of mostly West German investors. How does the experience of privatization still affect the village community today? In this audio contribution, Helena Bogner, Jonas Böttger, Dorothea Gottschall, Simon Mayer and Laura Semper from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar combine the analysis of political-institutional decisions with personal stories from the villagers and invite discussion.
Who: Jonas Böttger (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar), Laura Semper (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar), Dorothea Gottschall (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar), Helena Bogne ( Bauhaus-Universität Weimar), Simon Mayer (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar)
Language: German
21:30 - 23:00 Thursday late evening
Short films
Zietenaugust
Two cinematic perspectives on the relationship between activism, utopia and urban future design - between documentary close-up and speculative future narrative.
Reconnect_feeling is resistance
A film by Kim Tonda
February 2024 / 16 min.
Insights into the first days of the water forest and the Tesla occupation in Grünheide.
How can we manage to break out of the seemingly endless cycle of our own problems? How do we shape “our” Antropocene and can we create utopian realities without violating our territories?
The camera ran for 4 weeks in front of such questions, but we only see almost the first three...
ZEIT ZU GEHEN
A film by Silvan Hagenbrock and Sophie Bösker
Austria/Germany 2120 / 13 min.
[Narrator: Jutta Schwarz / Sound design: Nik Hummer]
China, a 95-year-old Viennese woman who moved to Vienna and only experienced the extinction of the car in the green 2020s from fragmented stories told by her parents, recounts her personal memories in ZEIT ZU GEHEN. Her late wife, Reni, a good deal older, was an energetic journalist and climate activist who played a key role in the extinction of the car as a species. Using the knowledge she gained from her wife, China ventures her own first attempt to reconstruct the extinct species.
ZEIT ZU GEHEN does not intend to propose urbanistic solutions, but uses the medium of video to raise provocative questions and ideas and to look fictitiously from the future into the present. The central question
is: What does a car-free, urban present look like, seen from the future?
Who: Car as extinct species
Language: German
Fri 20.6.
10:00 - 22:00 all day
No workshops in this session.
13:00 - 14:45 Friday early afternoon
Simulation game “How to local politics” with the Mehrwertstadt parliamentary group
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
In the “Simulation game - How to local politics” workshop, participants experience in a playful way how local politics works. From the initial idea to concrete political implementation. Based on the question “What is missing in your city?”, they develop their own topics in groups and set up fictitious voter initiatives. In doing so, they get to know the central instruments of local politics and formulate concrete political demands. These are presented, discussed and put to the vote in a simulated city council meeting.
The workshop is aimed at those interested in urban politics and provides practical information on how municipal structures work - and how you can use them to actively shape your own city.
Aims of the workshop: Participants should gain a better understanding of the system of local politics, be able to put their own issues into political form, learn how to initiate concrete change processes and gain motivation for local commitment.
Who: Birgit Meusel, Luise Keffel (Mehrwertstadt faction of the Erfurt City Council)
Language: German
15:00 - 17:00 Friday afternoon
No room for the right - experiences, resistance, perspectives
Stadtwirtschaft | Dachluke
An event on the right-wing occupation of space and solidarity-based resistance No space for the right - experiences, resistance, perspectives
In more and more cities, right-wing extremist groups are trying to create retreats, organize events and strengthen their networks by purchasing properties. In our city of Chemnitz, too, there are several such properties - and resistance to them.
At the beginning of our event, we will give an overview of right-wing space-taking and strategies of right-wing groups.
We present our campaign against a right-wing property in Chemnitz and report on our experiences so far. We hear a motivating success story from another city, where a right-wing property has been successfully closed down.
With this positive example in mind, we would like to consider together in small interactive groups and as part of a discussion: What forms of action could be effective? How can we revitalize marginalized districts, reclaim spaces and counter right-wing structures?
Who: Chemnitz verbindet
Language: German
Urban practice LIVErary - a dynamic knowledge library on collective urban design
Stadtwirtschaft | Foyer
The LIVErary is a collective, travelling library on self-organised urban design and practice. It showcases a variety of viewpoints on topics such as collective urban design, the creation of a DIY city, civic matters, community-oriented initiatives, and cultural urban development. Unlike a quiet, institutionalised public library, the LIVErary is a constantly evolving open space for actively exchanging knowledge about liveable cities. It encompasses a wide range of formats, including academic publications and 'grey literature', such as zines, magazines, articles, essays, manuals, project documentation, flyers, manifestos, posters and board/card games. Anyone can contribute to the LIVErary.
The exhibition will be available at the Forum from Friday at 3 pm until Saturday evening. We will be available during the breaks for discussions and questions.
Who: Urbane Praxis e.V.
Languages: German, English, Bulgarian
Taktile Textile - Critical Entries: Queer-Feminist Perspectives on Space
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
Critical Entries is a collaborative format that makes queer-feminist perspectives on space visible. In three previous publication periods (December & March 2024, June 2025), short texts from different FLINTA* perspectives were collected and shared via social media. Building on these works, we would like to discuss the content in a workshop, develop common messages (“Claims & Signs”) and implement them in a collective tapestry.
The workshop will be hosted at the LIVErary of Urbane Praxis e.V.
