A cultural kiosk café that, together with other initiatives, transforms an abandoned soccer field into a biodiversity park and cultural meeting place. We add the extra pepper into the soup of co-creating a community space with music, creativity and an extra portion of good food. Cause good food, is good for the mood. With sustainability as our carriage, we ride towards a brighter future. Was geht? Das Beet!
“Das Beet” (engl. the garden bed) is a newly crowdfunded cultural kiosk café located in a community group managed city park in the heart of Bremerhaven. Even though I was the initiator of this concept, I will further write as we. It is a community project and would not have been possible without the help of many others. The Zollinlandplatz is an abandoned soccer field that started its transformation into a park of biodiversity and encounter in 2015. It is about the joint design of a non-profit area, a creative free space, which is to be enriched by many with life, ideas, and culture. Our aim is to create an outdoor gathering place on the Zollinlandplatz in Bremerhaven. A place for get-togethers, recreation, and common activities. One focus of the Zolli-Initiative e.V. is the expansion of plant and animal diversity in the park. We implement this further by growing herbs, salads, and vegetables in our own plant beds. The produce are later on offered into our gastronomy.
We transfigure the generation of non-recyclable waste with pant systems & reusable materials. Creation and expansion of awareness for a better handling of ourselves, the environment, and the available resources is one of our aims. To illustrate the thought in cycles and place it stronger in the focus of our daily activities is highly important for us. “Das Beet” is a cultural contact point for all people of all generations, all nations, all cultures and all sexes. We believe that societal activities are a main communication tool to expand the understanding sustainability. With cost free cultural activities, we attract people from all backgrounds in spite of the higher price for sustainable, good, delightful drinks and food. This is only possible through a funding from our cultural office in Bremerhaven, who see the significance of such concept. We have involved our followers in the completion of this award, asking them how "Das Beet" has created a sense of belonging to Bremerhaven.
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
Construction: An old 20ft shipping container is the base of “Das Beet”. The foundation is made from compacted crushed rock, rather than cemented foundation blocks. We focus on mechanical connections, then adhesive bonds. The container is a non-permanent building and can easily be moved to a different location. It can be simply dismantled, and materials can be separated again. The laid infrastructure for water, wastewater and electricity can easily be dislodged, if “Das Beet” will ever close. Exemplary for mobile applications.
Use of tools: The only new tools in our kitchen are a panini grill and a milk foamer. Everything else is either bought second hand or is rented for a specific purpose. Together with the Zolli-Initiative e.V. and "Urban Pergola" project, we have a wide variety of tools, and these are shared among the groups. Exemplary for sharing opportunities.
The production: We obtain roughly 80% of our raw products either ecologically and regionally. We aim for the 100% and are constantly looking for producers in our region that fit our criteria for sustainable agriculture. Our food scraps are composted in the park, in a communal compost station. We use reusable containers or pant system with most of our partners. The electricity consumed is from renewable energies. Exemplary for a regional food network
The use of existing resources: 80 percent of the kitchen equipment is second hand. All our seating area is either self-build from recycled materials or is second hand from flea markets, eBay or donations. Exemplary for use of local wastestreams and current value of used materials.
Service: It is important to communicate our values and give the opportunity for our customers to experience this vibrant location. We use table napkins made from old fine tablecloths. The Zolli-Initiative e.V. in cooperation with “Das Beet” received a dry separating toilet granted from the Climate City Office Bremerhaven (Klimastadtbüro). Exemplary for sustainable service structu
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
Our key objective in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience is strongly rooted in the Zollinlandplatz and its surroundings. With “Das Beet”, we are creating a new location together with the Zolli-Initiative and are strongly identifying with the values of the Zolli-Initiative e.V. in terms of biodiversity and sustainability. We are experimenting with a mix of aesthetics in this location.
We have the many raised beds, on one hand, that we built to grow food and provide a small garden for neighbours. All the beds are made from recycled materials. With our form of construction and designs, we want to create an aesthetic of self-build, reuse and practicality. The individual character of each construction, due to the variety of people who conceptualized or assembled it, emphasizes this aesthetic. Thus, showing that the development of such place in a poor neighbourhood can be shaped through time investment and use of waste streams rather than money.
