Project Name:

The Real World Laboratory ZEKIWA Zeitz (RZZ)

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Project details:

Project Partners:

City of Zeitz / Anhalt University of Applied Sciences / Bauhaus Dessau Foundation / Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg / Forum Rathenau e. V. / Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle

Project Type:

Revitalisation of a historic industrial site / energy-efficient and structural refurbishment / circular construction practice / participatory urban development and co-creation / cultural and design-based educational format / transdisciplinary research and European networking

Size of property: 4,8 ha

Project Duration: 2025 – 2027

Contact:

Stadt Zeitz

Altmarkt 1

06712

Zeitz

Hochschule Anhalt

Bernburger Str. 55

06366

Köthen (Anhalt)

e-mail:
info@reallabor-zekiwa-zeitz.de

Project Description

The Real World Laboratory ZEKIWA Zeitz (Reallabor ZEKIWA Zeitz, short: RZZ) is being established on the historic site of the former ZEKIWA pram factory in Zeitz, a location that shaped the city’s industrial history for over a century and today stands as a symbol of the challenges of structural transformation. The site is located in Zeitz’s Badstubenvorstadt, an inner-city quarter extending from the ZEKIWA premises through adjacent areas to the Elster floodplain. This neighbourhood forms a central transitional space between the city center and the former industrial site. The two historic ZEKIWA buildings constitute the central spatial and visual landmarks for the surrounding neighbourhood.

Zeitz is situated in the Weißenfels brown coal mining region. For nearly 150 years, the region was dominated by brown coal mining, leading to a radical transformation of the formerly rural environment and shaping both the working and social life of local communities. The industrial structural break of the 1990s and the imminent coal phase-out present the city – like many mining and energy regions in Europe – with profound ecological, social, and cultural challenges. The RZZ addresses this context within an area that still partially hosts active open-pit mining and explores how innovation, participation, and education can support structural transformation in line with the European Green Deal. Against this backdrop, the Real World Laboratory uses the ZEKIWA neighbourhood to experiment with new approaches to sustainable construction, cultural transformation, community living, and forward-looking urban development.

At the RZZ, science, design, municipal administration, civil society, and local initiatives work closely together. This transdisciplinary collaboration creates an experimental field in which ideas are not only developed but also tested on-site with the people of Zeitz. The Real World Laboratory understands building as a social process: It links the architectural revitalization and energy renovation of the industrial monuments with processes that strengthen community, design, and cultural learning. Material, social, cultural, and digital aspects interact. Spaces are restored, use cases are tested, and new forms of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and cultural participation are established.

The Real World Laboratory ZEKIWA Zeitz is led by a multidisciplinary consortium consisting of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Forum Rathenau e. V., and the City of Zeitz. The diversity of participating institutions forms the basis for an open, inclusive, and experimental process. The project is funded by the European Union and the State of Saxony-Anhalt through the Just Transition Fund (JTF) and is guided by the principles of the New European Bauhaus: beautiful, sustainable, together.

Project Goals

The RZZ aims to develop the historic factory site of the former pram production into an open model space where spatial, social, cultural, and ecological future issues can be explored and further developed together with the urban community. The RZZ understands building as an interplay of spatial, social, cultural, and ecological processes. The project’s work is structured around six interrelated thematic priorities:

Building reactivation and spatial transformation 
The historic ZEKIWA site is being gradually revitalized and made future-proof. The listed industrial buildings and the former main building are being structurally secured, spatial potentials examined, and technically and financially feasible conversion and expansion scenarios developed. Flexible use concepts, minimally invasive interventions, and sustainable renovation strategies form the basis for creating resilient spaces for mixed-use and evolving traditional models toward open, community-oriented approaches. In parallel, temporary use scenarios for the “Room of Possibilities” (Raum der Möglichkeiten) on the ground floor of the ZEKIWA main building are tested as part of the Real World Laboratory. The open-use “Room of Possibilities” is being gradually developed and accompanied by designs for interior fittings, furniture, and prototypical elements. Its development represents a key component toward a sustainable operational concept for the entire site.

Material innovations, circular economy, and digital tools 
A materials database, a digital twin, and locally oriented material cycles provide the foundation for resource-efficient construction. Digital tools also act as bridges between knowledge, design, and participation. The RZZ researches sustainable materials, circular construction principles, and climate-adaptive façade solutions, developed for example as recycled-material façades, vertical wild gardens, and prototype furniture innovations. Principles of the circular economy, such as reuse, upcycling, recycling, and the use of renewable raw materials, form a central foundation. The RZZ is building a materials database, a digital twin, and digital tools to visualize potential use scenarios, which will be linked in the long term to the Citizens’ App. The goal is resource-efficient construction that combines technical innovation with local value creation and participation.

