On 7 November, HKW listens to the ideas and demands of teens and young adults: And Now?! The Youth Housing Congress for Berlin returns for a second time. 

Access to housing is a major challenge for many Berliners— secure housing is a scarce commodity. At And What About You? The Youth Housing Congress for Berlin in 2024, the message was loud and clear: housing issues cause stress and anxieties. This year, young people from all over Berlin will once again come together to highlight their perspectives, share experiences, make demands on politics and society, and take change into their own hands—loudly, creatively, and concretely. 

Do it yourself—together. 

Programme

11:00–13:30 
What to do?!  
Orientation session on the ‘market of possibilities’ 
Get to know your rights! Become informed about the ‘market of possibilities’ when it comes to info centres, projects, and initiatives. The following groups and actors will introduce themselves: Studierendenwerk Berlin: InfoCenter Wohnen, BBU Verband Berlin-Brandenburgischer Wohnungsunternehmen e.V., Gewobag, DGB Berlin-Brandenburg: Azubiwohnen, Berliner Mieterverein e.V., QUEERHOME*, ‘Fair mieten – Fair wohnen’ unit. Sonay soziales Leben e.V., Bernadette Kreijs (TU Wien), Sophia Helfrich, Deutsche Wohnen & Co enteignen (DWE), Gangway e.V. Straßensozialarbeit in Berlin, Refo Moabit e.V., Rechtshilfefonds Berliner Jugendhilfe e.V., Wohnungslosen Parlament, Frauen*salon, Wohnungslosenstiftung, Berliner Stadtmission – Schuldenberatung, Mediatorin Bereich Wohnraum, Kiosk of Solidarity, Kotti & Co., Greifswalder DIY / Skateplatz am Greifi, Deutsche Wohnen & Co enteignen (DWE) – Kiezteam.   

13:30–14:15  
Lunch break 
Instead of a burger, vegan Noah-pau will be offered—a warm, ‘cosy’ snack that’s also an invitation to share and linger. Communal eating promotes care, connectedness, and openness. Sharing healthy, wholesome food becomes a way of overcoming barriers between people. Prepared by the group Stomach Strategy.  

14:15–14:45 
Doing means making demands!  
Evaluation of the orientation session and collecting of initial demands for politicians, moderated by Tsellot Melesse and Sarah Wenzinger. 

14:45–15:45  
Doing instead of talking!  
Workshops  

Where should we live?!  
Preparation for the political discussion, led by Sarah Wenzinger 
Political participation is possible, and every voice counts. Together, participants will develop questions, arguments, and demands that they can subsequently bring directly to their dialogue with politicians. The workshop has been designed by Sarah Wenzinger, who will also moderate the dialogue with politicians.    

Show it on fabric!  
Printing workshop, led by Street College  
In this workshop, participants can print the event title themselves on jute bags. Using a heat press, participants will produce a tangible souvenir of the exhibition in minutes that also poses the central question of the event: ‘And now?!’ 

To good neighbours!  
Making your own critical maps, led by Zuzana Tabackova (Technische Universität Berlin) 
What’s the best way to live together? What do you consider a good neighbourhood? In this workshop, you’ll design your own residential map and discuss which environments and forms of housing you’d like to inhabit together—or alone. These can be shared apartments with big gardens, housing estates, or individual cluster apartments, whether owner-occupied, rented, or cooperative. Discussions about paths to making your vision a reality are naturally part of the workshop as well.    

At home—but how?
Workshop, led by students of the Department for Culture and Media Management at Freie Universität Berlin
In recent months, students of the Department for Culture and Media Management at Freie Universität Berlin have been studying the meaning of home and gathering a living archive of the everyday. In this workshop, the students and participants will explore the emotional and sensual dimensions of living while developing new, collective visions for a home of the future. 

Speak up! 
Poetry Slam workshop, led by Sami El-Ali 
Sami El-Ali has been a poetry slam artist for 13 years and creative writing workshop leader with a focus on racism and identity. In his workshop, participants are introduced to writing in a playful way through uncomplicated creative exercises. Participants will harness language to share their experiences, to draw attention to misunderstandings, and to illustrate their personal perspectives. In short, to make their voices heard!  

16:00–17:00  
Public opening 
Presenting the results of the artistic research  

Joint talk with politicians  
On the collected demands, moderated by Tsellot Melesse and Sarah Wenzinger  

Exhibition contributors:  
In recent months, students of the Oberstufenzentrums Kommunikations-, Informations- und Medientechnik (OSZ KIM) have been researching the search for housing from the perspective of young people in Berlin. They’ve presented the results of their research in short films, photograph series, virtual reality works, and speculative visual forms produced within the framework of four courses at OSZ KIM. These works are now being displayed at the HKW.  
A master’s seminar at the Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin dedicated itself to the topic of critical mapping, developing a new visual perspective on Berlin—a city in which rivers, canals, and bodies of water become central orientation points for perceiving urban space.
Students of the seminar explored the question of what ‘living’ means in our increasingly precarious present. Their installation Be.longings uses playful and creative methods to interrogate received ideas of one’s own four walls. As part of this, students from the Freie Universität Berlin have developed a collective repertoire of methods and stories that make belonging and home tangible as a multi-voiced and dynamic process.  

17:00–18:00
Poetry Slam & Alice Dee in concert