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Georges Bitar – A Hero of Green Justice in Lebanon

Juliette

Anhand einer illustrierten Geschichte habe ich das Leben eines inspirierenden Mannes erzählt, der seine ganze Energie darauf verwendet hat, sich für grüne Gerechtigkeit einzusetzen.

Georges hat im Libanon ein Unternehmen für Abfallrecycling aufgebaut, das sich sowohl für die soziale Eingliederung als auch für die Umwelt einsetzt. 

Diese Geschichte versucht zu zeigen, dass wir alle Akteure einer besseren Welt sind, in der ökologischer und sozialer Fortschritt Hand in Hand gehen.

Katrin und die tausend Kleider

Karin

Das Medienprojekt ist ein Kinderbuch, welches Kinder zum Thema Umweltgerechtigkeit heranführen soll. Es geht im genaueren um Konsumverhalten und die Textilindustrie. Geschichte sowie Illustrationen sind von Karin.

Sonderausstellung

Marlene

Das Plakat mit dem Titel „Sonderausstellung“ zeigt eine Großstadt. In dieser Stadt steht Haus an Haus. Die sterilen Fassaden mit Fenstern scheinen endlos zu sein. Kraftwerke und Autos verdrecken die Luft, welche die Stadt in einen grauen Schimmer hüllt. Im Kontrast dazu steht das Museumsgebäude der Stadt, welches eine besondere Ausstellung präsentiert: Die Natur. Als „Sonderausstellung“ wird die Natur zu einer Art Attraktion, welche jedoch nur gegen einen hohen Eintrittspreis erlebt werden kann.

Die Karikatur soll überspannt darstellen, welche Rolle die Natur zukünftig in den Städten der Welt haben kann. Wird die Natur immer mehr durch Gebäude und Infrastruktur zurückgedrängt, kann sie zu einem raren Gut werden. Die Menschen verlieren den Kontakt zu Tieren und Pflanzen. Die Natur wird nicht mehr als Bestandteil der Stadt angesehen, sondern als eine Art Kunstwerk oder als historisches Überbleibsel aus einer anderen Zeit.

Growing up next to the cloud maker

Shamiso & Viviana

This story is realistic fiction and takes place in the First Nation Reserve Aamjiwnaang in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. It describes the life of residents living close to ‘Canada’s Toxic Chemical Valley’, where over 60 chemical plants and oil refineries sit in a 15-mile-wide section. The location in the past recorded the highest level of air pollution in a Canadian city. Factories have over the decades surrounded the reservation.

Growing up Next to the Cloud Maker aims to bring attention to the imbalanced levels of environmental injustice people of color and poor people experience. The story follows a day in the life of Aki, an Aamjiwnaang girl living on the First Nation Reserve Aamjiwnaang. It describes the impacts of the chemical plants and refineries on the everyday lives of its neighbours. In places where environmental injustice is occurring it is hard for the local people alone to overcome this injustice. Therefore, our approach for a solution was to make a children’s book that aims to help raise awareness to make people more sensitive to the topic, making them more likely to care and respond when seeing cases of environmental injustice.

Buzzing City

Sarah F.

The comic “Buzzing City” was created to show a different perspective of a green city. It shows two groups who profit from a green city and environmental justice. The bees and children/younger people. The comic plays from the perspective of the bees, who are flying around and discover a new flower spot for their pollination. The destination is a kindergarten nearby where children plant flowers  for bees. The interactions between these two groups shown in the comic stand for multiple interactions in a city. Cities are getting more important as biodiversity hotspots and as a niche for flora and fauna habitats. Especially the decline of insects and to make the younger generation understand what this means is the message conveyed by this comic.

Big Bright World

Hania

“Big Bright World” is a children’s book about a neurodiverse kid named Robin who can sometimes feel very overwhelmed in their urban environment. The term neurodiverse is an umbrella term that views neurobiological diversity as the result of normal human variation and asserts that neurological differences should be recognized and respected as a social category on par with gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability status. It is used to describe people with brains that are wired and function differently than the typical, or “neurotypical.” This includes people who are labeled with: dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum, Tourette syndrome, etc. This book in particular focuses on neurodiverse people who experience sensory processing issues, or sensory overload. Sensory overload is a very uncomfortable feeling that happens when there is too much information to process at one time. It often occurs more easily in urban environments, as they have considerably more stimulation in comparison to green spaces. Cities without enough green space compound health problems for many marginalized people, the neurodiverse included. In this book, Robin experiences sensory overload in the city and compares it to how green spaces are not “too much.” Robin discovers more about their environment and themselves, and in doing so, finds a tool to help manage a confusing and scary experience. The target audience for this book are children aged five to eight.

Grey

Lia

This comic deals with my personal struggles and experiences with green (in-)justice. I wanted to create a comic that is very personal to me, yet could be understood by others. The story describes the way I interacted with nature throughout my life and tries to capture an emotion I think many people moving to the city can relate to. It is only natural (at least to me) that oftentimes in life we desire a status quo either unattainable or contrarily to what we were given naturally. Many people move to the city, not only to fulfill a career but also to experience a reality that is constantly moving, innovating and challenging itself, dirty and loud. I think especially young adults can relate to this. We reject our familiar, calmer, greener environment to move to a place just as busy and full of life, as we are. However, as I grow older, I find myself longing for a place that is just a little bit slower. A place for recreation. This comic captures this ambivalence I carry inside me and is expressed through a medium I understand best and that also has always been a way to express myself: drawing.


