In the meantime, cases of needle spiking have also been reported in Berlin. What is particularly worrying is that so far there is hardly any reliable knowledge about the substances used, the perpetrators or the motives. The lack of awareness of how to deal with spiking victims on the part of guests, staff or rescue services makes it difficult to clarify the situation. The dangers that can arise in combination with the voluntary use of legalised or illegalised substances should not be underestimated. We can only deal with these challenges together.

On 16 June, we would like to exchange ideas with you about spiking in the Berlin club scene and discuss what measures we can take. We have invited experts to speak from the perspective of medical professionals, drug field professionals and victim support groups. In addition, we would like to invite everyone to contribute their own perspectives and approaches in a town hall format.

16.06.2022, 18:00-20:00 pm

Location: Marie Antoinette, Holzmarktstraße 15-18, 10179 Berlin

Registration via: awareness@clubcommission.de

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We are now in the third year of the Awareness Akademie – one of the goals we started with was to work with you towards common values and achievable guidelines regarding anti-discrimination, awareness work and the promotion of diversity and equality in Berlin club culture.

Despite the pandemic and the associated state of emergency for society and especially our scene, the Awareness Akademie has been able to find itself, has worked a lot, advised and created offers for dialogue, networking and further education, which are now being accepted with trust and great interest and commitment. Along the way, we repeatedly come to the point in discussions that an awareness and diversity code of values can be an essential and helpful instrument for sustainable positive changes in Berlin’s club culture.

Accordingly, this year we would like to take a closer look at the development of such values and standards together with you. This roundtable should be the first impulse for this process. For this reason, we will refrain from the usual frontal inputs this time and spend the three hours together with you in the form of workshops and discussions. We very much hope that you will participate in large numbers.

 

31.05.2022, 18:00-21:00 pm

Location: Fitzroy, S-Bahn Bogen 46, Holzmarktstraße 15, 10179 Berlin

Registration via: awareness@clubcommission.de

 

AGENDA

18:00 – 18:20: Welcome and report of the last months and current activities of the AK Awareness & Diversity of the Clubcommission/ Awareness Academy.

18:20 – 18:40 Impulse: Values – what are we actually talking about?

18:50 – 19:30 Workshop Phase I: Values

19:40 – 20:30 Workshop Phase II: Strategies & Minimum Standards

20:30 – 21:00 Presentation & joint discussion of the results

21:00 – 21:05 Conclusion & Outlook

 

All actors in the field of awareness, anti-discrimination and club culture in Berlin are invited – club operators and staff, collectives, festivals, initiatives, organisers, bookers, researchers, consultants, interested parties and more. Welcome are those who are already actively working on the topics of awareness and diversity in club culture as well as those who are just starting out. The aim is to exchange ideas on achievable guidelines and values regarding Awareness & Diversity in club culture.

 

The roundtable will be held in German and English.

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The consumption of G in a club context has increased significantly in recent years. Since the reopening of the clubs, the public debate about this in Berlin has once again taken on new relevance and is polarizing due to very different perspectives and approaches to the topic. G is a particularly high-risk substance, as there is a very high potential of unintentional overdose—which can be fatal. The danger increases especially when mixed with alcohol or other downers.

Therefore, we stand for a responsible and open approach to the topic. In order to illuminate this dialogue from different perspectives, to discuss responsibilities and challenges in more depth, we dedicate the next roundtable of the Awareness Academy to the topic and would like to invite you to join us.

26.11.2021, 7-9pm

Alte Münze Berlin, Molkenmarkt 2, 10179 Berlin

Registration here.

This time, the roundtable will take place on site exclusively in English and will be available online as a livestream.

SPEAKERS

Pansy is the stage and internet persona of Parker Tilghman. The American-born artist developed his work increasingly in nightclubs, festivals and public cultural institutions. For her, drag is a form of expression that promotes social justice and the voices of other female*, trans* and non-binary artists. In his work, she mixes comedy and camp in order to discuss issues such as HIV, racism, mental health and sexual violence.

