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Community action/Berlin

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The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Malling.

Berlin
Germany
Europe
Cosmolocal
  • News The "Lebensmittepunkte" - or Berlin's Food Hubs - are a perfect and sustainable fit for the idea of the fifteen-minute city, Daily Alternative (Apr 15, 2024)
  • News Berliners rave against motorway extension threatening cultural venues, bbc.co.uk (Sep 03, 2023)
  • News 7 Reasons Why Berlin is a Successful Sharing City, Shareable (Oct 06, 2017)
Read more
  • News Germany pledges to phase out fossil fuels for first time with target of 2045, theguardian.com (Sep 23, 2026) — Germany is the third major developed economy to publish such a roadmap, after France and the Netherlands, after a major international conference in Colombia in April at which all participants promised to set out plans for a full phaseout of fossil fuels
  • News Meet the biggest heat pumps in the world, BBC News (Dec 16, 2025)
  • News Climate Disaster Survivors in the Global South Take Legal Action Against European Carbon Majors, insideclimatenews.org (Nov 03, 2025)
  • News Citizens need to power Europe's future, demnext.substack.com (Oct 02, 2026) — The EU can enable new democratic institutions: in European countries; with a European Citizens’ Assembly as a 4th branch of government, and by legally enforcing the Global Citizens’ Assembly on AI, Claudia Chwalisz and Another Democratic Future
  • News Reclaiming the streets: the architects clawing back Europe’s car-centric spaces, theguardian.com (Sep 09, 2026) — The European Prize for Urban Public Space’s shortlist highlights projects helping people cope with climate crisis
  • News We’re the mayors of Paris, Milan and Phoenix. The heat crisis has us all facing the same question, Emmanuel Grégoire, Giuseppe Sala and Kate Gallego, theguardian.com (Sep 07, 2026) — Our three cities are learning from each other about how to protect residents. These climate policies are also public health measures
  • News Citizens need to power Europe's future, demnext.substack.com (Oct 02, 2026) — The EU can enable new democratic institutions: in European countries; with a European Citizens’ Assembly as a 4th branch of government, and by legally enforcing the Global Citizens’ Assembly on AI, Claudia Chwalisz and Another Democratic Future
  • News Fifty Billion Seedlings: Can Ethiopia Replant Its Ravaged Forests?, e360.yale.edu (Oct 01, 2026)
  • News Want solar but don’t own a roof? California just legalized plug-in panels, no permission required, latimes.com (Sep 30, 2026)

CDC video

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Cosmolocal discovery club

Each week 3 different short videos from across the world.

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Guy Singh-Watson - 80 Voices for Nature's Revival
Authors: The Soil Association Videos, 1.45 mins.
Date: 2026-09-03
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It's time for a Carbon Emissions Land Tax
Authors: John Muir Trust, 1.50 mins.
Date: 2024-12-18
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Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia
Authors: Department of Conservation, 10.00 mins.
Date: 2026-06-03

Food activism, Community climate action Scotland, Community action/New Zealand / ...This week's featured UK videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism

International events

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Global or International events

  • Event Sep 15, 2026 (Tue) — Free Money Day, Global invitation for people to explore, in a liberating and fun way, what it might be like if our relationship to money was a little different. Sep 15, annually, freemoneyday.org
  • Event Sep 18, 2026 (Fri) — Park(ing) day, global, public, participatory project where people across the world temporarily repurpose curbside parking spaces and convert them into public parks and social spaces to advocate for safer, greener, and more equitable streets for people, myparkingday.org
  • Event Sep 21-27, 2026 (Mon-Sun) — Global Week Of Action For Peace And Climate Justice, climatemilitarism.org
  • Event Sep 21, 2026 (Mon) — International Day of Peace, Globally shared date, Sep 21 each year for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace, internationaldayofpeace.org

2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events

Berlin video

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Marina Naprushkina: 2017 ECF Princess Margriet Award for Culture portrait film
Authors: European Cultural Foundation, May 9, 2017
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Networks and sustainability initiatives

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Food activism

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  • Lebensmittelpunkte Network, Berlin, "an open alliance of local projects, neighborhoods, organizations and committed individuals. Our vision: LebensMittelPunkte in every neighborhood, for an ecological and social transformation of our food system in Berlin." added 07:36, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

Berlin has a tradition of communal neighborhood gardens (Schraebergaerten) stretching back over 150 years. That tradition lives on in projects like the huge Prinzessinengarten (Princess Garden) in the multicultural Kreuzberg district and the Mauergarten (Wall Garden) in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. This list from Foodtank explores many similar projects...Shareable.

  • foodsharing.de (in German) coordinates a network of community food fridges across the country and recruits groups of volunteers to "rescue" food which would otherwise be thrown out from willing shops and producers...Shareable.
  • Prinzessinnengärten (Princess gardens, Berlin)
  • Wikipedia (German), Prinzessinnengärten

See also: Urban Foraging in Germany

Community resources

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  • Baumhaus (Treehouse) project space (in German) in the Wedding district is a nonprofit project and event space dedicated to creating a hub for the development of neighborhood sustainable development projects. A repair café, an improvisational orchestra, and a vertical gardening program are just a few of their initiatives.
  • Leila Berlin (in German) is a thriving tool library in East Berlin that has spawned several imitators across the country. Their selection goes way beyond household carpentry tools. Need to borrow a bicycle helmet, a drill, or a set of wine glasses? Go see them...Shareable
  • Little Wood
  • Community Lovers Guide Berlin

