A relational perspective on the changing forest as property, resource and living environment in Neuruppin

By Alice Appel-Rorke & Elena Bettenhäuser, M.Sc. Geographies of Global Inequality

HS - Projektarbeit III (GEOWISS_H_24210515_24W), Prof. Ulrike Beisel, I 2024

This research project builds a case study on the current situation in northern Brandenburg’s forest and specifically the forest management cooperative Neuruppin (Forstbetriebsgemeinschaft (FBG) Neuruppin), an association of private small-scale forest owners. Through an audio-visual approach to the research field we want to capture the forest and portray the members of the community, compiling them in a research documentary. We look at the situation in and around the forest through a lens of kinship, care and coexistence, questioning the tension between the economic, extractivist approach to forest as a timber plantation, the value forest holds as an ecosystem and the emotional and cultural importance that the forest has for its communities, which are all being threatened by climate change impacts. We consider the (maybe diverse) relationships of the humans to the forests as well as to the species within it, who are collectively adapting to the ongoing changes.

The videos contain interviews with participants as they describe some aspects of the forest community and different species extant in the region.

---

Zine: A100 - Risse im Beton / Cracks in the concrete

By Lea Dehning & Kern Mangan-Walker, M.Sc. Geographies of Global Inequality

Project Work II: Emp. Res. Data Analysis 2024 (Prof. Uli Beisel)

The zine “A100 – Cracks in Concrete” was created by Lea Dehning and Kern Mangan-Walker together with activists, residents, and supporters of the A100 protest movement. In workshops they gathered texts, drawings, photos, and reflections that make the many layers of resistance visible. The result is this collective document. The project sees itself as part of a reciprocal research practice: knowledge is shared rather than extracted. Lea and Kern thank everyone who contributed – whether with anecdotes, images, or drawings. Without you, this project would not have been possible.

Link to the Website: HeyZine