DO THINGS TOGETHER!

"WHAT HAPPENS AT THE VILLAGE KIOSK?

On 21.07.2024, as part of our joint master's thesis, we were in Gaberndorf
as part of our joint master's thesis to find out at a workshop how the
the near future of the Angers and a possible kiosk on the former estate.
former estate. In the ideas workshop at the village fountain
participants were able to write all their wishes, criticisms and ideas on a map.
ideas on a map. However, we also really wanted to get down to
get down to business. To this end, the building workshop ran in parallel inside the
which was open to all interested parties on the day.
We had a sanding machine, paintbrush and paint roller with us to give the somewhat
the somewhat run-down bus stop bench with the help of a few villagers.
with a fresh coat of paint with the help of a few villagers. After all the
conversations that day, we had the feeling that it was now time to
time to try out a few of the small ideas that were put forward and show
show how quickly they can be changed through collective initiative in everyday
can be changed.

Anna, Lando, Felix & Deni"

We invite all students, doctoral candidates, staff and professors to the Day of Teaching and Learning on May 29, 2024.

Under the motto “Stadt, Land, Lehre - in Freiheit und Demokratie” (City, Country, Teaching - in Freedom and Democracy), we will join you in taking a look at teaching in uncertain times. Take part in keynote speeches, workshops and discussion rounds and let's explore together what contribution teaching can make to promoting democracy and freedom! The MITMACH-DING will also be on the road!

Information on the program and registration can be found at: www.uni-weimar.de/tll

After almost 15 months of the project, we as the team from the mobile participation laboratory "MITMACH-DING" are drawing a first conclusion and venturing a look ahead to a more cooperative relationship on and off campus. It should be noted that it takes a few months for such an "innovative" teaching and learning project to establish itself as a useful tool in the minds of the various internal and external university staff. It takes time to get to grips with the complex and by no means barrier-free topic of "participation". Why do we need it at all? We think we know ourselves what is best. How does the Bauhaus University Weimar want to deal with this topic in the future? How important should "making common cause" be? How much participation is desired and even possible in which area? With the "MITMACH thing", we repeatedly noticed that previous structures within and outside the university make cooperation difficult. We tested how we could get students excited about the topic and anchor it in their teaching across faculties with the help of seminars, workshops and individual support for final theses. It would be desirable if these interdisciplinary impulses could also be made possible in the long term. We have built up a network of leading participation experts in German-speaking countries that can be accessed for this purpose. Inquiries can still be submitted to University Development via the contact function on the project website.

Uncertainties about how exactly the mobile participation lab "MITMACH-DING" works and what exactly can be done with it have repeatedly come up as questions in discussions. We have therefore developed a manual as project documentation to provide a kind of instruction manual. Apart from facts about the basics of participatory design, you can understand what exactly was done during the STIL funding project period and how it was created in the first place. There are also assembly instructions so that future users know how the mobile can be used. It provides an overview of the various modules and how to assemble the individual settings. The inventory will probably remain in the possession of University Development and will be managed from here. The mobile will hopefully remain available for loan for activities on campus or in the region. There is an intuitive booking system on the website for this purpose, through which every request will then land with the future managing entity.

On 28.11.2023, 21 urban studies students traveled to the "Erfurter Kreuz" industrial estate to examine the built work culture in Thuringia using its example and to talk to people who live/work there. In snow and ice! LEG gave us an insight into the processes involved in developing spaces on such a field/ scale. There was a lot to discover on a walk through the streets. The mobility concepts and the spaces between housing and large-scale logistics were particularly interesting. The students will go on to conduct further interviews and research in working groups in order to gain more knowledge about the world of work in Thuringia and develop proposals for sustainable transformations.

The WANDERZIRKUS project is also funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education and has become aware of the MITMACH-DING. The aim is to jointly develop interdisciplinary methods to teach/learn sustainability and democracy critically, constructively and consistently. From 8-10.11.2023 we met with 25 other people from the German university landscape in Jena at IMAGINATA and exchanged ideas intensively. We at MITMACH-DING are also asking ourselves how sustainable development can work, for example. Grit Koalik (www.visuranto.de) was there again as our illustrator and captured both the atmosphere and the results. We all want to meet again in Essen in summer 2024 and continue thinking and doing until then. Great that we were able to participate and support. We are excited to see what else will develop from the confettia-affine concepts.