Participation and Co-Creation 
The RZZ emphasizes open and continuous participation by the Zeitz population to shape urban development transparently and collaboratively. A central instrument is the Stakeholder Workshop, where local and regional actors jointly develop ideas, usage perspectives, and spatial scenarios. Workshops, co-creation processes, and the use of digital tools enable participation and convey knowledge about sustainable transformation. A Citizens’ App supports digital participation and allows votes on urban renewal processes and specific subprojects. Participation thus becomes an integral part of the RZZ and strengthens local responsibility and identity. In addition, actor structures are systematically analysed and expanded through learning processes, knowledge exchange, and prototypical interventions in urban space. This involves experimental, flexible interim uses that leave visible traces in the neighbourhood and make material cycles, energy infrastructures, and urban planning options tangible.

Education, culture, and artistic practice 
Cultural learning programs, the work of the Bauhaus Agents, and other inclusive, intergenerational formats combine art, research, and everyday practice. The Bauhaus Agents operate in schools, public spaces, and training or workplace contexts, strengthening competencies in environmental awareness and creative self-efficacy, particularly among children, adolescents, and other politically underrepresented groups. At the RZZ, Transfer Residencies provide artistic and design-based approaches to sustainability. Artists and designers live and work in Zeitz for three months, developing new perspectives on on-site processes and presenting their results publicly. Lectures and workshops on sustainability and knowledge transfer are also held. The international Summer Camp will make cultural knowledge transfer visible, promote intergenerational learning, and strengthen future skills in Zeitz and the surrounding region.

Urban ecology, landscape, and neighbourhood development 
The ecological potentials of the ZEKIWA site are systematically activated and embedded into a broader urban and landscape context. Biodiversity areas, climate-resilient open spaces, rainwater management, and solar open spaces are linked with energy and material cycle-based concepts. New open-space qualities emerge in the multicoded public space through prototypical partial measures. The insights gained are consolidated for resilient neighbourhood development, laying the foundations for vibrant urban structures and future-proof landscapes through visible interventions and experimental uses.

Research, documentation, and European knowledge transfer 
Scientific accompanying research examines the resonance and impact of the project. To process and contextualize research results, a place for archiving structural transformation-related activities within the framework of the New European Bauhaus is being established in the ZEKIWA main building. The data and research results are prepared for the public in the form of exhibitions, lectures, and reports, making the implementation of the NEB’s core principles visible. European networks are being built and strengthened, promoting knowledge exchange and transfer between European coal and energy regions and spatial development practices. The objectives are aesthetically appealing and socially inclusive sustainability strategies and their transferability to other regions. International formats such as the Summer Camp, the Crowd Innovation Challenge, and other exchange formats link local experiences with global knowledge and enable reciprocal learning.

Project impressions

Criteria according to the NEB_Compass

Beautiful

Ambition III – to integrate
The highest aspiration of the NEB principle “beautiful” shapes the actions at the ZEKIWA site and links ecological, social, and aesthetic values into a jointly developed practice. Architectural and open-space scenarios serve as tools that empower actors to actively shape the future of the site. The Bauhaus Agents and the Transfer Residencies for artists and designers from Burg Giebichenstein connect schools, urban spaces, neighbourhoods, and young audiences with the Real World Laboratory. Sustainability questions are translated into artistic, design-based, and everyday practice, while environmental awareness and creative self-efficacy are strengthened. Zeitz thus becomes a place of value development and transformation: Aesthetic decisions are made in dialogue with the public, administration, and practice partners, integrated into routines of care and use, thereby embedding a recycling-based building culture as a lasting, identity-forming model. The dimension “restructuring values” is understood as a procedural work and experience process. In interaction between interdisciplinary planning teams, institutions, and the population, adaptive objectives emerge. These are explicitly conceived as responsive, flexible, and process-based, not as pre-structured top-down goals, but as outcomes of dialogue. In the Master’s program in Architecture at Anhalt University, spatial conversion and expansion scenarios are developed and tested on-site as demonstrators. Real needs, usage patterns, and social dynamics are directly incorporated into neighbourhood development. In open spaces and the “Room of Possibilities,” circular economy principles become aesthetically tangible: Recycled materials, traces of repair, modular assemblies, and vegetation illustrate the origin and future of objects. At the ZEKIWA annex building 042, new material and façade principles are tested and further developed, exemplifying an approach that combines technical innovations with clear, comprehensible aesthetics, demonstrating how resource-efficient construction can be communicated aesthetically beyond technical aspects. In line with “enabling creation,” experimental planning and design processes are made visible and supported by artistic contributions, participation formats in the Citizens’ App, and open-space interventions. These structures promote multi-perspective knowledge transfer and strengthen the role of art as an impulse for future-oriented urban development. Formats and methods for bottom-up processes, interdisciplinary collaboration, and multi-perspective knowledge transfer are tested, analysed, and documented for long-term establishment.

