Rüdiger Heid, head of buntkicktgut, on sport and integration and the influence of street soccer on urban planning.
The new rooftop sports ground on Bellevue di Monaco in Munich’s Glockenbach district is attracting attention: no wonder, where else in the middle of the city can you play football or throw a ball at lofty heights? But there is more to it than meets the eye – above all, a great deal of commitment and the integration of refugees. Rüdiger Heid knows all about that: He is co-initiator and director of the non-profit GmbH buntkicktgut – the intercultural street soccer leagues – which organizes the operation of the rooftop sports field. We talked to him about buntkicktgut, sport and integration and the influence of street soccer on urban planning.
Mr. Heid, you co-founded buntkicktgut in Munich at the end of the 1990s. To date, almost 25 years later, the initiative has collected a number of awards and gained a foothold in many other places in Germany, Switzerland and even Togo. What exactly is buntkicktgut and why is the concept so successful?
buntkicktgut has developed from a small idea in a refugee home in the Harras district of Sendling in Munich into a model and beacon for Munich. It is a playful approach to integration “from the bottom up”. In order to get a small gang of 12 to 15-year-old boys in the home under control, a colleague and I formed them into a street soccer team. This required continuous events – more than just a single tournament – and identification as a response to lost identities and affiliations. The result was a street soccer league that in all its organizational and functional areas tries to make the participants the doers.
Today, the system consists of seven individual leagues in seven categories and over 30 locations of so-called “street or school football work”. A small temporary project has grown organically into a highly effective concept through the continuous involvement of kids and young people. The staying power, the perseverance, a certain level of expertise in public relations and marketing, the many awards and media attention, targeted networking – these things have all contributed to a demand for something similar in other cities and regions. And buntkicktgut is a model that can function flexibly and participatively in any social and spatial context.
“We combine interdependencies with many participatory elements”
Why do sport and integration work so well together?
Sport, and soccer in particular, reaches a large number of people in a simple, low-threshold and playful way. Contacts between immigrants, foreigners, adults, young people, men and women from all segments of society and from all different educational backgrounds can be established very easily and without any special language requirements. Sport is a very quick way of bringing people together who would otherwise not meet so easily. When playing soccer, these people experience something together – that connects them.
Team sports and team building also create identity, a sense of belonging, participation, social learning and values. Sporting competition with its emotions also offers a learning field for dealing with emotions, victories, arrogance, defeats, frustrations and respect.
At buntkicktgut, we combine these interactions with many participatory elements: The young people who participate with us help us to further develop the project. They act as referees, league councillors, coaches and street football workers, youth editors of the buntkicker magazine, scouts and talent developers. In this way, we achieve an enormous integrative effect.
What connects buntkicktgut with Bellevue di Monaco?
In general, we certainly share a love of Munich as a hopefully cosmopolitan city, enjoyment of cultural and social diversity, respect for and curiosity about people with their different life experiences – and last but not least, a broader view of the political, historical, social and ecological world crises. This naturally results in a common goal of concrete support and the creation of awareness for people with stories of migration or flight.
But there are plenty of interfaces and connections – also of a personal nature – from the time before Bellevue di Monaco. Institutions such as the Munich and Bavarian Refugee Councils and Lichterkette e.V. have always been important partners and supporters for us and continue to be for Bellevue di Monaco. The Glockenbachwerkstatt with the smallest (but finest) and perhaps best-known football pitch in the city of Munich has been one of our addresses since the early days of buntkicktgut. The “Glocke” had its own team in the U17 league for a long time and, like many other facilities, used our offer and its structures for its own educational and integrative work. And finally, we as buntkicktgut and I personally are also part of the cooperative with cooperative shares.
“The rooftop sports pitch draws new attention to us.”
What significance does the football pitch at Bellevue di Monaco have for buntkicktgut?
Play and sport need space, even on rooftops. The football pitch on the roof of the Bellevue di Monaco in the center of Munich makes a special statement in this regard. It creates visible publicity for the topic of space and the sensible use of public spaces. The initiative for a rooftop sports field is an impulse that will hopefully lead to many more concepts for comparable areas.
For buntkicktgut, this pitch not only means a new task and the fulfillment of an idea that has been discussed time and again, but also respect and recognition of our work on the football pitches. For us, it is a highly visible milestone in our commitment to an open and social city that harnesses the power of sport.
buntkicktgut supports Bellevue di Monaco eG with its expertise in sport and integration. How does buntkicktgut benefit from the collaboration?
The project gives us more reach and we are perceived differently – even by people in Munich who didn’t know us before. We have been firmly anchored in the city of Munich’s sporting scene for over 20 years, have received numerous awards and media coverage and are celebrated as Munich’s export hit for playful integration and effective neighborhood and youth work. The great attention for the innovative history of the rooftop sports ground also draws new attention to us. The complex logistics and organization of the pitch occupancy brings completely new and different user groups into contact with us, some of whom are surprised not to have heard of buntkicktgut, are interested in our special concept and offer their direct support.
What reactions have you had to the rooftop pitch so far?
Unfortunately, we were only able to keep the rooftop pitch open for interested user groups or individuals for about three to four weeks after it opened on October 15. After that, we went into lockdown and kept it closed for the winter. Nevertheless, there was an incredible response: from athletes, the media, filmmakers, photographers, neighbors, companies, schools, our kids and young people. The variety of inquiries showed how much awareness and, above all, curiosity there is about the pitch.
There was not a single negative or critical reaction, only consistently positive ones. The basic message was mostly: “Finally something is happening in the city: something innovative, something for everyone, something that encourages new ideas.” Public space is often discussed in general, the many unused roofs in the city, from postmodern office buildings to functional warehouses, from the inner city belt to the surrounding countryside.
Why is public space so important for youth work?
Especially for young people who grow up in cramped living conditions and large families, football pitches and public facilities are their extended living room, a social space where they can show themselves and develop both their personality and identification with the neighborhood and local role models.
“buntkicktgut uses sport to promote active participation in urban society.”
How important are sport and youth work in Munich’s approach to public space?
Many areas in the public space still allow for design possibilities and would have to be rededicated for this purpose. But the political efforts of the last 20 years are pointing in the right direction. The consideration of youth and sport in urban planning and in the design of public space has been significantly increased – this is particularly evident in conflicts of use and interest. The best example of this can be seen in Bellevue di Monaco, where investor and profit interests had to give way to the public interest. Spaces that were once extensively created for motorized private transport are being carefully transformed into car-free zones, pedestrian areas and squares with a quality of stay. Existing green spaces are also being redesigned, and good football pitches and attractive infrastructure for outdoor and trend sports are now part of the planning standard for new development areas and new public spaces.
In conclusion: What does street soccer actually have to do with urban planning?
Initiatives such as buntkicktgut use sport as a catalyst to promote and structure active participation in urban society. As a geographer, it became clear to me during buntkicktgut’s first successful year of refugee work that this effect of street soccer with its focus on identification and participation could be transferred to urban district work and used in urban planning. Quite immodestly, a lot can therefore certainly be attributed to the role of buntkicktgut in raising awareness and sensitization with regard to the use of public space.
You can find out all about the football pitch at Bellevue di Monaco in G+L 03/21: Spielräume.