Leur Hirz is a clinical psychologist. She works at the Berliner Krisendienst, at Lara e.V. – Fachberatungsstelle gegen sexuelleisierte Gewalt an Frauen, as a feminist researcher and in counseling children and adolescents in school contexts. She has also been active for several years in eclipse e.V. – psychedelic crisis intervention.

Rüdiger Schmolke is a health scientist and has worked for over 25 years in the field of low-threshold, acceptance-oriented drug work. He is an active board member of SONICS Safer Nightlife Bundesverband and one of the coordinators of SONAR – Safer Nightlife Berlin.

Lukas Roediger is a second-year resident in psychiatry at the Charité.  He has been part of the working group »AG Psychotrope Substanzen« for about 3 years. Within this framework, Felix has contributed to several surveys and publications on the topic of »party drugs«.
In the context of his inpatient work on the acute ward, he has accompanied about 10-20 inpatient GBL withdrawals, experienced and treated complications and acute intoxications in the consultation service (advising on other wards) and in the emergency department.

Karina Nawrat is running the booking for several clubs in Berlin as well as in Poland and is hosting a floor at Undercity Festival, PL. The events in the clubs she books reflect her long lasting interest in creating an inclusive, experimental and safe environment for the artists of many different social and musical backgrounds. Karina has been hosting a number of queer events at venues she books such as RIOT, Mala Junta, BRENN, DURCH and many others.

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Ann Wiesental is active in support groups for people affected by sexual violence as well as in various social movements. She is co-founder of the >Antisexist Contact and Awareness Group<, which laid a foundation for the concept of awareness in the context of the protest against the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in 2007. Ann Wiesental offers supervision and awareness workshops and accompanies »transformative work» with perpetrator of violence. She is also the author of the book »Antisexist Awareness – A Handbook» (Unrast Verlag).

In her input on »Awareness – an attitude and an action», Ann gives insights into concepts for support work. Awareness is part of an action that does not look on passively, but supports affected people actively. This includes an attitude that does not patronise affected people but stands by them in solidarity. Incidents of discrimination or (sexual) violence are not seen as individual fate, but as structural consequences of current power relations.

Erkan Affan is a curator and a writer who was born in South London. They research the intersections of sexuality, gender and migration. In 2019, Erkan co-founded the Berlin-based collective Queer Arab Party, which promotes the visibility of the queer Arab community and provides its members an intentional and safer space to experiment with identity.

Erkan shares experiences of the Queer Arab Party collective’s awareness practice and how the spaces, workshops and discussions Erkan hosts for the queer, Muslim and migrant community in Berlin and beyond can become safer spaces.

Rave Awareness is a group of five people who have been active in awareness work together for some years now. As people who work in event management, social work and political education, they approach the topic from different perspectives. They share their experiences and knowledge through awareness workshops for organisers, collectives and festivals. Together with the participants they always try to ask new questions in order to find new answers.

Agi and Sulamith give an insight into the roots of awareness work and present which social developments and movements are formative for today’s concepts.

Insights and outlook

• In order to create and maintain more safer spaces in our club culture, awareness work must increasingly find its way into club cultural spaces. Training of all actors who are involved in nightlife as well as workshops and campaigns, discussion spaces for clubbers and regular exchanges between clubs are central to this.
• It should be noted that the clubs’ level of knowledge about awareness can be very different. Therefore, all participants must be picked up in terms of language and content. The content which is developed by radical thinkers must be communicated sensitively. The restraint of club owners due to e.g. the privilege of unawareness and image protection must be counteracted with low-threshold requirements and programmes.
• In order to shape awareness work collectively, intersectionally and inclusively, clubs, staff and awareness teams must themselves be diverse. Conversations with people affected by different forms of discrimination must not only be held, but experiences, best practice examples and knowledge must be collected and made accessible transparently and as low-threshold as possible.
• The integration of awareness teams as permanent, trained and paid employees within club operations is also required, as well as the acquisition of state funds to finance ongoing supervision for club staff. The Club Commission is currently working with community stakeholders on »Awareness Standards» that we can all agree on. These »minimum guidelines» are necessary to be eligible for funding.