Who: Frieda Grimm, Kristin Lazarova, Laila Wiens, Nora Meynberg, Nina Peters
Language: German, English
CfLC - Club for Gap Issues Chemnitz
Zietenpark | Haltestelle Rundgang
Where are the niches, the empty spaces, the gaps in a city? What is the significance of its seemingly unused and overlooked spaces - beyond the dominant logic of market value, yield and land price? In contrast to the purely economic view of urban space, we focus instead on those invisible, immaterial and communal qualities that are all too often ignored. With a critical and playful approach, we want to make these in-between spaces with their social and cultural potential visible - and thus open up new perspectives on the city as a common good. Together with you, we will create the temporary 1st CfLC (Club für Lückenangelegenheiten Chemnitz) and go on tour to the often overlooked in-between spaces of the city to make their existing value visible and what a change of use without speculation and neoliberal exploitability means. We explore gaps on the Sonnenberg!
Who: Collective Space Station
Language: German, English
We can only dream of gentrification
Zietenpark | Haltestelle Rundgang
Sonnenberg is different from the rest of Chemnitz. But it is also different from similar arrival neighbourhoods in the vast majority of major German cities. On the tour, we want to explore the Sonnenberg and stroll past community housing projects, places of art, (sub)culture and creative industries and migrant self-organisation, which are almost always associated with gentrification elsewhere.
Who: Roman Grabolle, Kooperatives Wohnen Chemnitz
Sprachen: deutsch; außerdem möglich: englisch, tschechisch
17:30 - 19:00 Friday Opening Forum
Opening of the 11th Right to the City Forum
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
The forum is now officially underway! Many of you have been in town since Thursday, taking part in various programme activities. Now, we are officially starting the forum together. The Orgacrew would like to say hello and give you a little insight into the coming days. You can test your knowledge of the city and get to know each other in a quiz with former forum organisation teams (Leipzig/Frankfurt am Main)!
Language: German
19:00 - 20:00 Friday dinner
solidaric kitchen @Stadtwirtschaft // all vegan! // bring your own dishes & cutlery!
20:00 - 21:45 Friday evening
Organizing Housing Actions Days decentrally - How to anchor and further develop the global day of action?
Stadtwirtschaft | Dachluke
Since 2019, groups, initiatives and associations across Europe have been calling for demonstrations,
rallies, smaller public campaigns and events every spring to mark Housing Action Days. As a decentralized and self-organized concept, the Housing Action Days find their individual expression in local cities. The international area is currently mainly coordinated by the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City (EAC). The Housing Action Days are one of the few continuous and transnational action formats for housing policy and right-to-the-city groups in Europe and now also globally. In Germany, an increased exchange between the individual local groups and initiatives takes place every year in the run-up to the Housing Action Days. We would like to use the workshop to consolidate this supra-regional exchange between local groups and initiatives. The aim of the workshop is to get to know and discuss the Housing Action Days as a format - in particular on questions of organization, communication and content. Representatives of groups from Cologne and Leipzig, among others, who have organized Housing Actions Days in their cities several times in recent years, will report and invite you to contrast/compare this with the experiences from other cities. Building on this, we want to explore with you whether and how the action format could be made better known and more widely established in the coming years - and for what purposes.
Who: Werner (Recht auf Stadt, Köln) und Robin (Stadtteilinitiative Vernetzung Süd Leipzig-Connewitz/Südvorstadt)
Language: German
Whether Karl Marx City or New York, freedom is just an empty word
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
After the victory of the West, between vacancy, anarchy, tristesse, fascists, reappraisal, hedonism, we grew up here. We know the Wende from the stories of our grandparents, parents, older siblings, school... or we live here now and are amazed that it should be a topic for the present. On this evening, we want to do justice to the chaos that became real in its most real form after the fall of communism with snippets of text, music and video.
We are 3 people on stage who read passages from various books on the subject of East Germany and East German conditions and interrupted us with music.
Who: Collagen Gang
Language: German
Fun, games and arriving in Zietenpark
Zietenpark
Spiel mit uns! Denn Spielen macht Spaß – und verändert, wie wir einen Raum erleben.
Ob mit dem Körper, der Stimme oder im gemeinsamen Tun: Wir laden dich ein, mit uns den Raum neu zu entdecken und uns selbst und gegenseitig kennenzulernen. Im Fokus steht die Freude am Spielen und die achtsame Raumwahrnehmung. Lasst uns zusammen spielen und wahrnehmen, was zwischen uns und um uns passiert.
Daneben gibt es auch die Möglichkeit entspannt im Zietenpark zusammen zu sitzen, Tischtennis zu spielen und sich ein Soli-Cocktail zu genehmigen.
Sat 21.6.
8:30 - 9:30 Saturday breakfast
breakfast @Stadtwirtschaft // all vegan! // bring your own dishes & cutlery!
9:00 - 9:20 Saturday morning exercise
Well? Still tired? Join us @Zietenpark for a few energiser games and get fit for the day!
9:30 - 11:15 Saturday morning
Right to the city, not without the right to (arable) land! - Thinking land policy demands for urban and rural areas together
Stadtwirtschaft | Atelier
Affordable housing in cities is becoming increasingly scarce, large corporations such as Vonovia or the big 4 supermarket chains are making record profits and many people can barely afford healthy food!
The price of farmland has exploded since 2008, non-agricultural investors such as ALDI, Münchner Rück Versicherung and Quaterback Immobilien are speculating with land and in Germany alone 8 small farms are being abandoned every day.
We ask ourselves: Who owns the land?
Land is a finite resource, it cannot be increased and is a common good (GG Art. 14&15). Nevertheless, it can be privately owned, appropriated and utilized. It is sealed, destroyed by overuse and is the basis of many conflicts of use: Industrial estate, golf course, highway, compensation area, monocultural fodder maize or biogas soy? Photovoltaics, new housing, fresh air corridor, leisure area, vegetable crops, agroforestry, extensive pastureland or nature reserve, rewetting and reforestation?
