On a Wednesday afternoon in October, René Feck jumps on a cargo bike and rides it to the soccer field on Elisabeth-Kohn-Strasse. The vehicle on which the director of the Schwabing youth center “Life” sits at the Ackermannbogen is not ordinary: It is two and a half meters long, one and a half meters wide, equipped with a refrigerator, counter, a jukebox, lighting and a wine-red umbrella that can be seen from afar. The reaction of the young people is correspondingly positive. “They thought the bike was very cool, it hit the bull’s eye,” the 30-year-old told his colleagues a week later at the project’s official kick-off event on Hohenzollernplatz. “According to the motto: Wow, what a cool thing that is.”
Westschwabing’s children’s and youth facilities want to try new things. With a mobile district meeting place in which the imposing cargo bike plays a key role. “During the tough lockdowns, our facilities were empty, but the parks were full – and there were problems with residents,” remembers Ulrike Stempfle. “But our work thrives on gaining access to young people and young adults.”
The idea for the cargo bike came from the director of the international meeting “Club-In” in the summer of last year. At that time she was sitting on a park bench with her colleague Nina Litz from the youth center in Schwabing and watched young people play a drinking game. “How about, we asked ourselves, having an eye-catcher for our facilities and being able to offer games and music ourselves?” That way you could start a conversation. In addition, such a mobile contact point would also ensure that young people regain the public space that they are entitled to and that they need.
Because “the effects of the pandemic and the densification,” says Nataliia Cheban from the city youth welfare office, “have restricted the freedom of young people and young adults enormously”. Their right of residence is often denied. However, both Stempfle and Litz were aware that they would not be able to tackle this project on their own. Neither personally nor financially.
“We go where the young people are.”
For this reason, they brought all the other youth centers in the district on board, the Haus am Schuttberg, the “Juze” (Jugendzentrum Schwabing-West), the integrative youth club MOP and the “Life”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/ muenchen/.”In the meantime, the project has brought us closer together,” says Stempfle. Especially since there were a few hurdles to overcome. Financing, for example. The district committee paid the 13,000 euros for the bike, and another 1,000 euros for the equipment came from the Regsam social network project.
Or the question of whether the cargo bike can be set up in public spaces as a mobile meeting place without permission. Just on the day of the official start, the district administration department assured Stempfle that they did not have to obtain permission to operate the cargo bike. “That’s great, but it wouldn’t have worked otherwise,” emphasizes the Club-In boss. However, it is still unclear how the drinks will be served. “We would like to offer non-alcoholic drinks like Spezi or apple spritzer,” says Nina Litz. “Without a liquor license, in the educational sense at cost price.”
At the kick-off event in the heart of western Schwabing at the end of October, one thing was clear: the offer works. There are folding chairs that invite you to relax around the bike and are always occupied. The house on the Schuttberg offers to create pictures with paint cans. Local residents take the opportunity to play mini-basketball, spikeball and Viking chess, young girls have their hands painted with henna by Emna from the “Club-In”.
Josef is leaning against the bicycle counter and says after a while, laughing: “I can’t smell anything anymore.” Previously, Cathy Davies from the MOP held several small cans under the 17-year-old’s nose, filled with intensively scented foods such as ginger, vinegar, orange, ketchup and coffee. Blindfolded, Josef is supposed to find out what is in the containers, he has already recognized some things. In the case of lavender, however, he has to pass. The sensory game is part of the inventory at the integrative youth club. The games fit into the belly of the cargo bike, along with the chairs and drinks. Each institution can borrow the vehicle and equip it with their own materials as required.
After the offer has been established, the youth clubs can then also imagine cooperation with existing events such as the topless festival of the district youth council, the Corso Leopold, events of the Spiellandschaft Stadt or university festivals. But a lot is still open, such as when and where the bike can be found. “There aren’t any fixed dates yet, we’re practically still in the starting blocks,” says René Feck. “One thing is certain: we will go where the young people are.”