Ideas and goals
Gardening and leisure activities in the specially created Intercultural Gardens are meant to promote social contacts between refugees, immigrants and natives. The Intercultural Gardens aim to achieve that the proclaimed solidarity with war and political refugees can be strengthened through day-to-day contacts with refugees and immigrants. Another goal is to motivate refugees and immigrants to become active and to participate. Gardens are seen as an ideal location because immigrants and refugees often come from small farming communities and were unable to apply their farming knowledge in Germany. The Intercultural Gardens consist of parcels of land on which vegetables and herbs, including herbs of the immigrants' countries of origin, can be grown and of jointly used space for children, community events and meetings.
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits, and herbs, are grown for consumption, for use as dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use. Gardening is considered by many people to be a relaxing activity.
A refugee, generally speaking, is a displaced person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and who cannot return home safely. Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until granted refugee status by the contracting state or the UNHCR if they formally make a claim for asylum. The lead international agency coordinating refugee protection is the United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The United Nations have a second Office for refugees, the UNRWA, which is solely responsible for supporting the large majority of Palestinian refugees.
Activities in the gardens are also seen as a foundation for further activities. For example, vocational orientation and integration in the areas of garden design and environmental protection through visits and internships in businesses in these areas. Social integration is promoted through neighborly help and family care, teaching of the German language and help in contacting educational institutions as well as documentation and public relations.
A garden designer is someone who designs the plan and features of gardens, either as an amateur or professional. The compositional elements of garden design and landscape design are: terrain, water, planting, constructed elements and buildings, paving, site characteristics and genius loci, and the local climatic qualities.
The environmental movement, also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advocate the sustainable management of resources and stewardship of the environment through changes in public policy and individual behavior. In its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered on ecology, health, and human rights.
German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, or a “community garden”, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-commercial gardening or growing food plants. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundred land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families. Such parcels are cultivated individually, contrary to other community garden types where the entire area is tended collectively by a group of people. In countries that do not use the term “allotment (garden)”, a “community garden” may refer to individual small garden plots as well as to a single, large piece of land gardened collectively by a group of people. The term “victory garden” is also still sometimes used, especially when a community garden dates back to the First or Second World War.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sustainable agriculture:
Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communication is a related field of study.
Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Individuals of a differing culture try to incorporate themselves into the new more prevalent culture by participating in aspects of the more prevalent culture, such as their traditions, but still hold onto their original cultural values and traditions. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both the devotee of the prevailing culture and those who are assimilating into the culture.
Urban agriculture, urban farming, or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around urban areas. Urban agriculture can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agroforestry, urban beekeeping, and horticulture. These activities occur in peri-urban areas as well, and peri-urban agriculture may have different characteristics.
Interculturalism refers to support for cross-cultural dialogue and challenging self-segregation tendencies within cultures. Interculturalism involves moving beyond mere passive acceptance of a multicultural fact of multiple cultures effectively existing in a society and instead promotes dialogue and interaction between cultures.
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre to a few acres, or sometimes in greenhouses distinguishes it from other types of farming. Such a farm on a larger scale is sometimes called a truck farm.
UNITED for Intercultural Action is a European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees, in which over 560 organisations from 48 European countries cooperate. UNITED was founded in 1992 and provides a forum for active solidarity and cooperation between a wide variety of organisations in Europe and their activists across European borders.
The Civis Media Prize for Integration honors people for radio and television broadcasting projects that promote peaceful coexistence within the European immigration community.
Horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits and vegetables and also flowers or ornamental plants.
The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. As the Bertelsmann Stiftung itself has put it, the foundation promotes "reform processes" and "the principles of entrepreneurial activity" to build a "future-oriented society."
The main ethnic minorities in Georgia are Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Kists, and Yazidi.
Community gardening in the United States encompasses a wide variety of approaches. Community gardens can function as gathering places for neighbors, promote healthier eating, and showcase art to raise ecological awareness. Other gardens resemble European "allotment" gardens, with plots where individuals and families can grow vegetables and flowers; including a number which began as "victory gardens" during World War II.
ERSTE Foundation is the biggest Austrian savings bank foundation. In 2003, it evolved from the Erste Oesterreichische Spar-Casse, the first Austrian savings bank founded in 1819. It is the main shareholder of Erste Group. ERSTE Foundation uses the profit from its shares to support the development of societies in Central and South Eastern Europe.
Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) is an anti-racism not for profit organisation founded in Dublin in July 1997 ‘as a direct response to the growth of racist attacks from a small but vocal section of people in Ireland.’
The DFL Foundation is a charitable foundation dedicated to social projects. It was founded in January 2009 by the Deutsche Fußball Liga and Die Liga – Fußballverband, under the name Bundesliga Foundation. It is based in Frankfurt, and the current CEO is Stefan Kiefer.
Wilhelm Schacht was a German botanist, gardener, photographer and author. He became known for being senior staff member of Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg, whose open air department he took care of for 21 years.
Über den Tellerrand is a nonprofit organization engaged in the integration of refugees. The headquarters of the organization is in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in April 2014. The main focus of the organization is to have citizens and refugees live and work together side by side with each side learning from the others. In July 2017 the organization was active in 25 cities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
The Karl Kübel Foundation for Child and Family is a legal foundation founded in 1972 by Karl Kübel, based in Bensheim, South-East of Germany.
