Take a vacation and do something for the environment: In Berlin there are many places and projects where you can get inspired and also take action yourself. We have put together the best tips and places for your sustainable visit to Berlin. Here you can shop, eat, enjoy and make the world a better place. 11 innovative and sustainable places: visit, learn and take home exciting ideas from the capital for a sustainable future.
Tip 1: Try out survival training and enviromental education at the Ökowerk
Ökowerk, Berlin’s oldest heritage-listed waterworks, is located by Teufelssee in Grunewald. More than 30 years ago, the Naturschutzzentrum Ökowerk e.V. conservation centre started its work to preserve the biodiversity of the Grunewald forest with its numerous biotopes. You can explore the walls of the old waterworks and learn about water life, familiarise yourself with historical fruits and vegetables in pristine themed gardens and even undertake survival training outdoors. Especially for children, the Ökowerk is a unique place to learn and experience new things, a space for them to try all sorts of things out, to build and grow.
The Ökowerk is a fascinating place that combines industrial history and a natural paradise and is therefore a place you should make sure to visit.
Further information about the Ökowerk
Tip 2: Eat healthy do something good for the planet
“Full taste, zero waste” is the motto of the FREA restaurant on Torstrasse in Mitte. Exciting dishes made from sustainable products sourced from regional organic farmers will be conjured up for you here. It’s all vegan and delicious!
The special thing about FREA: in addition to not using plastic, all food leftovers are composted within 24 hours and returned to the supplier farms. The process thus comes full-circle.
Sustainable restaurants in Berlin
Tip 3: Get smart about climate change
In the current exhibition "After Nature", the Humboldt Laboratory at the Humboldt Forum looks at how political orders affect nature and the environment. In a kind of modern cabinet of curiosities, a variety of research approaches are presented that deal with human-environment systems. How are social crises and crises of nature intertwined? How do environmental and resource issues and political systems interact? What impact does the liberal model of society, with its promise of prosperity and progress, have on nature? There are guided tours of the exhibition in English and German, as well as special family offers. You can also use the media guide tour to explore the exhibition on your own with your smartphone.
Tip: The exhibition KLIMA_X in the Museum of Communication deals with the question of why politicians and many people do not act in a more climate-friendly way even though they know better. In addition to the facts about the climate crisis, you will also learn about initiatives in the doable section where you can take action yourself.
When: Wednesday to Monday 10.30 - 18 h
Where: Humboldt Forum, 1st floor, Schlosspatz, Mitte
Tip 4: Sign up for upcycling workshops at the House of Statistics
After more than ten years of vacancy, the House of Statistics (Haus der Statistik) has now developed into an inspiring model project. Based on the community-oriented concept for the complex, a whole range of initiatives and workshops have been established that are committed to the climate-friendly use of resources. In various workshops, you too can learn how to consume sustainably, upcycle bags from packaging materials, restore vintage furniture and repair broken things yourself, from radios to bicycles. If you want to do more, you can find materials and ideas at the Zero Wate building and creative market and exchange ideas with other sustainability-minded people at the open textile workshop or at Café Essbar.
The "House of Statistics" model project also includes the House of Materialisation, which offers a wide range of educational activities and workshops. In addition to a bicycle workshop, a wood workshop and a textile workshop, there are also regular guided tours.
Tip 5: Shop consciously at Now & Then and Naturkaufhaus Steglitz
The largest nature department store in Germany is located in Schloss Strasse in Steglitz. Here, over an area of some 4,000 square metres, you can buy sustainable fashion items, sustainable and environmentally friendly products for your everyday needs, such as home textiles, natural cosmetics, bags, children’s toys of educational value and natural delicacies. So if you’re in the mood to go on an alternative and sustainable shopping trip, then head for the southwest of the capital.
Another Berlin insider tip is the boutique NOW&THEN. Here six Berlin designers offer their collections and show how beautiful handmade, sustainable fashion can be.
On the tours of GREEN FASHION TOURS BERLIN you will look behind the scenes, learn more about sustainable fashion and get to know designers and shop owners personally.
And from 10 to 12 September, the GREEN FASHION FAIR will celebrate its premiere in Berlin! The motto comes from fashion icon Vivienne "Buy less, choose well and make it last."
Tip 6: One man's trash is another man's treasure at the NochMall
Everything but new is the motto of the used department store of Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR), which opened in August. On the 2500 square meter area you will find furniture, clothes, books, toys and many other great things that deserve a second chance. In workshops you will learn how to turn used things into something new. Events about recycling management and waste avoidance round off the offer for a clean city. Join in!
When: Monday through Saturday 10am - 6pm, Thursday 10am - 8pm
Where: NochMall, Auguste-Viktoria-Allee 99, Reinickendorf
Of course you can also go on a treasure hunt in Berlin at one of the numerous flea markets in Berlin. Here books, household goods, antiques, jewellery and second-hand fashion change hands. Flea markets are therefore an ideal place to buy those special souvenirs to remember your visit to Berlin with.