Image description for the media project “Grey”
The comic consists of 10 pages, digitally drawn in black and white

1st page:
On the top of the page the first image shows the lower body of a kid standing outside. The child is wearing a raincoat and rubber boots as it is raining. It is holding a teddy bear. The text says: “I spend most of my childhood with my grandparents who live in a pretty rural area in Berlin”
On the lower half of the page an illustration of a child’s hand feeding a horse a carrot, can be seen. Text: “I always had a lot of green around me. Oftentimes I went to the nearby paddock with my grandparents to feed the horses.”

2nd page:
On the left a child is sitting by a pond and feeding ducks. At the top of the image a butterfly is flying. Text: I liked watching butterflies and feeding ducks and fish at the nearby pond.”
The right of the page side is divided in an upper and a lower picture. The upper picture shows three high-rise buildings. Text: “My mother lived in a plattenbau. I did not really like it there.”
The lower image is all black, with only the white silhouette of water dropping. Text: “My memories of that place are soaked in grey.”

3rd page:
Text: “When I became a teenager all I wanted to be was the complete opposite of what I once was.”
The upper image shows an angry looking woman saying “I hate all the green! I hate the silence! I hate the air that smells like dung!”
The bottom of a page has an Image with a hand hanging out of a car window, holding a lit cigarette. Text: “I romanticized the cities’ pungent smell of gasoline and the stench of trash at every street corner during summer. Grey turned into the color I wanted around me at all times.”

4th page:
Upper image: the woman is sitting in a corner of a dimly lit room that is filled with moving boxes. Text: “I got my first apartment when I turned 18. I was really disappointed that it was still in the outer districts of the city.”
Lower image: The woman is staring out of her window. Outside is a street, bushes and trees and a small store. Text: “In front of my window there was this bistro I didn’t really care for. But one day that store closed.”

5th page:
Text: “And they started to build a new building. Losing the bistro meant losing all green and my window view was now a grey concrete block.”
Image is stretched across the entire page. In the background is the same window as on the previous page but now the view is grey and blocked by a monotone building. In the foreground is the woman holding bags. Text: “I moved again last year…”

6th page:
Text: “I really like my new view but it is also very grey. I hear cars, trains, sirens all day.”
The skyline of Berlin, Alexanderplatz is depicted on the page. It looks very monotone.

7th page:
The image on the upper part of the page starts with a text saying: “At least there is that small patch of green near my home. Oh wait… they are building an office there.” Then an office in construction can be seen
The lower image starts with the text: “But there is this community garden I like. Oh wait…”. The text is followed by a drawing of a community garden, however in the foreground one can see a sign hanging that reads: “Closed as we could not extend our lease agreement.”

8th page:
A part of the Spree river is depicted in the upper image. Inside the spree are bottles and other trash. Text: “At least there is the Spree nearby. Oh wait… I forgot how dirty it was.”
The lower image reads “At least I still have my beautiful view…” followed by an illustration of a newspaper article that has “New major construction project on Alexanderplatz” as the title.

9th page:
Text: “When I want to relax, I leave, together with my friends, to a place far off the city. I made a lot of my fondest memories outside.”
The two images show a car driving on a sunny day on a lonely road on the countryside and the worm’s-eye view from inside a forest towards the sky.

10th page:
The last pages’ background is black with closed eyes in the foreground. Text: “I close my eyes and wish I could return to this place where I feel so at ease. And wonder how many people feel the same way I do.”

City for People

Susann

City for people ist ein Comic, der auf die ungleiche Verteilung der (Verkehrs-)Flächen in städtischen Räumen aufmerksam machen soll. In Berlin sind knapp 58 Prozent der Verkehrsflächen für Autos vorgesehen1. Dabei nehmen auch Parkplätze viel Raum in Anspruch. Gerade in Innenstädten, wo viele Einwohner*innen auf wenig Raum leben, gibt es im Verhältnis zum Stadtrand und pro Kopf gerechnet wenig Grünflächen. Diesem Problem könnte man mit dem Konzept der autofreien Innenstädte begegnen. Parkplätze könnten auf diese Weise zum Teil in Grünflächen umgewandelt werden und für die Einwohner*innen ein angenehmeres Klima und einen Gewinn an Lebensqualität schaffen.


City for people is a comic that calls attention to the topic of the distribution of traffic areas in urban spaces. In Berlin approximately 58 percent of the traffic areas are reserved for cars1. Especially parking spaces take up a lot of room. In city centres, where most residents live in a relatively small space, there are only few green areas per inhabitant compared to the suburbs. This problem could be solved by utilizing the concept of car-free city centres. In this way, parking spaces could be partly transformed into green areas and thus increase the quality of life for the citizens.

1 Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, VCD Verkehrsclub Deutschland e.V.  (2019): Mobilitätsatlas – Daten und Fakten für die Verkehrswende. 1.Auflage. Druckhaus Kaufmann, Lahr. Download unter: www.boell.de/mobilitaetsatlas

Hasi & Adil

Katharina

In dem Comic “Hasi & Adil” geht es um eine Kreuzberger Grünfläche (Blücherplatz), welche jedoch für jede beliebige Grünfläche stehen kann. Die drei Protagonist*innen nutzen diese Grünfläche auf unterschiedliche Art und Weise. Durch eine geplante Umgestaltung werden die unterschiedlichen Bedürfnisse herauskristallisiert. Dieser Comic versucht die Problematik von Nutzungskonflikten bis hin zu Gentrifizierung sichtbar zu machen.


The comic “Hasi & Adil” is about a green space in Kreuzberg (Blücherplatz), which can stand for any green space though. The three protagonists use this green space in different ways. Through a planned redesign of the park, the different needs are highlighted. This comic tries to visualize problems such as conflicts of use or gentrification.