In Austria, queraum – together with participants of the neighbourhood group – organised a public open-air storytelling café. This was part of the “Day of Mindfulness”, organised by the initiative Mindful 8th (German only) in the 8th district in Vienna. 

Together with the group participants, the project team prepared inspiring questions, quotes and little stories, and invited visitors to the Day of Mindfulness to join them. The public storytelling café was organised as an open format – everyone who was interested could stop and listen and/or sit down and join the discussion. In this way, the “Plauderei” became a public event and reached out to people in another district. 

Participants of the neighbourhood group facilitated the public storytelling café, got in touch with other people, shared their experiences and exchanged views on the neighbourhood. As feedback shows, the active participation in the public event was very enriching for our participants. For them it was a special experience to go to a neighbourhood other than their own and become active and visible in public. The participation also had a positive effect on group dynamics: the participants organised their “journey” themselves and met outside the club for the first time.