Social Places Research

An established research focus and core element of SOFI’s profile is the study of “Soziale Orte” (translates to “Social Places”). These refer to places, spaces and forms of cooperation at the local level that develop innovative, public-interest-oriented/ common-good-oriented formats of social cohesion.

The concept of Social Places, developed by Berthold Vogel in cooperation with Jens Kersten and Claudia Neu, is interdisciplinary and transfer-oriented. A key focus lies in cooperation with local administration, economic actors and regional cultural activities. Applied to a range of societal challenges, including demographic change, skilled labour shortages, the energy transition, municipal financial difficulties and the erosion of public goods and spaces, the Social Places Concept continues to evolve. 

The project “Das Soziale-Orte-Konzept. Neue Infrastrukturen für gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt” (translates to: Social-Places-Concept: New Infrastructures for Social Cohesion), which was initiated in 2017, marked the beginning of social places research at SOFI. Thematically and conceptually, research on social places forges conceptual links to the research field of “Public Goods and Infrastructures” and the priority areas of “Social Cohesion” and “Social-Ecological Transformation”.

Since 2022, a working group at SOFI has been coordinating and integrating research on social places across projects.

• Further information regarding the research and transfer activities related to social places at SOFI can be found on the following website: www.sozialeorte.de