On the other hand, we have a modern aesthetic when it comes to the interior and exterior of the container. Our idea is to present the container in a minimalistic look, focused on materials like wood, cork and stainless steel. The interior is precisely built and demonstrates a perfect aesthetic. With this aesthetic we draw another field of guests to our locationa and pursue the professionality of our gastronomy.
In addition to all of that are our artists, art and nature, that bring liveliness to our compositions and to the park. They bring the small details that make a visit an experience and an ever-changing space. Integrating plants into the design of "Das Beet" may show the planned aesthetics first after many years of growth. To connect human made shapes and forms with more playful natural forms is an aesthetic we are welcoming and progressing and fits into one of the main goals of this park: Promote nature and biodiversity.
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
“Das Beet” is in Bremerhaven Lehe. It is not only located in the socially weakest district of the city, but also in one of the weakest in Germany. Lehe is in 2020 the poorest district of Germany with over 35% of its population overindebted. Nearly half (45%) of its population has a migratory background. The crime rates are high, and businesses are rather leaving than moving to Lehe. “Das Beet“ became a meeting point of all social classes and backgrounds in just two years and we strongly promote an open character of our space. With an ecological and sustainable concept, we do not have our targeted group situated directly in our neighborhood. With our concept we promote sustainability in a very alternative and not elitist way. We scaled down on many of our prizes, to make our offer available to neighbours with lower income. During the development, we constantly involve our neighbors in our creation processes, and we had help in many different fields. One main thing, that astound our team, was the mix of age in our customers. Originally planned to provide a cultural and gastronomical offer for the younger generation, we attracted with our concept people of any age. Our team is diverse in age, sex, and cultural background.
The Park is partly accessible for people with reduced mobility (PRM). We try to combine sustainable solutions with good availability for PRM. To not extend soil sealing, but still make the seating area accessible, the seating area of “Das Beet” is filled with wood chips, which was a superable barrier to PRM. Our dry separating toilet is barrier free. The access directly to the counter will be implemented this year with ramps at the entry and exit.
We believe a key factor to include people in a structurally lagging city like Bremerhaven into sustainable ideas, urban gardening, healthy and local gastronomy is when those messages are combined with cultural events. This is in our opinion exemplary for inclusion.
Please highlight how this approach can be exemplary
From the very beginning, we included the neighbours as well as the wider community through social media and invitations to take part in the creation of the space. "Das Beet" was partly crowdfunded from a wide community. Support with the construction came from all fields and backgrounds. A maker’s approach where provisional arrangements and upcycling of reused material create a simple aesthetic that is attractive for people from different backgrounds. With time and professional advice, we will transform the provisional arrangements into well planned and resourcefully-built projects that grow sustainable with the natural surroundings of the Zollinlandplatz.
We believe that the key element to promote inclusion and sustainability, especially in a structural lagging city like Bremerhaven, is through cultural events and aesthetics. We see ourselves as local pioneers in sustainable consumption and the reconnection to the food we eat and how it is produced. Sharing hands on knowledge on how ecological produce can be grown with hardly any cost but time.
Initially, we were confronted with the question of how we will be able to implement a sustainable gastronomy in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Germany and still guarantee the accessibility of the products for our new neighbours. As people might not pay more for our sustainable products, they might be willing to pay the higher price because they can sit in a beautiful scenery with little artistic and historic details of the “spirit” that has grown into this location while enjoying free events. The concerts can also be attempted without ordering from the café. The free events are possible through a funding of the cultural office of Bremerhaven.
“Das Beet” follows an inclusive way to increase sustainable consumption and awareness through the aesthetics of a constantly growing and changing environment. Connecting to city structures and applying for funds to increase sustainabilty, is exemplary.
In our perception, Bremerhaven has been a fragmented city from the start of our studies at the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven. The interaction between native and new members of Bremerhaven, as well as among different social sectors have been rare in our experience. In Bremerhaven is no abundant pool of young and urban people to co-create before 2022 when the project "Das Beet" and "Werk" started. Two projects that openly embrace everyone, who shows remote interest in taking part.
