Several times a week until September, the square will be transformed into an open space for the neighborhood and anyone who wants to get involved. The events take place weekly from Monday to Wednesday and once a month at the weekend.
Monday | 15:00 - 18:00
Football training with Faraj and Otto
Tuesday | 16:00 - 18:00
Capoeira or Baile (dance) with Edinson
Wednesday | 15:00 - 18:00
Open youth club with the Westhang Mobil (Treberhilfe e.V.)
All offers are voluntary and free of charge.
Subject to change.
Monday | June 16 - Season opening & get to know each other
Saturday | July 12 - Ice cream parlor puzzle with mosaic
Sunday July 13 - Ice cream parlor puzzle with mosaic
Saturday | August 23 - Football tournament "Sanddorn Cup"
Saturday | September 06 - Kiez-Dinner
Friday | September 19 - Gorbitz Opera Ball
Saturday | September 20 - Gorbitz Opera Ball
Gorbitz, a large housing estate in the west of Dresden, is a new arrival quarter, especially in the northern part (Harthaerstraße), where different realities of life come together. This diversity brings with it special energies, dynamics and potentials that call for innovative formats to address issues of coexistence and the appropriation of public spaces. This is why the "Gorbitzer Zwingerfestspiele " was launched on the initiative of the FOR:UM 2024 collective. The project focused on reactivating a sports field owned by Vonovia that had been lying fallow and unused for five years. The aim was to actively shape and revitalize this site together with local residents and initiatives. To this end, an open construction site was set up on site for a week, offering space for people to meet, exchange ideas and create together. Low-threshold formats, such as the neighbourhood kitchen for cooking and eating together, created a unifying social practice where people from different backgrounds came together. such as sports activities, a senior coffee klatch, singing, games and the "Zwinger Olympics", which promoted togetherness in the neighbourhood. Project funding as part of the "Weltoffenes Sachsen" funding program expired in December 2024.
Building on the initial idea, a joint process was launched to clarify the central question of how the football pitch can be jointly designed and used in the long term. The challenges in the Harthaer Straße neighbourhood are complex: a low level of civil society organization, a high turnover of residents, language barriers and marginalization as well as a lack of municipal control options due to privatization make sustainable development difficult. Under the concept of co-production, an innovative, participatory approach is therefore to be tested that works on an equal footing and breaks through entrenched problems. The first steps have already been taken: An initial meeting was held in February, at which expectations were exchanged, a status quo mapping of challenges and opportunities was created and a future scenario for 2025 was developed. These results form the basis for the next phase, which is based on the motto "testing instead of planning" and aims to make the project permanent in the long term. Participants include Vonovia, the Dresden Cotta/Plauen district office, the youth and urban planning office of the state capital Dresden, the neighborhood management, the Dresden-West police station, Omse e.V., Westhangmobil and the Dresden Youth Art School.
The football pitch is symbolic of the importance of public spaces in arrival neighborhoods. It plays an essential role in the integration process and serves as a social infrastructure that facilitates encounters, exchange and participation. At the same time, the municipal influence on the current closure of the site is limited, as the area is owned by Vonovia. The football pitch is a central location for negotiation processes between different stakeholders, which requires targeted support and curatorial supervision to ensure sustainable and needs-based use. It offers the opportunity to test cooperative neighborhood development as a model and develop new forms of cooperation. The high degree of involvement of all participants underlines its relevance and creates a strong foundation for joint solutions.
The project is funded by the FLÜWO Foundation, the district of Dresden Cotta and the Mercator Foundation. It is part of the research project"Strengthening participation in "new" arrival neighborhoods"
With the kind support of Vonovia by providing the space.