The central challenges of the socio-ecological crises of our time materialize in the “land question”, which affects rural and urban areas alike.
However, their significance is hardly echoed in the political discourse, especially by urban emancipatory forces.
It is also central to a right to the city: the sell-off of farmland and the destruction of soil directly jeopardize the good life in cities and access to affordable and healthy food. Cities are dependent on food production in rural areas, at regional, national, continental and global level.
It becomes clear that ecological and social justice are closely linked to the issue of land ownership. The land issue links the discussions about the right to the city, affordable housing (and socialization) in cities with questions about the future of peasant agriculture, food production and the ownership of farmland.
In diesem Workshop wollen wir daher als städtische und ländliche Bewegungen gemeinsame Strategien und Forderungen diskutieren und Kräfte bündeln. Vergesellschaftung sehen wir dabei als einen möglichen Hebel um Verfügungsmacht, Verfügungsweise und Verfügungszweck von Boden wieder demokratisch zu organisieren.
Following introductions, we would like to think together about concrete approaches for a sustainable land policy. Central questions will be: What could demands for a land policy oriented towards the common good look like? Is private land ownership compatible with the common good? What practical steps are necessary for the socialization of land?
What can the socialization of farmland look like without falling into the “trap” of expropriation and forced collectivization a la GDR?
How can we put investors and corporations in their place and rally a broad social base behind this demand?
Who: Manu von Junge Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft (jAbL) und Clemens von Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen (DWE)
Language: German
The Capital of Culture and the right wing
Stadtwirtschaft | Dachluke
Chemnitz began the application process to become European Capital of Culture in 2016 - originally to shed the city's gray and unattractive image. However, after the late summer of 2018, the controversies surrounding the right-wing riots took a central role in the city's application book.
In this workshop, we will look at the development from 2016 to 2025: How does the Capital of Culture project address the right-wing past and present in Chemnitz? And how do right-wing actors in the city react to this?
The workshop is aimed both at people from Chemnitz to initiate a discussion about how the city deals with right-wing structures and narratives and at participants from outside Chemnitz to draw comparisons with other cities where cultural policy is under right-wing influence.
Who: Yannic Walther
Language: German
Climate-friendly, tenant-friendly - we don't care? How do we organize ourselves for warm apartments without displacement?
Stadtwirtschaft | Kuckucksnest
Climate protection and affordable housing - two things that should actually belong together, but are often at odds with each other. Even if the discussions about this have become less categorical in the last few years, there are always stumbling blocks when it comes to the modernization levy, the housing crisis and so much more. Energy-efficient renovations are important for a climate-friendly city, but who pays for them? In most cases, the costs end up with the tenants, while landlords make a lot of money. Many resist modernization because they are afraid they will no longer be able to pay for their apartment. Private landlords refuse to renovate their buildings because the profits and stress are not worth it, and tenants are not legally authorized to do so. But not renovating is not a solution either - after all, we need energy-efficient buildings to get the climate crisis under control and heating costs will not fall without them.
So what can we do? How can we as tenants prevent energy-efficient renovations from becoming a displacement trap? How can we get landlords to renovate in a truly climate-friendly and socially responsible way? What strategies and creative forms of action already exist - and what else can we try out?
This workshop is about developing solutions together. We will share experiences, discuss successful and “failed” battles for heating, insulation and window replacement and consider how we can organize ourselves in our neighbourhoods. Or perhaps nationwide? Because warm, affordable housing and a habitable planet should not be opposites - we need both!
Who: Klima AG (Deutsche Wohnen & co enteignen)
Language: German
Platte for Future - From stigma to opportunity for prefabricated housing estates in East Germany
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
Prefabricated buildings are present in many cities in eastern Germany. Their image is poor in many places. But we need the “Platten”! It is our most socially responsible structural backbone for housing and climate. We need every square meter of affordable housing. And we need every building that has already been built to counter crises such as resource scarcity and global warming.
To begin with, we take a look at the emergence and development of the stigma towards the slab, which has evolved in just a few decades from a socialist panacea to today's narrative of the “problem district”. But how can the slab inspire us for the future? In a joint workshop, we want to discuss the potential of prefabricated buildings with you.
Because: Architects love the slab for its flexibility. The open spaces in between also offer plenty of room for greenery. Architects for Future Cottbus are therefore seeking a professional dispute with the decision-makers at the city and housing companies. Other initiatives empower residents through community organizing so that no one can make decisions without the people.
What approaches are you pursuing? Together with you, we want to discuss effective strategies to give the record back its strength.
Who: Volga Arkhipava (Bauhaus Universität Weimar) und Architects for Future, Cottbus (Ulrike Amelung, Laura Doyé, Selma Richter)
Language: German
Milieu protection - a worthwhile goal for urban policy initiatives?
Stadtwirtschaft | Winkel
Rent policy initiatives are often thwarted with references to the state or federal government: local politics is not responsible for rents. However, local authorities are not completely powerless. One of their options is to set up milieu protection areas (social conservation areas according to §172 BauGB). In these areas, luxury renovations, conversions to commercial use or demolitions can be prohibited by the administration in order to protect against displacement. Milieu protection is also relevant for the municipal right of first refusal and the containment of conversion.
Together we will discuss what neighborhood protection “can” do, whether it is suitable as a political demand for local initiatives and how they can proceed. We can draw on the experience of the Berlin speakers with the establishment and management of neighborhood protection areas and talk to activists from other municipalities in advance who will report on their struggles to establish such areas. In addition to the instrument, the role of local administrations and parliaments will also be considered.