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• Leur Hirz is a clinical psychologist. She works at the Berliner Krisendienst, at Lara e.V. – Fachberatungsstelle gegen sexuelleisierte Gewalt an Frauen, as a feminist researcher and in counseling children and adolescents in school contexts. She has also been active for several years in eclipse e.V. – psychedelic crisis intervention.
• Katrin Will works as an addiction therapist and counselor at Vista and is a member of the Sonar crew.
• Rüdiger Schmolke is a health scientist and has worked for over 25 years in the field of low-threshold, acceptance-oriented drug work. He is an active board member of SONICS Safer Nightlife Bundesverband and one of the coordinators of SONAR – Safer Nightlife Berlin.
• Silan Derin is a psychologist, works as a counselor at Stillpoint Spaces Berlin and has herself worked in various Berlin clubs and club culture contexts.

Insights and outlook

• How can the community support each other? Especially in times when Corona constrains our social networks, we need effective ways to recognize mental crisis situations. People who otherwise only meet each other at parties need spaces to reconnect to ensure one another’s well-being.
• The creators and organizers of club spaces are also missing places to come together. Due to the crisis, many have lost their work and the daily structures it offered. We need new ways to support and provide companionship to one another.
• How can education, e.g. about drug use, take place outside clubs? Support opportunities need to be shared across all social classes and communities. Resources, such as referrals to help hotlines or therapists with proximity to club culture, could be made available on social media until it is possible to share in person and at parties again.

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• Celine Barry led (through fall 2020) the anti-discrimination counseling of Each One Teach One, a community-based education and empowerment project in Berlin. Within the framework of the federal program Demokratie leben!, EOTO is active in the structural development of federal centers for racism prevention and empowerment of Black communities.
• Kikelomo is a DJ, radio show host and Boiler Room host.
• Maureen Mutheu is, among other things, organizer and curator of the Berlin club series Higher Grounds and Songversations. Her mission is to create access and visibility for talented, diverse creatives and artists and to strengthen the sense of community among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color).
• Rafia Shahnaz and Can Tunç are active in GLADT e.V., an independent organization for and by Black, Indigenous & of Color Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuals, Trans*, Queer community in Berlin. They are active on different levels—including within Berlin’s club culture—against racism, sexism, trans- and homophobia, ableism and other forms of discrimination.

Insights and outlook

• How can we recognize racist structures? Even within communities or in supposedly safe spaces, discriminatory situations arise. Club culture should train itself to understand these situations and create infrastructures to support those affected.
• Atmosphere, booking, club door: diversity and awareness play a role in all areas. In order to create party and nightlife spaces that are inviting and free from discrimination for everyone, anti-racism must be seen as a cross-cutting task.
• Strategies are needed to effectively establish anti-racist door policies. Among other strategies, this could be achieved through more diversity in the team at the door, or through training of and for door staff.

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Insights and outlook

• To what extent is awareness a part of the door team’s work? It is possible to provide specific training and sufficient capacity so that door staff can also support those affected. A separate awareness team makes it possible to dissociate door policy and care work, but also requires additional financial resources.
• What kind of infrastructure is needed on the ground? To contact the awareness team, they can either be marked or accessible through alarm systems at the bar or entrance. Quiet rooms, for example, are useful as retreats.

How can cases be handled in the long term? Incident logs that are created the same evening help to classify situations and discuss them in hindsight. Counseling centers can help: see the guide offered by the Berliner Landesantidiskriminierungsstelle (LADS; in German): (Berliner Beratungswegweiser der LADS).

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• How can initiatives network and learn from each other? Many initiatives are already making important contributions in this field, but would like to think more deeply about their concepts, share their knowledge or exchange information about specific situations. There is also a desire to pool knowledge, data and competencies.
• Can the needs of different actors in club culture be united? Those who work at the door or at the bar, Kick-Offas well as different target groups within the club scene have different issues that concern them in the areas of awareness and diversity. It would also be desirable to make this knowledge accessible beyond club culture.
• What kind of standards are needed in awareness work? This question is also important in regards to an independent complaints mechanism or certificates; a further challenge is developing standards for the long term.
• Who finances the costs? Affordable opportunities for further training are important, but long-term work must often be implemented on small budgets. Here it is necessary to discuss the tension between voluntary work and professional care work.

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