Time and again, we receive inquiries from other regional associations or universities. This time we were allowed to travel to Lusatia and tell the Bürgerregion Lausitz e.V. about our MITMACH thing. That was really great and at the end the statement was quite clear: "We also want to develop a mobile!". We are happy about this and are already very excited to see exactly what it will look like!

On 14.10 we were in Scharzburg to discover the place around the former boarding house "Haus Bräutigam" as part of the seminar project. In the next semester we will consider together what could be developed at this place in the future. So far, the generous green space around the house has been cleared of debris. At the time of the boarding house, it served as a lawn for the guests. Compared to other properties in Schwarzburg, the area is very generous - but also sloping. The students were encouraged to go on a discovery tour and to come into contact with the place and, if necessary, with people. It was interesting with which stories they came back after 1.5 hours tour. In small drawings they tried to visualize their route again. Directly in the garden we were made aware of the existing vegetation by the botanist of the University of Jena (Fabian Schneider). In the next seminar days groups will be formed, which can then work on concrete questions.

From 30.8-6.9 we used the workshop again to give the mobile tool a few upgrades. After the first actions last semester, we noticed a few things that could be improved. No problem with the modular construction and the materials used! Therefore we invited the artist Christine Pavlic (www.christinepavlic.com) to support us. The prototype developed by Construclab was taken apart again and improved here and there. Partly the weight of the boxes was a problem, because they were without handles black alone manageable. We re-milled these in each case. In addition, we had not come to a numbering of the modules in the last building workshop, which was also impractical in use, because you could then quickly lose track of where what is. In addition, we could not get into the somewhat narrower Weimar station elevator. Very annoying extra set up and take down when you've been out all day and just want to get home.... That's why it still needed a sturdy buggy to use when things get tight. Christine developed this and prefabricated it in her metal workshop. In Weimar we gave it a final polish and a pink color to match the Mitmach-Ding color scheme. The exciting thing is that the buggy is also modular and can be used in different ways. This makes the existing system even more four-way usable. We think it's really chic and are looking forward to using this »Mad-Max-Barbie« in the region!

»The University of Weimar wants to close the gap between science and civil society. A ›mobile participatory thing‹ is the central element of the ›MoPLab‹ project, which we are funding. With the vehicle, students and teachers move into the pedestrian zone to enter into an open dialog about urban design with people passing by.«

You can watch the video here:
stiftung-hochschullehre.de/blog/ein-mit-mach-ding-auf-raedern/

From 13-16.07.2023 the summer exhibition »Summaery23« took place on the campus of the Bauhaus University Weimar. A colorful weekend where students and teachers exhibit their topics and projects of the last months. Prizes are awarded and alumni travel from all over the world to meet again. We used the event to be on campus with the mobile to make the project better known and to talk to potential users. We also tried to gather impulses for the design of the upcoming winter semester. So-called »MITMACH ideas« could be filled out and were then visibly displayed in order to be able to become more concrete together at the »Open Meeting« on Friday afternoon. That was really nice! Some representatives from the region were present. In the end, some semi- to very concrete ideas were on the table, which will now be worked out in the next weeks. We are looking forward to get going again after the summer break and hopefully anchor the project as a permanent tool for collaboration at the university!

We cordially invite you to this year's SUMMAERY of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar!

The MITMACH thing will be out and about on campus on Thursday, 7/13 from 5-7pm and on Saturday, 7/15 from 2-4pm.

On 7/14 from 3-5pm, we're hosting an open meeting where we'll share ideas on how the project can be further utilized and solidified in the coming months to enhance creative collaboration between the university and the region. We will be joined by the wonderful Institute for Heterotopia: heterotopia.blog.
A few exciting external guests have also already agreed to participate, such as the Landuni from Vienna: landuni.at

GOALS: Find concrete projects for the winter semester, strengthen networks, question of continuity.

SCEDULE:
15:00 Check-in (5 min/ Welcome, method overview, goals):
15:05 Fishbowl-Podium (30 min/ overview of positions/ potentials/ problems)
15:35 Agenda (10min/ audience/ gathering panel impulses through moderation).
With which topics/ projects do we want to go into the Open Space?
15:45 Break (10 min/ clustering of the tables by moderation)
16:00 Open Space (60min):
Presentation of the tables by moderation. Changes? Setting (10 min)
Brainstorming at the tables (30min)
Collection of results and next steps Presentation (15 min)
16:55 Check out (5 min) then common end with drinks

We ask for registration and look forward to making plans together!

