In the last decade, community-building was, unfortunately, all too often forgotten in an age of increasing social isolation and individualism. As urbanization increases rapidly, we're witnessing cities becoming sprawling spaces which lack a traditional sense of community spirit. That said, community-building is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance. There are many inspiring German organizations dedicated to boosting community engagement and making our cities and towns happier, healthier, and more sustainable places to live.
Open Society Foundations is doing a lot of work on the inclusion of Roma in their German office, as well as across most of their other grant making areas.
AVAAZ and change.org both work in Berlin and are powerful platforms for citizen engagement and inclusion. nebenan.de is also a great example of a social business designed to help rebuild and strengthen local communities and neighborhoods.
Give Something Back to Berlin (GSBTB) is an award-winning project platform and network fostering community integration, intercultural dialogue and participation among Berlin’s diverse migrant populations.
Quartiermeister is a German beer company that not only brings people together, but also encourages people to do good together. A portion of the profit is reinvested in community projects of your choosing. Have a beer and support social and cultural projects in your neighborhood!
You’ll also find Impact Hubs in Berlin, Munich, Dresden and Essen and they are popping up in Leipzig and Stuttgart soon! These are great social innovation communities that offer opportunities to work on a range of topics.
Here are some of the other key organizations working on community building, inclusion and poverty reduction:
Poverty
- Deutschland rundet auf
- Tafel Deutschland
- Betterplace
- Oxfam
Disability and Inclusion
- Auticon
- VerbaVoice
- DayCareTechnology
- Wheelmap.org
- Diversicon
- Handicap international