The aim is to familiarize activists with the instrument, to enable them to weigh up their own municipality and, if necessary, to put them in a position to demand milieu protection areas politically.
Who: Felix Lackus, Kaspar Metzkow
Language: German
The value of the arts
Zietenpark
The arts have a history of having their social value questioned. Often their value has been justified by qualitative claims such as creativity, empathy and transformative potential. Underlying these claims is the hope that funding for the arts can be justified in this way and ultimately result in guidelines for the creative industries. However, not all artists necessarily seem to be reflected in the ideas of the creative industries, nor are qualities such as creativity and empathy exclusive to artists.
In the current landscape of budget cuts, the workshop will lead to a brief introduction to what public debt and funding actually mean and what opportunities they can offer beyond market values. We will then discuss how we can better articulate the value of the arts to society and how this can be framed in the context of public funding.
Who: Vienne Chan, Jan Tovar von Öf.fi
Language: German
NarrativeDiving: Insight into Chemnitz
Zietenpark | Haltestelle Rundgang
Dive in - dive out - dive in to the history of the Sonnenberg district, where this year's RAS Forum is taking place. Together we will follow the invisible thread of experience, struggle, endurance and change. A story from the perspective of local actors and residents that has not yet been written to the end.
An interactive city walk to discuss, observe and get to know places of action.
Who? Leticia Klose (Bordsteinlobby e.V.)
Language: German
10:00 - 22:00 all day
The Zietepark as a space for intervention and appropriation
Zietenpark
During the forum, Zietenpark will become a place for the appropriation of space. Here we want to facilitate encounters and exchanges between forum participants, neighbours and all interested parties. The park is intended to be an open space in which joint learning, networking and creative work can take place.
On Friday and Saturday, the Zietenpark will be actively animated alongside the official programme: people will paint, model, write, design flyers, paint banners and create zines. This open event is intended as an experiment - it thrives on the people who want to get involved and help shape it.
Come along and take part!
11:15 - 11:45 Saturday break time
Bonus: break in motion @Stadtwirtschaft
11:45 - 13:30 Saturday noon
"... not just any abstract art objects". Criticism of the Capital of Culture Chemnitz
Stadtwirtschaft
The lecture will critically scrutinise the concept of the Capital of Culture: what role does civil society play? What expectations are placed on art and culture? What is the interaction with the political economy of East Germany and the associated feeling of heteronomy and lack of agency? We look at the contradictions produced by the Capital of Culture as an ‘urban festival’ between a focus on the common good and capitalist ideology.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Who: Dominik Intelmann
Language: german
Right to housing: Experiences from tenant counseling in Cologne
Stadtwirtschaft | Atelier
As part of the DFG project “Forced eviction”, we ethnographically examined the processes of tenancy disputes and forced evictions at Cologne District Court. We discovered structural problems that systematically undermine tenants' rights - from legal barriers and individualized blame to a lack of advice and support. These findings prompted us to work with local initiatives to set up a tenants' advice center that provides concrete help and has also become a place for exchange and networking. In our contribution, we would like to share both our research findings and the practical experience of tenant counseling.lecture & discussion
Who: Sarah Klosterkamp & Sarah Knechtel (Forschungsprojekt DFG-Projekts „Zwangsgeräumt“ & Mitbegründer*innen der Mieter*innenberatung „Recht auf Wohnen Köln")
Language: German
Termination for personal use as the pinnacle of administrative logic and tenant union resistance
Stadtwirtschaft | Kuckucksnest
Our goal as a trade union is to negotiate directly with the owners and enforce our demands against them. In order to achieve this, we tenants must exert pressure together.union approach based on notices of termination for personal use
In the next few years, 100,000 owner-occupier terminations are expected in Berlin alone, and it is estimated that around 80,000 terminations are made every year throughout Germany.
The law offers only limited protection against this extremely violent displacement practice. To ensure that evictions and terminations for personal use are outlawed and abolished in the future, tenants must defend their right to a dignified life in a militant and publicly visible manner.
In the workshop, we will look at the basic assumptions of trade union strategies and their application. How can owners be persuaded to negotiate and what role does the active self-empowerment of tenants play in this? In the exercise part, we will take a closer look at the internationally proven so-called escalation strategy and play through various scenarios ranging from public relations work to direct action.
Who: Mieter*innen Gewerkschaft Berlin – Ortsgruppe Pankow
Language: German
Care centers beyond the centers? - A workshop on care and solidarity infrastructures
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
In this workshop, we invite you to develop concepts together on how care work, community and infrastructure can be conceived outside of urban centers. After inputs from activism & university, we will exchange experiences and collect questions, ideas and concrete approaches. The focus will be on care work and related topics such as mobility, networking and organization, dealing with vacancies and property as well as demographic change.
Who: SorgeinsParkcenter + Projektgruppe How to rural solidary Carecenter
Language: German
The shift to the right and the right to the city - politicization as resistance
Stadtwirtschaft | Winkel
The federal elections in February consolidated the institutional presence of right-wing forces. Added to this is the context of the commercialization of housing, the dismantling of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and cuts to the welfare state, among others. All of this has a significant impact on the right to the city - especially for migrants, who are portrayed by the right-wing parties as the cause of the problems and do not have all political rights, only a few political rights, such as the right to vote.
In this context of surveillance and repression, the question arises: What scope for action do we still have? Politicization and organization appear to be key instruments for resistance. But what do we mean by politicization? How can it be put into practice, given the constant flood of information and the feeling of being overwhelmed? How can we join forces? How do we need to reinvent ourselves in order to counter the current situation?
