It all begins with an observation. At some point, Dr Denis Newiak, a researcher at the BTU, noticed something that sounds trivial yet is far-reaching: television series strikingly often tell stories about people who are lonely – not on the fringes of the story, but at its very heart.

A cultural project run by BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg brings Ukrainian refugees together – with needle and thread and a centuries-old tradition that serves as an anchor in a foreign land.

What began as a research question at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) is now taking shape in Kolkwitz: At the Sportverein 1896 e.V. on Jahnstraße, the shell of a multi-purpose building stands, constructed almost entirely from dismantled concrete slabs from old GDR residential blocks. Today, a topping-out ceremony is being held to mark the occasion.