Das Beet is located at the crosssection of the poorest neighbourhood of Germany and Bremerhaven’s center of young, artistic and cultural life. In between, we naturally draw in people from both neighbourhoods. We offer free cultural events together with the cultural office of Bremerhaven. As described multiple times we are deeply connected with the Zolli Initiative e.V. We act as development grounds for a new project with the local university and connect with the Climate City Office (Klimastadtbüro) Bremerhaven. Our community and our partners let us grow integrated in the park where we rooted in 2020. We have farm to table products and can show our customers how our food is grown, cooked, and eaten. Guests can partake in the growing and harvesting of produce and can develop a tangible connection to the food they consume. We invite everyone not just to have a drink and a snack but also to participate in the development of the location. Instead of sourcing treats from industrial bakeries, we have neighbourhood grandmothers eager to make use of old and new recipes. Instead of presenting a finished space, we most literally offer a garden of opportunities to develop the empty space and people are taking us up on the offer. We think the innovative character in "Das Beet", is the communal flair and co-creation from a heterogenous group and the regional connection of its gastronomy.
Our plan is to become 100% ecological and to increase the food production in the community garden. We will not meet the demand for vegetables from the Zollinlandplatz, but we are cooperating with ecological farmers in the region. We are creating a small indoor mushroom farm in 2022, as well as incubated mushroom logs for the outdoor cultivation, connected with a workshop format to educate. In August 2020, the foodsharing Bremerhaven initiative moved its distribution to the Zollinlandplatz. With them we want to work together in preservation techniques for food. We want to promote the Zolli Initiative e.V. to bring more people into the co-creation of this park. More workshops about sustainability, regenerative gardening, art, handcraft, and music.
A student at the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven is planning to write a bachelor thesis about the dimensioning of a constructed wetland for wastewater treatment. A co-organized reggae festival, called Burning Beans, has been established in 2021. The Festival emphasizes co-creation of various local organizations and the increased use of leguminoses in our dietary plan. The Festival will be also organized in 2022. In a gated area of the Zollinlandplatz, two beehives were placed in 2021.
A green house is already financed, and construction is planned to start in March 2022. Our longterm plan is to bring other initiatives and facilities to this place. It would have a strong effect on the value of life in Bremerhaven and sends out a message to the inhabitants that the city invests in fragmented neighborhoods. The idea is to have open research projects, that directly impact the perspective of science, research and sustainability in an accessible form in Lehe.
A student project "Urban Pergola", found its base on the Zollinlandplatz, where they include a prototype construction of an urban pergola that provides shade, cooling and biodiversity for inner cities and sealed streets.
Aesthetics: The plan is to place a second container on top of the existing container that will be accessible to the public. It will be called “Ornithologe” and has various information on local birds that have been seen on the Zollinlandplatz. We have spent several after work hours sitting on top of the current container and have strongly felt the different appearance of the park from a higher viewing point. Suddenly different areas of the park can be looked at in a bigger picture and topographical differences can be seen. Even though it is also a rebuild container, it supports a rather permanent aesthetic than with just one container.
Inclusion: Together with the city we want to organize an event together with the neighbors and the inhabitants of our district. We want to include the neighbors more in the development of the park and want to give an open discussion round to clear conflicts about the progress of the park. The Zolli-Initiative e.V. has constructed a playground 2021 for kids on the Zollinlandplatz. The playground will be extended in 2022 and promotes a natural aesthetic using willow shrubs to construct organic domes and tunnels and natural materials for construction.
Sustainability: We have several projects in our future that promote sustainability and give a practical example in various areas of food production, circular economy and energy production. A three wheeled electric driven roller along with a solar battery combination has been granted to us from the Klimastadtbüro Bremerhaven. With a special design for the roller, we want to promote alternative, relatively cheap autark solutions for inner city logistics.
The project to implement a constructed wetland for our wastewater treatment will be planned out in 2022 in connection with a Bachelor thesis of the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven. We continue to connect to local producers and implement their products in our gastronomical offer.
@Alber, 2022
Content licensed to the European Union.