Article
Gerrit Reininghaus, a 2006 Berlin Senior Fellow, has co-founded a community housing project called SieMensch in Bonn. The project is designed to house five families and is currently housing fourteen people between the ages of two and fifty-five. The people in SieMensch live together based on solidarity, sustainability and personal well-being. They achieve these principles by harboring a lively community life through open communication with the members, large common spaces, and reducing private consumption and property.
Everyone living in SieMensch also shares a common interest in living sustainably and eco-consciously. They are committed to a “private car-free” house, instead choosing to use public transport and together sharing bikes and cars when needed. They also are currently renovating their home in a resource-saving manner to expand on its environmentally-friendly features. They currently have a large garden that everyone utilizes and loves, and they say that with the upcoming energy efficient renovations they will make the garden level, common areas, and one of the living floors barrier free, as well as add an accessibility elevator.
