The local workshop in Berlin took place on February 22, 2024, at Kreativ Haus – Stadtteilzentrum Berlin Mitte. The workshop lasted from 13:00 to 16:00 and was followed by a collective conducted visit to the famous Haus der Materialisierung near Berlin Alexanderplatz. The workshop had 10 participants.
Prior to the workshop, project worksheets had been created and printed in both German and English, alongside a paper poster and a digital presentation explaining the project’s aims, the art contest, and the partners’ involvement. Participants had been also asked to bring one object with them that is important to them or that represents their work. As a warm-up or introduction, each participant presented themselves and the object they brought, and explained its meaning in the form of a short storytelling tour.
Following the introductions, the project coordinator gave a presentation on the project and its objectives, based on a PowerPoint presentation. The organizers also took the occasion to announce the EU COM art contest, scheduled to be launched five days after the local testing workshop. Artists had the opportunity to ask questions and gain deeper insights into the project’s different fields and partner organizations.
The first module tested was Persona. Participants were provided with previously prepared worksheets, including a stakeholder map and 2 Persona templates: a first one with a list of questions guiding the participants in the description of their clients, and a second, empty template where they could write or draw the characteristics of the persona. Participants had approximately 20 minutes to work individually, and at the end, they were invited to present their work to the group.
After a short coffee break, the second module, “If I were an Archaeologist…,” was tested. The facilitator invited the participants to place their objects on a common table and also added further objects. Then, participants were asked to choose one object that had not been brought by them. They were asked to imagine themselves as archaeologists in the year 2030, discovering the object they had in their hand, and describing and sketching the object’s hypothetical use in a long-forgotten past. A handout describing the main questions of this activity had been distributed among them previously. This exercise aimed to encourage storytelling and creative interpretation. After 30 minutes of individual work, some volunteering participants presented their ideas in a plenary discussion session.
The third exercise tested a specific version of the Spontaneous Museum module and was tailored for collaborative work. Participants were asked to form groups, and the groups were tasked with curating an exhibition with their chosen objects, focusing on finding common sense and value in their objects that at first sight might have no connection between each other. This exercise lasted 45 minutes and helped participants improve their co-creation skills by working together to create something new. Participants were given A1 sheets to visualize their exhibition ideas, which were presented to the group at the end of the activity.
At the end of each module session, the facilitators asked the participants for their opinions with the help of open questions such as: “What do you think this activity was aimed for?” “Do you think it was useful for you?” “Did it bring any new skills, knowledge, or ideas to you?”
At the end of the workshop, an online evaluation questionnaire was sent out to the participants.
Feedback
Participants provided very positive feedback on the overall workshop, including the setup, the facilitators’ roles, the handouts, and the information provided. They highly appreciated the interactive character of the workshop and the co-creation activities, which provided them with motivation to think about working with others. Most of them agreed that more time for networking and dialogue would have been needed though.
The workshop’s last segment comprised a one-hour guided tour of the Haus der Materialisierung, aiming to facilitate networking among participants and provide insights into Berlin’s upcycling and recycling landscape—a hybrid organization with both institutional and artist-driven characteristics.
Documents
image gallery
