"Gosh, Görlitz!"

Chronicle of the project study "Mensch, Görlitz!"

Talking to each other instead of about each other

Photo collage by R. Hannich, compiled from the project years 2019 - 2023

Our mission statement & General information about the project

In 2019, the "Mensch, Görlitz!" project was launched by Monique Ritter, who was still a lecturer for special tasks at Faculty S at the time. As project manager, she took the initiative and, together with the students, established the project over several years not only in the university context but also in Görlitz society as a whole through a great deal of commitment and expertise. Although she is currently no longer able to work as project manager due to her new job, she continues to support and develop the project in the background.

The project aims to engage with people in the Görlitz area and create meeting spaces for the diverse citizens of Görlitz. It is particularly important to work on normalizing migrant voices in public space and to break with the established exceptionalization and problematization in this field of discourse.

As the title of the project suggests, it aims to address and appeal to as many people in Görlitz as possible. Our mission is to make visible and promote exchange and encounters between diverse people from Görlitz on socio-politically relevant topics with the clear aim of strengthening the perspectives of people with experience of flight and migration in public discourse. This concern, which we view from racism-critical and post-colonial perspectives, has so far been pursued in the form of citizens' exhibitions and accompanying discussion rounds and has now been continued since 2022 as the podcast "Mensch, Görlitz!" under the direction of Nicola Barth and Paul Enke.

The students, who are actively involved in the project for two semesters, come from the social work course and are in their 4th and 5th semesters.

The project is supported by a sponsor every year. From 2020 - 2021 it was the Advent-Wohlfahrtswerk e. V. "Hand und Fuß" life school (http://www.lebensschule-goerlitz.de/), from 2022 the RAA Sachsen e.V. with the SUPPORT project in Görlitz(https://www.raa-sachsen.de/support). The project team also works with many different cooperation partners from the district of Görlitz. First and foremost, Anja Espig as the integration coordinator of the district of Görlitz(https://www.engagiertes-goerlitz.de/news/detail/250-Integration-und-Migration-im-Landkreis-Goerlitz), who has given us the opportunity to apply for project funding for "Mensch, Görlitz!" since the 2020 project year.

 

 

Come with us on a journey through time - back to the beginnings of the project in 2019, right up to the present day.

2019 - "People, Görlitz! What moves people in Görlitz in 2019?"

Citizens' exhibition on: Realities, dreams, hopes, wishes, fears - realities of life of Görlitz citizens with and without migration experience

Objectives:

  • Provide an opportunity for exchange,
  • Reach as many people as possible at a low threshold and create meeting spaces
  • Allowpeople from Görlitz to have their say in their diversity (young/elderly people, people with a migration background, different social backgrounds) and encourage participation
  • Raising awareness of prejudice and everyday racism without focusing on origin - the idea of inclusion is paramount

Winner of the Saxon Participation Fund in the "ReWir" category to promote cooperation and coexistence between people, funded by the Saxon State Ministry for Regional Development, €2000

You can find out more about the 2019 project year here: https://www.hszg.de/news/buergerinnenausstellung-mensch-goerlitz

"Mensch, Görlitz!" in the Neißepark Görlitz

 Photo: M. Ritter

2020 - "Man, Görlitz! revisited"

Traveling exhibition on: Social participation - socio-political and civic engagement of Görlitz citizens with and without migration experience

Objectives:

  • To emphasize the individuality and diversity of the people of Görlitz
  • Stimulate "more" social participation and engagement of all people Overcoming mental limitations to strengthen the sense of community

You can find out more about the 2020 project year here: https://www.hszg.de/news/mensch-goerlitz-revisited

"Mensch, Görlitz! revisited" exhibition in the Frauenkirche Görlitz

Photo: N. Barth

2021 - "Gosh, Görlitz! How's it going with Corona?"

Traveling exhibition on: the feelings & experiences of people during the Corona period, which visibly reflects their opinions

Objectives:

  • To let people from Görlitz have their say and find out how they experienced and coped with the phases of the Corona period

The message: Perhaps we can succeed in thinking outside the box. It is not important to us what divides us, but what unites us.

You can find out more about the 2021 project year here: https://www.hszg.de/news/mensch-goerlitz-wie-laeufts-mit-corona

"Gosh, Görlitz! "How's it going with Corona?" Exhibition in the Peterskirche Görlitz

 Photo: L. Voigt

2022 - "Gosh, Görlitz! Listen!"

Podcast on everyday racism with 3 exciting episodes and a trailer

Objectives:

  • Inform, raise awareness & Create a platform for exchange
  • To represent the voices of diverse people from Görlitz and open up spaces for encounters
  • Use the podcast as a medium to strengthen the voices of people with (everyday) experiences of racism in public and work towards their voices being heard
  • Developing accompanying material for the podcast for schools to make perspectives critical of racism accessible to other target groups

You can find out more about the 2022 project year here: https://www.hszg.de/news/miteinander-statt-uebereinander-reden

The "Mensch, Görlitz! Listen!" Podcast presenters with their guests in the podcast studio.

Photo: A. Gündel

2023 - "Gosh, Görlitz! We need to talk!!!"

Continuation of the podcast - production of a 2nd season

Goals:

  • Recording a 2nd season with at least 2 episodes for the podcast
  • Podcast should be made even more interactive and participatory; the concept of the episodes should be more open and co-designed by people with (everyday) experience of racism in order to further strengthen their voices in social discourse
  • Appeal: "We need to talk!": The podcast is intended to create a dialog between people from Görlitz who have experienced migration and racism and those who have had little contact with these topics , making other experiences, perspectives and points of view audible and encouraging exchange
The journey continues...

That concludes our little journey through time for the time being. So stay tuned to see what happens next with "Mensch Görlitz!". You can find out how you can follow the progress of the project in the info box.

The QR code will take you to the podcast episodes, which you can listen to on all common podcast platforms, as well as to the social media channels below.

The podcast is open to anyone who would like to comment on the topic - if you are interested in sharing your experiences, taking part in the project or simply want to find out more, please get in touch at or via our social media channels. We also welcome feedback, suggestions and criticism.

 

Spotify: Mensch, Görlitz!(https://open.spotify.com/show/7CZGMKXCeR2uHTSyxUAxr9?si=5259d72c6e5b4b2c)

Instagram: mensch_goerlitz(https://instagram.com/mensch_goerlitz?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)

Facebook: Project "Mensch, Görlitz!"(https://m.facebook.com/p/Projekt-Mensch-G%C3%B6rlitz-100068343940516/?wtsid=rdr_0gq8Rl9xj60aAdAOm&_rdr)

Email:

Finally: Our sponsors and project partners

                                                           Thank you!