On 27.06.2023, 10 students and the team from MITMACH-Ding were at Herderplatz in Weimar. Under the motto "Dive in!", the citizens of Weimar were invited to the paddling pool for an exchange. Together, questions such as "Let's imagine the city was an outdoor pool - which character would you play in the outdoor pool, what do you like to do most?" should be clarified

On the 20.06. from 3-6pm the event "Immerse! The city as an outdoor pool" by students of the Bauhaus University Weimar took place on Apolda's market square. The square was temporarily transformed into an open-air swimming pool: There was a small diving tower, a sunbathing lawn - and of course a paddling pool, which on this hot day was of course especially enjoyed by the children. Afterwards, participating people from the city were able to show on a small city model what they would also like to see for Apolda's city squares from their outdoor pool role. They wished for more shady elements, communicative seating groups, spaces of togetherness - not only for people, but interestingly also for the city's mallards. The aim of the event was to point out the different roles in making the city and, of course, to playfully transform the public space for a few hours. Next Tuesday, 27.06., 12-6pm, a similar action takes place on the Weimar Herderplatz.

"What, the city has become an outdoor pool! Let's dive in."
Sometimes it's hard to find your way around all the hustle and bustle of the city. And it's even harder to understand what role I actually play in the city. We all make city, we are all city shapers - but in highly different ways: The culture of participation in cities is characterized by unequal speaker positions and invisibility of entire population groups. With the participation thing, we explore the diversity of roles and test alternatives. To do this, we unceremoniously transform two public squares into outdoor pools.
What if the city were an outdoor pool? Which character would you play in the outdoor pool, what do you like to do most? Would you be the lifeguard who has an overview of everything? Or would you spend the whole day in the pool and let yourself drift? Why? No prior knowledge or registration is required to participate, just curiosity. Where and when? June 20, Apolda marketplace, 3-6 p.m. June 27, Herderplatz Weimar, 12-6 pm."

The event tests the new participation thing of the Bauhaus University Weimar and takes place in the context of the Bauhaus.module "Urbanothek: on the road with the mobile participation lab", under the direction of Anton Brokow-Loga and Hannah Kordes.

It is now half time for the project MITMACH-Ding, the mobile participation lab of the Bauhaus University Weimar and it is now slowly but surely to think about how to continue with the mobile after the end of February 2024 (funding ends). What can you actually do with it? How can it be borrowed? Who will look after it at the university in the long term? We have been working on the first part of the handbook for a few days now, where you will not only learn how the mobile came to be, but also how to use it so that the university and the region can do more things together. Thanks to the many great drawings by Grit Koalick (www.visuranto.de) it is also fun to look at it all. Thanks! At our promotion at Summaery (13.-16.7), we will have some proofs with us. We are already looking forward to it :)

To show how the MITMACH-Ding looks and works at the moment, we did a photo shoot. The special thing about our multifunctional trailer is that you can really disassemble it completely and adjust the size as needed. We will test it within the next days in Weimar and in public transport. Looking forward to it!

Students of the Bauhaus University spontaneously asked us if they could use the mobile to get in touch with the young people in Weimar. The goal is to provide creative support for a new meeting place for youth culture. To this end, the group has been promised 20,000 euros by the city of Weimar. The different modules and the board helped to collect first conversations and ideas on the so-called "KIWI" in Weimar. We wish the students much success in implementing their commitment to a place for youth culture in Weimar! It's great to see how relevant one's own creative competence can become for society, even during one's studies, if the exchange works out.

From 23.1-1.2 the Bauhaus University Weimar was occupied by students. We tried to use the energies (demanding participation) and to collect moods with the prototype of the mobile participation lab in order to find out how we as a team, but also as a new tool of the university, can participate/support here. Above all, we were interested in the question of what the next step after the occupation might look like. How do those involved envision this required "space for exchange at eye level"? What should it be able to do? How will decisions be made there? Who organizes it? In the summer semester, exciting excursions to the cooperation partners in Thuringia await us. We are curious to see what will happen on campus at the same time.

From 16.01.-19.01.23 the compact week of the mobile participation lab will take place. A detailed schedule and the venue will follow. Here, the impulses of the kick-off event will be taken up and further developed. Due to the workshop format as the first course with 3 ECTS, students can already get involved in the project development. Interested teachers and cooperation partners are to be invited to shape the summer semester 2023 in more detail. Different working groups will try to find answers to the above mentioned questions. At the end of the week, we want to be much more concrete about how the project will proceed. Above all, we want to find out together how the mobile setting should look and function and develop the first prototypes. During the semester break we could build the prototype and test it during the summer semester.