OpenPlanning Zine 03 "Somethings Cooking"

How can a mobile climate garden help make climate-sensitive urban design visible and tangible? The third zine from the OpenPlanning project explores this question. The zine “Something’s Cooking” documents the event of the same name, which took place as part of the “About Open Cultures” conference on November 21 and 22, 2025. Around 50 participants from academia and the professional field came together to cook and develop concepts for a mobile climate garden in Braunschweig.

The starting point was four future scenarios for Braunschweig: the city as a climate oasis, the multispecies city, the water-sensitive city, and the edible city. While preparing lunch together, the participants discussed what functions a mobile climate garden should fulfill, what design elements are necessary for this, and what activities could turn it into a place for exchange and knowledge sharing. Afterward, potential locations in downtown Braunschweig were explored during interactive city walks.

The zine presents the ideas and designs that emerged and, at the same time, adapts the method of the culinary-discursive workshop so that it can also be used to address other issues. The results will be incorporated into the further development of the mobile climate garden. The first temporary garden will be created in 2026 on the North Campus of the Technical University of Braunschweig, where it will serve as a “living lab” to provide a hands-on experience of climate-sensitive design.

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