The aim of the workshop is to answer these questions based on the experiences and work of Ciudad Migrante and to enter into an exchange with other people and organizations.
Ciudad Migrante works on the social production of housing, analyzes the impact of rights on migrant life in the city, uses critical cartographies to promote political reflection, among others. In the workshop we want to share and discuss these experiences and develop new perspectives (from Latin America) of resistance.
Who: Ciudad Migrante
Language: Spanish with German translation
13:30 - 15:00 Saturday lunch break
Solidaric kitchen @Stadtwirtschaft // all vegan! // bring your own dishes & cutlery!
15:00 - 16:45 Saturday early afternoon
Three perspectives on neighbourhood work - long-term anchoring in the neighbourhood for the fight against poor living conditions, powerlessness and a shift to the right
Stadtwirtschaft | Dachluke
Wie können wir eine breiten gesellschaftliche Kraft gegen Ausbeutung, Vereinzelung, Verdrängung, Benachteiligung und Diskrminierung durch staatliche und gesellschaftliche Strukturen werden? Wie können wir ein solidarisches Netzwerk werden, dass gemeinsam für eine Durchsetzung der eigenen Rechte kämpft? Drei Initiativen aus Ostdeutschland haben dazu einen Ansatz der Stadtteilarbeit gewählt. Wir,die Mietgemeinschaft Johannstadt in Dresden, Menschen aus dem Stadtteilorganizing in Cottbus und Lobeda Solidarisch aus Jena stellen unseren jeweiligen Ansatz, den Stand der Organisierung und und die Perspektive für gesellschaftlichen Wandel, vor. Wir geben euch einen Einblick, wer wir und wo sind, was wir machen, was Herausforderungen sind, denen wir entgegentreten und welche Ideen wir für die Zukunft haben. Wir wollen mit euch ins Gespräch kommen und diskutieren, wie wir wachsen können und für Aktive eine langfristige Organisierung sein können, wie wir eine Brücke bauen zwischen Alltagsrealitäten in der Nachbarschaft und der politischen Vision einer solidarischen, gerechteren Gesellschaft. Wie werden wir ein lauter und anschlussfähiger Gegenentwurf zur rechten Einflussnahme und woran bemessen wir das? Kommt vorbei, um diese Fragen mit uns zu diskutieren und unsere Perspektiven zu hören!
Wer: Arbeitskreis Organizing, MieterInnenorganisierung Dresden Johannstadt, Lobeda solidarisch
Sprache: deutsch
Community radios - citizen media for a vibrant urban society
Stadtwirtschaft | Kuckucksnest
We will present the work of the independent Radio T in Chemnitz and its importance for a vibrant urban society. We will also provide an insight into how citizen media works, an introduction to radio technology and produce a radio report together.
Who: Radio T
Language: German, English on request
Right to the city forum and movement: yesterday, today, tomorrow
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
The first RaS forum in Kassel in 2015 was preceded by attempts to create a joint, cross-city player. It was supposed to take the pressure to where the most important political decisions are made: the federal level. However, the local battles were and are different, resources are scarce and the attempts fell asleep after a brief flash in the pan. At the time, some had the idea of taking a step back in order to take two steps forward: Exchange and learning from each other instead of common demands, agreements, strategies and structures.
The step back was successful, and it wasn't long before attempts were made to move forward again: a joint final declaration with demands at the RaS Forum in Frankfurt/M., the “Mietenwahnsinn stoppen” campaign (2017); the networked large-scale demonstrations in several cities (2019) and the resulting Housing Action Days, which have since been held worldwide, as well as ideas for joint, cross-city organizing campaigns. At the RaS Forum in Berlin 2024, the call for common demands and joint action was also heard again, for example for a nationwide rent cap or a ban on owner-occupier terminations. But history repeats itself: creating truly sustainable structures that can generate real pressure at a national level has not yet been achieved.
In this workshop, we want to discuss these previous attempts: Which strategies have worked, which have not, and what could be one for the coming years? Which structures can be built on, which need to be created in order to better connect the local - national (- international) levels? What can we learn from other countries and from other times? Despite the increasing shift to the right in the 2025 election campaign, doorstep meetings have once again proven to be an important strategic means of asserting progressive political forces: How can the RaS movement evolve in the current climate of enthusiasm and renewal of structures?
To this end, we are inviting activists from different cities and phases of the RaS movement in Germany to trace the various attempts at joint action and develop ideas that we can then take back to the cities and the discussions at the next forum.
Who: Organisator*innen RaS Forum 2024, Berlin
Language: German
History of resistance by the unemployed and the current agitation against recipients of social benefits
Stadtwirtschaft | Winkel
Based on our book “KlassenLos”, we want to draw attention to the resistance of unemployed and poor people. In this context, we will look at the development of the Hartz laws up to the current “new basic income support” and show the diversity of the protests of those affected using the example of the cities of Berlin and Frankfurt/M. And finally, we are interested in a political assessment of the current agitation against the poor, which we would like to present for discussion in the form of a thesis paper.
Who: Anne Seeck, Thilo Broschell, Peter Nowak, Gerhard Hanloser, Harald Rein
Language: German
Workout like FLINTA*: Sweat, Strength, and Right to the City
Zietenpark
Workout spaces are often dominated by cis-men and teenage boys who can act as gatekeepers. For many FLINTA* individuals, this can lead to discomfort, especially when men take up physical and social space, stare, or make unwanted comments.
We want to change this.
Who can join?
We welcome people who self-identify as FLINTA* - to join our space. We do not police anyone's gender and encourage allies to be mindful and give space to FLINTA* folks. You can be experienced in training or trying it for the first time. We welcome every FLINTA* person regardless of your sports experience.
