Demographic change, anonymisation, individualisation and sustainable use of resources – these topics are shaping our society, and an active neighbourhood may provide the answers. After work & careers and family & friends, it is the third key social pillar in ensuring our well-being. Strong, vibrant neighbourhoods have a small-scale and individual impact. They improve our quality of life right where we spend most – and the most valuable – of our time: in our home, our street, our district. Neighbourhoods in which residents know one another are also proven to be safer with lower crime rates than anonymous areas. To date, there has been no comprehensive solution in Germany for networking within neighbourhoods.
Nebenan.de is changing that: Getting to know people, sharing, helping, giving, informing, coming together – the network offers neighbours a way to get in touch and embody the concept of neighbourliness. Any enthusiastic resident can add their neighbourhood to nebenan.de. The platform will remain free for private users. Traditional advertising will be avoided. In the long term, ne-benan.de will allow local businesses within a neighbourhood to participate in the network for a fee. Keeping content relevant to private users will always take top priority.
Founder Christian Vollmann has been focusing on the concept of neighbourliness for two years now. After relocating with his family, he wanted to get to know what was previously an anonymous neighbourhood. He launched an online forum for his street and made contacts that have lasted to this day. He has been gripped by the idea ever since and has formed the perfect team with his co-founders from the for-profit and non-profit worlds: Till Behnke (founder of the donation platform betterplace.org), Matthes Scheinhardt, Ina Remmers, Michael Vollmann and Sven Tantau.