Sustainable

Ambition II – to close the loop
At the RZZ, non-load-bearing interior and façade elements serve as accessible test fields for circular building materials. Reused construction elements and regional secondary raw materials reduce transport and strengthen local value creation. Anhalt University develops material systems from recyclates (secondary raw materials produced through recycling processes from waste), including gypsum-based wall coverings and mineral-bound, semi-transparent panels made of recycled glass for façades and interiors. In open spaces, robust, modular, and repairable constructions are tested to reduce resource consumption while using local and recycled materials. For the architectural revitalization, regional, renewable, and recycled building materials are catalogued, and simplified regulations – such as in the context of building class E – are tested to facilitate reuse. The City of Zeitz links these approaches to its climate-neutral urban development strategy: Existing buildings and brownfield sites are prioritized for reactivation, building materials are reused, and the embodied energy of structures is preserved. Where interventions are necessary, they are minimal, lifecycle-oriented, and closely linked to renewable energy. At the RZZ, a regionally anchored circular economy is being established that integrates ecological, economic, and design aspects. A focus is on resource-efficient production methods for objects and furniture. Local manufacturing, demountable and repairable systems, and large-format 3D printing reduce waste and emissions. Anhalt University is creating a materials database to make available regional resources visible and usable, systematically tracking production waste and using image processing and AI to derive precise reuse pathways. Linking this to the Citizens’ App enables low-threshold, participatory use – searching for materials to allocating them to neighbourhood projects. Forum Rathenau e. V. contributes expertise in regional carbon cycles and supraregional networking. For climate adaptation, the RZZ investigates green façades as adaptive insulation for uninsulated existing buildings, including studies on thermal and moisture performance, substrates, and drought-resistant plants. Building physics and botanical monitoring accompany the process. Multi-coded energy surfaces are being developed that integrate solar energy use with climate-adaptive and open-space planning measures. For annex building No. 042, solutions for heat supply, energy optimization, and the integration of solar systems are being developed, potentially serving as the basis for a municipal district heating system for building 052, surrounding residential buildings, and the entire ZEKIWA site. In this way, circular economy and climate adaptation interact, forming a spatial, social, and ecological model to “close the loop.”

Together

Ambition III – to transform
The NEB principle “together” aims to create an inclusive environment that enables informed and self-determined decisions. Continuous on-site presence, inclusive participation formats, and the collaboration of urban society, science, design, culture, and administration strengthen trust, social cohesion, and new forms of collective action. This approach shapes the RZZ and provides the framework for collaboratively developed and tested visions of the future. Participation is understood as shared responsibility. Formats such as the Stakeholder Workshop, the Room of Possibilities, the Citizens’ App, the Bauhaus Agents as well as the Transfer Residencies create long-lasting structures. The Room of Possibilities on the ground floor of the ZEKIWA main building serves as an open meeting point where ideas are tested, usage scenarios discussed, and processes made visible. Complementing the physical space, the Citizens’ App provides a digital layer of participation: it conveys information, documents decisions, and makes spatial visions accessible. App-supported participation allows diverse audiences to contribute perspectives actively, promoting democratic co-creation and complementing educational offerings with low-threshold digital learning and dialogue spaces. Conversion and expansion scenarios for the ZEKIWA buildings, as well as urban and open-space approaches, are digitally prepared. Stakeholder Workshops discuss ideas for the site’s use, explore reactivation potential, and contribute proposals for resource-efficient circular economy practices. Local actors and initiatives are actively involved, bringing their perspectives, resources, and networks to create resilient infrastructures for long-term transformation. The Transfer Residents develop designs for a liveable future in collaboration with local communities. They work closely with local initiatives and the RZZ consortium, acting as catalysts for creative engagement with transformation processes in Zeitz. Their work combines artistic and design approaches with educational activities, making complex topics accessible. The Bauhaus Agents continuously accompany the processes on-site, combining methodological instruction, cultural education, and societal participation. They strengthen the principle of collective action by developing intergenerational and inclusive learning and participation formats that actively involve different ages, knowledge types, and social backgrounds. Through open workshops, school and extracurricular collaborations, and low-threshold dialogues, spaces for shared knowledge and community solutions emerge. This process-oriented approach has a transformative effect: It fosters social cohesion, strengthens individual agency, and embeds new practices of sharing, repairing, and reusing in everyday life. Thus, a learning neighbourhood emerges in which education, cooperation, and communal responsibility interact. Knowledge transfer and preservation are fundamental components of the project. Close integration of work packages enables networked exchange between all participants and with regional partners from business, science, culture, administration, and civil society. Accompanying research contextualizes the processes scientifically and compares them with European NEB initiatives and their experiences. Progress, materials, and results are publicly accessible through presentations, exhibitions, publications, digital platforms, and events, making them usable for collaborative design processes. Insights from furniture, materials, energy, and technical innovations feed back into vocational education and sustainable manufacturing technologies. RZZ stakeholders document newly developed learning forms and events, evaluate them, and make them available in the NEB archive. Results from the Bauhaus Agents program are prepared modularly for educational institutions. The international Summer Camp strengthens the European dimension and opens the Real World Laboratory in Zeitz for exchange, cooperation, and knowledge transfer within Europe. A connected knowledge infrastructure with transferable processes emerges, establishing long-term structures for a solidarity-based and circular way of life. The diverse formats of the RZZ make participation part of everyday life. Learning processes arise through joint activity. Knowledge is shared, documented, and prepared for further use. In Zeitz, an open structure emerges that extends far beyond the project, fulfilling the ambition “transform” by embedding collaborative, resource-efficient, and circular lifestyles sustainably.