Who can join?
We welcome people who self-identify as FLINTA* - to join our space. We do not police anyone's gender and encourage allies to be mindful and give space to FLINTA* folks. You can be experienced in training or trying it for the first time. We welcome every FLINTA* person regardless of your sports experience.
What to bring
Please wear comfortable clothes and bring water. No special equipment is needed. This is a relaxed and supportive space, no pressure to perform or push your limits. Come as you are!
Who: Lena Gorlatova, Sveta Gorlatova, Polina Medvedeva, Alexia Dufour – Feminist Park Collective
Language: deutsch/englisch
16:45 - 17:15 Saturday break time
+++ Bonus: break in motion +++
17:15 - 19:00 Saturday afternoon
Nationwide rent cap - how do we build up the necessary pressure?
Stadtwirtschaft | Dachluke
In the run-up to the Bundestag elections, the “Mietendeckel Jetzt!” campaign was formed as an alliance of various political organizations, initiatives, associations, foundations and tenants' associations. In the context of an election campaign charged with racism, armament and frontal attacks on the welfare state and asylum law, it succeeded in making a strong demand for rent policy and making the enormous pressure on tenants heard.
Even after the election, the new federal government promises to let tenants down again. The need for a vocal nationwide alliance remains. In the workshop, we want to talk about how we can build a national campaign based on the nationwide demand for a rent freeze and how we can generate the necessary political pressure for its implementation. To this end, we would like to network nationwide, agree on strategies and develop concrete ideas for joint actions. We look forward to welcoming workshop participants who would like to join us in developing and supporting the campaign beyond the workshop in the coming months.
Who: Kampagne Mietendeckel Jetzt! vertreten durch die Organisationen Recht auf Stadt Köln, Deutsche Wohnen & Co enteignen, Stadt AG Interventionistische Linke Berlin und DIE LINKE im Bundestag
Language: German
Registration: at the information stand
Center without a future / Future without a center? - Critical perspectives on the “Future Center” in Halle (Saale)
Stadtwirtschaft | Kuckucksnest
Last year, Halle (Saale) was awarded the contract for the “Future Center for German Unity and European Transformation”. In its self-description, the 200-million-euro project boasts about the location, which “not only reflects the ongoing fractures and dynamics of transformation in the tense coexistence of social segregation and civic cohesion, but also translates them into diverse civic activity.” What is meant by this and what will actually find its place in the Future Center remains vague. Critical voices, whether moderate or fundamental, have so far been few and far between in the political media discourse - the project is welcomed by all parties with the exception of the far-right AfD. A critical left-wing debate, on the other hand, is largely absent.
However, by planning this mega construction project as a pioneer for large-scale district development in the middle of an urban area characterized by decay, gentrification and social segregation, the Zukunftszentrum itself has already become part of the very “tense” coexistence that it hopes to find in Halle. We ask ourselves where in the discourse and in the urban space displacement threatens and look both from a sociological perspective on the housing market and the urban segregation of Halle (GentriMap method), as well as from a political-theoretical perspective on the apparent lack of alternatives to the associated depoliticization of urban development.
We then want to discuss together whether such mega-projects also offer opportunities and what starting points there are for criticism and intervention by a “right to the city” movement when planning and construction are already a done deal.
Hannes Mattenschlager and Kolja Quensel are active in self-organized groups on urban and climate policy issues and in the use of open spaces. As part of their bachelor's theses, they have studied the development of the housing market in Halle since reunification, Nikolai Roskamm's concept of the “unoccupied city” and Bini Adamzak's “Beziehungsweise Revolution”.
Who: Kolja Quensel, Hannes Mattenschlager - Right to the City of Halle (Saale)
Language: German
Homelessness as a gap in the RAS movement
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
According to the Federal Working Group for Homeless Assistance, there are around 650,000 homeless people living in Germany. Funding for support services is being cut and fought over, existing shelters are overcrowded and underfunded, people on the street experience violence in various forms every day. There are as many different stories and fates as there are people in these situations - rent hikes, eviction, displacement, flight. And yet the Right to the City movement does very little to address these issues, even though one would think that urban policy groups would be able to tackle them and provide political support.
In this workshop, we therefore want to address the political issue of housing and homelessness together with experts in the field and reflect together on what the hurdles are for the RAS movement that prevent us from working in this area - and how we can perhaps overcome them together in order to get into action here too.
Who: Stadt für Alle
Language: German
enter the space - Participatory spatial development with young people for young people, example Chemnitz
Zietenpark
Chemnitz, the city of vacancies, the city of open spaces and endless potential? Chemnitz, the city of makers, the city without Späti and without disturbances? Chemnitz as one of the demographically oldest regions in Europe?
We have landed in this area of tension with the “enter - Young Cultural Region Chemnitz” program. Starting in the year of the European Capital of Culture, we want to implement participatory projects with young people even after the great fireworks of festivalization are over. Our first thesis: Chemnitz has so much empty space and yet so little of it. There is a lack of spaces for young people: Spaces in the sense of non-commercial and consumption-free meeting places where they can hang out. Spaces where they can develop freely and try things out, be it in terms of creative expression or their identity in general. And - in an environment that is increasingly threatened by right-wing space grabbing - spaces where young people are protected from right-wing violence and influence. These are the results of our needs analysis.