Tip 7: Visit Berlin's green Utopia - Tempelhofer Feld
Tempelhofer Feld, one of the world’s largest inner-city open spaces, is THE big-city playground for young and old in Berlin: the area offers a six-kilometre cycle, skating and jogging track, various barbecue areas, a four-hectare dog meadow as well as a huge picnic area. Sheep or cows graze here from time to time. And the extensive meadows are a paradise for skylarks and other native animal and bird species.
After the closure of the famous Tempelhof Airport, the huge area is now being used sustainably. Here you can walk, run, cycle, fly kites, have a picnic – simply enjoy a great time outdoors with your loved ones. At various places around the park you can also learn about the moving history of Tempelhofer Feld.
Tip: On the urban ecology tours of Tempelhofer Feld, you can learn more about its role as a natural space.
The Gemeinschaftsgarten Allmende-Kontor e.V. non-profit association has established an urban gardening project here, where you can admire the garden design of the community gardeners. With a bit of luck, you can also watch one of the many spectacular sunsets there.
We kindly ask you to help us keep this huge park clean and take your rubbish back home with you.
Further information about the Tempelhofer Feld
Tip 8: Walk on the green side at Urban Gardening projects
The Prinzessinnengärten at the Neuer St. Jacobi cemetery in Neukölln in 2020, and the Klunkerkranich in Neukölln are among the most famous urban gardening projects in Berlin.
The team at Gleisbeet, a community permaculture project on the site of the former Wriezen train station in Berlin-Friedrichshain, regularly offers workshops on balcony planting, permaculture and environmental protection.
The Klunkerkranich on the roof of the Neukölln-Arkaden is also worth a visit. What is most likely Berlin’s highest roof garden entices you to experience the unbeatable view, delicious herbs and rare dye plants. Access to the roof garden is free, and you can also enjoy cool drinks and tasty snacks in the alternative outdoor roof-top bar. You pay a small entrance fee for the bar, but it's worth it every time!
Tip 9: Visit Berlin's oldest tree
Berlin’s oldest tree stands in the northwest of the capital in Tegel Forest, a wonderful recreation area. The gnarled common oak is said to be more than 900 years old. The old tree got its name "Dicke Marie" from the brothers Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, because it reminded them of their cook. The writer and natural scientist are buried at Schlosspark Tegel, not far from the giant tree.
In addition, Tegel Forest is a wonderful place for walking and cycling in the tranquillity of nature, and in hot temperatures you can also enjoy a swim in the cool Lake Tegel.
Please be considerate of the natural surroundings and take your rubbish back home with you here too.
More parks & gardens in Berlin
Tip 10: Berlin is buzzing - eat sweet honey from the capital
Fans of Maya the Bee and Willi pay attention: the capital is really buzzing too. That’s because like everywhere in the world, our ecosystem in Berlin is also dependent on bees. Bee colonies are kept at various locations in Berlin and delicious honey from the capital city is produced at the same time. The beehives can be found on the roof of Berlin Cathedral, on the roof of the House of Representatives of the Federal Government and the Berliner Sparkasse bank, at Tempelhofer Feld or at the Planetarium am Insulaner, among other places. Some hives are freely accessible, others are not.
You can also buy the delicious honey from the Berlin bees in various shops and establishments and take it home with you. For example, at Café Botanico, where fresh produce from their own permaculture garden is also processed almost all year round. The Domäne Dahlem is buzzing too. There is even an educational apiary where bee workshops are held regularly.
Tip 11: Become innovative climate protectors
Innovation and environmental protection go hand in hand in Berlin. From small repair stores and recycling centers to technology-driven startups, Berlin has a lot of projects and ideas to offer when it comes to sustainability. One example is the EIT Climate-KIC programs, which work together with TU Berlin, startups and established companies to advance sustainable solutions for climate protection across all sectors. By the way, the Climace-KIC Accelerator is located at the EUREF Campus, Berlin's reallaboratory for the energy transition and a nice destination with various cafés and restaurants. The counter attached to the Gasometer is a countdown and shows how much CO2 we are still allowed to emit in order to still be able to reach the climate target of a maximum of 1.5 degrees of warming.
Wenn ihr mehr über das Thema Klima- und Umweltschutz erfahren und vielleicht sogar selbst aktiv werden wollt, dann schaut doch mal in unsere vorbei oder nutzt unsere ABOUT BERLIN App, um auf eigene Faust noch mehr grüne & innovative Orte zu entdecken.
If you want to learn more about climate and environmental protection and maybe even get active yourself, check out our sustainable events or use our ABOUT BERLIN app to discover even more green & innovative places on your own.
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experience innovative Ideas for a sustainable future
More sustainable tips:
- Bring a reusable drink bottle: you can fill it up yourself at 100 public drinking fountains in the city centre, or have it filled with free tap water at Refill Berlin cafés and restaurants.
And if you want to enjoy a coffee to-go, we recommend the BETTER WORLD CUP – the initiative has declared war on the rubbish mountain of disposable coffee cups with its reusable cups. - If you don't like to cook for yourself, you should download the Too Good To Go app for your Berlin holiday on your smartphone. Over 5000 restaurants, hotels and markets are already participating and offering leftover meals at reduced prices. So have a look and get your portion or wonder bag for the picnic in the park.