Participatory process

Ambition III: to self-govern
The NEB Ambition III “co-develop” describes participation at the RZZ as a permanently established, communal practice. Low-threshold access, digital participation, and collaborative design (e.g., through stakeholder workshops, the citizens’ app, and co-design formats) form reliable structures that promote routines of sharing, repairing, and reusing in the neighbourhood. Long-term, self-managed models are prepared within the project and gradually transferred to local partners. Public learning pathways in schools, vocational training, craft, and culture strengthen social security, representation, and shared responsibility for spaces and resources. Participation formats at the RZZ operate on multiple levels to involve science, design, civil society, and administration in joint development processes. Bauhaus Agents accompany on-site collaboration, create educational access for various target groups, and support the transition from participation to shared action through artistic and design impulses. Transfer Residents work with local actors on ideas for a future-proof city. Workshops, public programs, and the Citizens’ App open planning processes to the population and create transparent decision-making paths. An inclusive framework emerges, integrating intergenerational, inclusive learning and diverse perspectives. The Room of Possibilities and digital tools support the collaborative development of scenarios for buildings, open spaces, and materials. Stakeholder Workshops link different groups in the city and test forms of participation to develop viable, jointly supported perspectives for the reactivation of the ZEKIWA site. A shared design process emerges that extends beyond the project.

Multiple levels of engagement

Ambition III: to work globally
The RZZ is locally anchored in Zeitz but operates on multiple levels. In addition to engaging the population and local initiatives, municipal administrative structures are actively involved in planning and construction processes. Regional partners from science, education, art, and culture contribute their expertise. Through accompanying research and the Summer Camp, connections to European networks are established, encouraging exchange with other NEB initiatives and actors from other European countries. The international Summer Camp provides a platform for exchange and connects European perspectives on sustainability and structural transformation.

Transdisciplinary approach

Ambition III: to be beyond-disciplinary
The RZZ demonstrates how participatory, multi-level, and transdisciplinary collaboration can create a sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive transformation. The project is implemented by a network that brings together diverse disciplines and institutions: the City of Zeitz, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, and Forum Rathenau e. V. Their collaboration combines architecture, design, art, social sciences, engineering, and civic engagement, ensuring continuous interaction between research, practice, and education. Within the RZZ thematic areas, technical, social, cultural, and ecological aspects of structural transformation are addressed, generating both formal and informal knowledge. The involvement of additional contributors is structurally anchored through Stakeholder Workshops, Co-Creation formats, the Room of Possibilities, the Bauhaus Agents, the Transfer Residencies, and the Citizens’ App. These formats create accessible, transparent, and inclusive structures connecting residents, researchers, artists, and policymakers. Thus, the RZZ becomes an open, cross-disciplinary learning and experimental field where knowledge, practice, and creative processes continuously converge. Through the close integration of participating institutions, stakeholders, and formats, new perspectives on sustainable urban development, cultural education, and societal transformation are tested and translated into long-term usable models.

This is how it works:
NEB-Compass (PDF)

Durchführung

Verwendete Tools mit Darstellungen des Arbeitsprozesses

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