We want to talk about cultural youth participation in general and the creation of a participatory space for young people in Chemnitz as part of an exchange of experiences. We want to share our findings with you, but above all we are interested in what spaces exist in other cities where young people participate. We want to discuss the questions that are currently on our minds: What qualities does a space need for young people to participate and how do they get to the point of being able to formulate their demands beyond the design of the space? How can a participatory space lead to the empowerment of young people through the experience of self-efficacy? How open can and how open must the space be? What radicalism does the space need and does it need it at all?
Who: Selina Müller, enter – Junge Kulturregion Chemnitz
Language: German
Walk to Chemnitz garage complexes: Disputes and struggles over a piece of East German everyday culture to this day
Zietenpark | Haltestelle Rundgang
GDR garages are still a common sight in rural and urban areas in East Germany today. Despite their visibility, 35 years after the political transformation they receive too little attention, even though they represent an important 'microcosm' for their owners and neighbourhoods: a place for working and tinkering in the sense of a 'repair culture', which has a high emotional value due to its self-organised construction 'from below' in large collectives on formerly 'state-owned' land. Following reunification, many of these complexes were transferred to municipal ownership and came under pressure from the growing logic of exploitation and increasing competition for urban land, extending beyond the metropolises. Battles over this everyday cultural heritage of the GDR are still being fought to this day, concerning recognition, identity and the question of collectively used and self-organised (open) spaces in cities.
Which battles are being fought, and by whom? What role do class issues and property relations play? How do we, as neighbourhoods, want to use these spaces, and what role can they play in sustainable, cooperative urban development that prioritises the common good? What impetus can the Capital of Culture programme provide, and will it merely garner symbolic attention?
Who: Katalin Gennburg, Stadtbauhistorikerin/MdB (Die Linke) & Lena Fries, Historikerin/Die Linke
Language: deutsch
19:00 - 20:00 Saturday dinner
Solidaric kitchen @Stadtwirtschaft // all vegan! // bring your own dishes & cutlery!
19:00 - 20:30 Saturday dinner time
EXTERN: Book presentation and discussion: The end of right-wing spaces
open trial. A documentation center on the NSU complex, Johannisplatz 8, 09111 Chemnitz
In many places, there is talk of "right-wing spaces". The term is completely blurred, sometimes referring to local hegemonic aspirations of the radical right, sometimes to blanket interpretations of the "Brown East" or the "disconnected country". The book "Das Ende rechter Räume" (The end of right-wing spaces) gets to the bottom of these interpretations and makes suggestions for a critical geography of the radical right. We talk to Zita Seichter and Paul Zschocke from the authors' collective about the analytical lens of territorialization and about baseball bat years, right-wing Monday protests, the racist terrorist attack in Hanau and practices of commemoration. Linked back to the documentation center on the NSU complex, we ask Dominik Intelmann about the contested work of remembrance in Chemnitz's urban society.
Who: Author collective Terra-R
Language: German
With registration: by email to: veranstaltung@offener-prozess
21:00 - 22:00 Saturday evening
Afro-Indigenous Music of Resistance
Lokomov
TXAP is a South American music project founded by Ivan Txaparro. It blends Afro-Latin rhythms with electronic vibes, incorporating live looping and activist-inspired hip-hop. Using blues harmonica, flutes, guitar, and synths, TXAP creates a powerful sonic experience for listeners to dance along to.
Who: Ivan Txaparro
Languages: german, english, spanish
https://bit.ly/jaguarizate
https://instagram.com/ivan.txap
22:00 - 3:00 Saturday night
After the concert at Lokomov, the party continues: either at the pub evening in the familiar Recht-auf-Stadt atmosphere with music by Hafergirl, Herzschwestern, kreis01 and Izzy, among others - or opposite in the NoNation club with indie, Britpop classics. The party is open to the public and a ticket contingent has been reserved for us. Decide for yourself: relax with us or dance with the crowd - or simply switch sides and enjoy both.
Sun 22.6.
8:30 - 9:30 Sunday breakfast
breakfast @Stadtwirtschaft // all vegan! // bring your own dishes & cutlery!
10:00 - 11:45 Sunday morning
Building tenant unions through organizing & power mapping
Stadtwirtschaft | Atelier
Workshop with PowerPoint presentation on union organizing, how the housing struggle can create tenant awareness. What is organizing and how do we conduct successful door-to-door talks? How do I confront my landlord? How do I find like-minded people in my neighborhood? How do I fight landlords & owners and how do we empower ourselves?
each other through solidarity and building countervailing power? - These are all questions that will be answered through a series of exercises.
Who: Tenants' Union Berlin
Language: German
Interventions: "If I were you, I'd rather be me. Discovering attitudes, listening to questions, changing perspectives"
Stadtwirtschaft | Dachluke
In this open journey of discovery, we approach the contradictions that exist between public perception and the everyday lives of young people together. Using creative methods, we will develop small interventions such as posters with images and text that stimulate reflection and broaden our view of young people in urban society.
The workshop is aimed equally at adults and young people who would like to explore and share their perspectives in community. On the one hand, the participants should gain an awareness of the possibilities of participation and, on the other hand, create concrete images that could be used for poster campaigns in Chemnitz, for example.
Who: Manja Hofmann, Melanie Hartwig und Cindy Paukert (Mitglieder der Initiative "Perspektiven und Bedeutungen junger Menschen"
Language: german
Making the transport transition yourself through direct democracy - Berlin 2026 transport decision
Stadtwirtschaft | Kuckucksnest
With our “Law for road use for the common good”, we want to reduce the number of cars within the Berlin S-Bahn ring (environmental zone) by two thirds and thus implement the traffic turnaround in Berlin ourselves as a direct democratic referendum. We have already successfully completed the first round of signatures in summer 2021. At the beginning of April, we brought the law before the Constitutional Court of the State of Berlin. We now hope to continue with the second round of signatures this year.