Arts, sport and culture

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  • New neighbourhood, Moabit, non-profit association founded in 2013. "Today we are one of the largest voluntary neighborhood initiatives in Berlin. With our large rooms and our daily program, we create a social and artistic platform for exchange, learning and engagement for the neighborhood from all over the world. We don't help, we learn from each other. Our goal is to influence society, to actively shape it, to create new opportunities for non-hierarchical political and social coexistence. Our work is voluntary." added 14:56, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
  • Cooperative for Urban Creativity
  • Kulturlabor Trial & Error Berlin based non profit, working with crafts, D.I.Y. culture, sustainability, arts and media

See also: Community resources

Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle

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  • BerlinRepair, cherish, maintain, pass on, added 15:50, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

Sharing

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The bustling German capital is an amazing city to visit for all sorts of reasons, but it has a lot to offer for those who are interested in cooperatives, squats, and other local sharing projects.

Köpi is a well-known squat where free alternative movie nights are organized three times a week. Discover new films and enjoy cheap drinks while meeting people and learning more about the Berlin squat scene...Shareable

See also: Food activism, Community resources, Maps

WIR.DE

Open spaces

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  • gruen-berlin.de, Green infrastructure and public open spaces for Berlin. "We create open spaces and green infrastructures for a more liveable, social Berlin that is barrier-free for all people and at the same time meets its ecological responsibility as a metropolis in the 21st century." added 15:05, 15 July 2021 (UTC)

Cycling activism

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Velotaxi ricksahw in Berlin, October 2007. Author: Nro92

Cycling is an important part of Berlin's transport system, accounting for 18% of trips made by residents in 2023. The city's Cycling Plan defines a planned cycling network of 2,371 kilometres (1,473 mi), including an 865-kilometre (537 mi) priority network. The plan, which forms part of the framework established by the Berlin Mobility Act, aims to increase the share of trips made by bicycle to at least 23% by 2030.

Following amendments to the Mobility Act in July 2026, the target for completing the priority network remained 2030, while the target for the full network was extended to 2035.

There are a number of regional and long-distance bike paths that run through Berlin. These include the Berlin-Copenhagen trail, Berlin-Usedom Cycle Route and the European Cycle Route R1. W

In 1997, Berlin-made cycle rickshaws called velotaxis were created. The tickets are about one half the cost of regular taxis. Velotaxis are three-wheeled vehicles with a "space-age lightweight plastic cab that is open on both sides", a space for a driver, and behind the driver, space for two passengers. They have been invented by Ludger Matuszewski, the founder of "Velotaxi GmbH" company. W

Ethical consumerism

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News archive

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  • Berlin's vote to take properties from big landlords could be a watershed moment, Alexander Vasudevan, Sep 29, 2021...theguardian.com
  • News 7 Reasons Why Berlin is a Successful Sharing City, Shareable (Oct 06, 2017)
  • Berlin's Holzmarkt Shows the Incredible Potential of Urban Villages, Aug 23, 2017...Shareable
  • The Urban Common Spaces That Show Us We Belong to Something Larger, May 3, 2017...Shareable
  • Berliners finally dump the car for love affair with the bicycle, Apr 26, 2017...irishtimes.com
  • In Berlin, a Model for Creative and Affordable Housing, Apr 12, 2017...@yesmagazine
  • Coming Soon to Berlin: Bike Superhighways, Mar 6, 2017...citylab.com
  • To engage citizens in planning technology must be matched with a participatory culture, Mar, 2017...dailyplanet.climate-kic.org

Berlin pulls funds out of fossil fuel companies, Jun 23, 2016...gofossilfree.org

  • Berlin 'borrowing shop' promotes the benefits of sharing, March 17, 2014...theguardian.com
  • 30,000 show how fed up they are with industrial food, January 19, 2014...Agricultural and Rural Convention
  • Berlin beats London and Washington DC in league table of world's best democratic space, www2.warwick.ac.uk, August 8, 2012.
  • Sehr gut: Why cycling in Berlin is a dream. Wide streets, bikes in parks, cycling culture... 10 reasons why the German capital is a marvellous place to cycle, guardian.co.uk, April 22, 2010.
  • Reichstag to run solely on renewable power, The Guardian, March 21, 2008.

About Berlin

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Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union (EU). The metropolis is also one of the states of Germany, being the third-smallest state in the country by area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg, bordering Brandenburg's capital Potsdam to the southwest. The urban area of Berlin has a population of 4.5 million, making it the second most populous in Germany after the Ruhr. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region, as well as the fifth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the EU. Berlin is a global city of culture, politics, media and science.

Berlin was built along the banks of the Spree river, which flows into the Havel in the western borough of Spandau. First documented in the 13th century and at the crossing of two important historic trade routes, Berlin was designated the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), German Empire (1871–1918), Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). Berlin served as a scientific, artistic, and philosophical hub during the Age of Enlightenment, Neoclassicism, and the German revolutions of 1848–1849. During the Gründerzeit, an industrialization-induced economic boom triggered a rapid population increase in Berlin. Berlin in the 1920s was the third-largest city in the world by population.

Page data
Keywords Cities. European cities
SDG SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 2 pages link here
Redirects Berlin, Berlin community action
Views 80 page views (analytics)
Created March 21, 2014 by Phil Green
Last edit September 24, 2026 by Phil Green
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