NeuLand is a community garden in Cologne: a successful urban farming project in need of attracting a larger community, especially since its recent re-location to a new site. The six GDI students (Jonas, Kryzsztof, Vanessa, Stanley, Momodo, Beilei) who worked on NeuLand paid a lot of attention to the idea of circularity at every level of their engagement. Inspired by the circularity of seasons and agriculture, and by the uniqueness of the “round table” – around which exchange and interaction happen in a more dynamic form than elsewhere –, they saw the potential for the garden as a centering space in its neighborhood, that invites everyone in. 

NeuLand is brimming with unrealized potential for conviviality. Its core members are citizens with farming and gardening experience, who visit the garden to work on the place’s main objective: local food production. They are keen on transforming this space, however, into a neighborhood hub. After all, the chain of local production and consumption is linked through an exchange that goes beyond the transactional. It is inspired by the idea of locality, which means it needs to be embedded in the neighborhood. The GDI students picked up this cue and engaged with NeuLand members to help realize this possibility.

NeuLand members engage in tasks like planning and mapping, preparing the soil, planting fruit trees and vegetables, watering, harvesting, and feeding the chickens. They also teach, share knowledge, and introduce new members to the art of farming and the hard work of maintaining NeuLand. They need extra hands, but despite NeuLand being situated in a large residential area, its community struggles to attract new members.

The six design students from GDI saw a possible solution and recognized the potential for conviviality in NeuLand immediately. They wondered: could NeuLand, through acts of conviviality and exchange, become a space that draws in a broader community? Could a simple invitation for social interaction spark curiosity in gardening and farming?

Inspired by notions of circularity and hospitality, they came up with some very simple design concepts:

_A bulletin board (the bloom board) placed by the entrance, facing the street. It can display activities, events, workshops, and community feedback for passers-by to read. It serves as an open invitation to engage.

_A round table – a symbol of conviviality, togetherness, and equality across many different cultures – which can mark the entry into NeuLand. Visible from the entrance, the table embodies and hosts spontaneous convivial encounters, open to both, NeuLand members and newcomers. Anyone can sit, chat, and participate, even without prior farming knowledge or curiosity.

_The farm itself, NeuLand’s core, remains active. It continues its regular farming work while visitors, both farmers and non-farmers, observe, discuss, ask questions, and learn. It is only the third step of the NeuLand experience.

The students’ question and hypothesis was: Will these spontaneous interactions—happening near the farm, fruit trees, and chicken coop—spark curiosity in newcomers and encourage them to get more involved? After chatting with a NeuLand member at the round table, will a passer-by attend the next farming workshop? Will they inquire about farming techniques or fruit seasonality? After leaving, might they leave a message on the bloom board? And most importantly, will they return?

Through these simple, actionable design ideas, the students revealed a profound understanding of community-building and knowledge-sharing. They suggested that the experience of a community-driven place like NeuLand, rooted in knowledge and skill, is not just a one-way, linear journey from the outside to the farm and back. It is more of a circle – one fueled by the joy of community, connection, exchange, learning, and shared purpose. This fuel pushes members to complete the circle and become curious about – and involved in – knowledge-based activities such as farming, ultimately strengthening the initiative’s long-term resilience.

The students suggested that by fostering a sense of hospitality and creating spaces for encounter, places like NeuLand can open the door to knowledge-sharing social cohesion and community-building, thus thriving alongside their communities and fully realizing their potential as Third Places. The shape of this process rested on the circular – in more ways than one.