In addition to the massive environmental benefits and the prevention of accidents, a central aspect of our project is the creation of spatial justice in Berlin. No other mode of transport takes up so much public space almost free of charge with such a low transport capacity. While people can no longer afford their apartments in Kreuzberg, cars are parked there for free (>90% of their lifetime). We therefore also see our law as a stop sign for the car industry to stop using our cities as parking spaces for their space-consuming product. With this law, we are creating space for a different urban design.
In the workshop, we will present the concept of our referendum and explain that and how we can use it to push through the traffic turnaround even against the resistance of the Senate and the administration. There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion and questions. Anyone who would like to use the draft law as a template for their own federal state is also cordially invited.
Who: Philipp Schulte, Berlin Car Free Referendum
Language: German
Resonation (through Resilience)
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
The workshop consists of three interconnected phases. Gathering/discussion,
Sonic procession, movement and Mapping. The participants will compile slogans, phrases, and messages to be voiced during the gathering. The second phase will transform the workshop into a conceptual procession - an organized march amplified by a megaphone, where spoken words shape the sonic and spatial experience. Finally, the third phase will document this movement through mapping, translating the procession into an interactive cartographic record.
Who: Tinatin Gurgenidze, Natalia Nebieridze
Language: English
Registration: at the information stand
Strategies of Confrontation
Stadtwirtschaft | Winkel
Wir leben in einer Zeit voller Spannungen, Fronten und Widersprüche. Als feministische Aktivistinnen stehen wir in einem ständigen Austausch – manchmal im Konflikt – mit uns selbst, unseren Freundinnen, politischen Gegner*innen und der Stadt, der Umwelt, der Tiere, die uns umgeben. Wie gehen wir mit diesen Konfrontationen um? Welche Strategien helfen uns, sie nicht nur zu überstehen, sondern produktiv zu nutzen? Welche Praktiken der Konfrontation stehen uns zur Verfügung? Vom Schreien über Eskalation, Diskussion, Respekt und Respektlosigkeit bis hin zu Naivität und Insistieren. Wann setzen wir welche Mittel ein, und welche Wirkung entfalten sie? Wir fragen uns, wer uns Sachlichkeit vorschreibt und wann sie eine hilfreiche Strategie oder eine Falle sein kann. Dabei nehmen wir auch Beziehungungsnetze den Blick: Wie halten wir Konflikte aus, ohne ihnen auszuweichen? Wie bleiben wir im Gespräch mit Freund*innen und Genoss*innen, selbst wenn es schwerfällt? Gemeinsam suchen wir nach Wegen, Konfrontation als produktiven Bestandteil unseres Aktivismus zu begreifen? Wie können wir einander besser verstehen? Wir würden gerne einen Workshop veranstalten, der den Teilnehmenden einen Raum bietet, Konflikte und Frustrationen zu besprechen und eigene positive Strategien und Bewältigungsmechanismen zu teilen.
Der Workshop besteht aus einer Einleitung und einem kurzen Kennenlernen mit Warmup. Im Praktischen Teil des Workshops sammeln und diskutieren wir Strategien und Erfahrungen der Workshop Teilnehmenden mit Konflikten und Konfrontationen in aktivistischer, beruflicher, persönlichen Kontexten. Eine performatives Ausprobieren dieser Strategien ist möglich.
Who: Barbara-Rosa Siévi, Franziska Lichtenberg (Soft_School of Transformation)
Language: german und english
Continuing and establishing the Right to the City in Chemnitz
Zietenpark | Haltestelle Rundgang
To conclude the Chemnitz strand, we will reflect on the forum with Chemnitz stakeholders from a local perspective. We will discuss the right to the city in Chemnitz, share our thoughts, review the situation and collect ideas for a city-led approach. It will be a space to reflect, exchange ideas and think ahead.
12:00 - 13:30 Sunday Closing Forum
Closing Right to the City Forum 2025
Stadtwirtschaft | Veranstaltungssaal
We will come together once again at the end of the forum. The focus will be on networking between cities, initiatives and individuals. The Right-to-City Orgacrew Berlin (2024) will moderate a joint finale, where we will make agreements, share what we have learnt and arrange to meet again in another city next year.
13:30 - 15:00 Sunday lunch
coffee & brownies with Mareike @Zietenpark // all vegan! // bring your own dishes & cutlery!
15:00 - 17:00 Sunday afternoon
Strolling through the neighbourhood - the right to green on the Sonnenberg
Zietenpark | Haltestelle Rundgang
Wir geben einen Einblick auf den Sonnenberg zum Thema Recht auf GRÜN. Der Sonnenberg ist durch seine städtebauliche Historie und starken Wandel der letzten 30 Jahre ein sehr heterogenes Viertel, das nach außen hin ein verufenes Image pflegt. Der nachwievor sichtbare Leerstand trug zur Umgestaltung des Viertels bei, wodurch in den letzten Jahren u.a. Gemeinschaftsgärten hervorgegangen sind. Diese und andere spannende Orte möchten wir mit euch gemeinsam besuchen. Start ist ab dem Gemeinschaftsgarten Zietenaugust (direkt angrenzend zur Stadtwirtschaft) und wir lassen zum Abschluss des Recht-auf-Stadt-Forums den Spaziergang bei Getränken im Ideengarten ausklingen.
Wer: René Bzdok und Katrin Hünsche (Ernährungsrat Chemnitz e.V.)
Sprache: deutsch
Anmeldung: am Infostand
