Neighborhood Green Spaces and Rainwater Harvesting

In recent years, in collaboration with the city administration, residents have added more urban green spaces to the Graefekiez, which are now cared for by the residents themselves. Together with the participants, we took a look at what urban green spaces have been created, how rainwater can be collected for watering these spaces, and how the local neighborhood has organized itself. At the event, we welcomed representatives from the neighborhood initiative “Graefekiez-Forum,” who shared how they created wildflower meadows and registered them as public green spaces, planted fruit trees, and greened tree pits and former parking spaces. They also explained how they use and have used river water and rainwater to irrigate the green spaces. We were also pleased to welcome a representative from the “Die Wassertanke” initiative, who, against this backdrop, introduced participants to the topic of rainwater collection using rain barrels on public sidewalks and provided insights into how the barrels work, how to get permits for their installation with the city administration, and how to maintain them.

On June 11, an educational event on community urban greenery and rainwater harvesting took place in Berlin. Using the example of greening activities carried out by residents in public spaces in Berlin’s “Graefekiez” neighborhood, the event provided insights into the collaborative implementation of small-scale nature-based solutions.