Shaping home

With the transfer series "Zuversicht: Heimat?!", researchers from the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) are working with experts from the field to fund reflection on home. Numerous perspectives from science, practice and civil society enable an intensive and open-ended exchange between social workers, researchers, citizens and local stakeholders at four events.

Home concerns everyone, even if it is different for everyone. The ideas and experiences of where each individual feels safe, familiar and accepted are not the same. They touch on fundamental desires for the 'good life', which are often fundamentally similar. Not every aspect of home can be shaped by our own efforts. Home touches on how we live together in concrete terms. Social Work plays a role in living together because it can connect people, shape spaces and enable people to belong.

Lusatia - like many regions - is in the midst of extensive change: Structural change, demographic change, migration and digitalisation are changing individual and social life. In this context, home is not just a place, but a multitude of social processes that can be shaped. Social services are bridges between biographies, spaces and future expectations. In order to learn from others or to identify good paths together, we need a benevolent, critical and open dialogue.

Time: Tuesday, 13 May 2025, 5 p.m.
Location: Kunsthalle Lausitz, Güterzufuhrstraße 7, 03046 Cottbus
All interested parties are cordially invited to join the discussion. The event is free of charge.

The series comprises four thematic events and a concluding reflection:

• Home & Belonging - What structures are needed to keep home alive? (Fishbowl discussion with practical and academic guests)
• Home & life story - memories and intergenerational perspectives on belonging (storytelling salons)
• Home & spaces - revitalising spaces in the city and countryside
• Home & Rituals - Between generations and cultures (What keeps us in transition?)
• Home & Sustainability - How is Lusatia developing into a green place for everyone?

About the event
In the series, a total of four exciting events on the topic of "Heimat" will be offered to interested members of the public until June 2026. It is part of the "AlterPerimentale - Alter-Peripherie-Experiment" project, which is part of the "T!Raum - TransferRäume für die Zukunft von Regionen" programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is being carried out in cooperation with the Association of German Scientists (VDW).

Further dates in Cottbus
Heimat & Lebensgeschichte
27 May 2025, 3 pm Socio-Cultural Centre Sachsendorf & Cottbus City Museum

Heimat & Räume
10 June 2025, 10 a.m. Start Spreewaldbahnhof

Home & Rituals
1 July 2025, 5 p.m., location still unknown

Home & Sustainability
8.7.2025, 3 pm, Educational Centre for Nature & Environment