15.04.2011 - Co-management with playground construction

“Emergency call. Headquarters 112”: Children and teenagers came up with ideas.

15.04.2011 - Test marks – and what is behind them

Today, when looking for safe or high-quality products, test marks awarded by neutral testing bodies act as guidelines and beacons of light in a sea awash with products. However, what exactly is behind the test marks? What do GS mark, CE marking and other marks actually stand for? And how are these marks interpreted correctly? These questions are answered by Berthold Tempel, laboratory director at TÜV Rheinland (Rhineland Technical Inspection Agency) and chairman of various playground safety standards committees.

20.06.2011 - Saving in the playground?

"Close your theatres, amalgamate register offices or complete towns!" was the provocative suggestion of Jürgen Büssow, the Düsseldorf District President to the hard-up Ruhr District communes in an interview in the daily newspaper WAZ.

17.08.2011 - The National Garden Festival (BUGA) as a play paradise for children and young people

The seamless safety surfacing required was supplied and installed by the German sport and leisure flooring manufacturer, BSW.

17.08.2011 - Climbing and discovery: The National Garden Festival as a play paradise for children and young people

Empress Augusta's "Jewel Box". Play in Empress Augusta's Jewel Box at the Electoral Palace. Between 1856 and 1858 Augusta von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, later to become the German Empress and Queen of Prussia, resided in the Koblenz Electoral Palace.

17.08.2011 - Koblenz transformed - National Garden Show 2011

Playground@Landscape: Hello Mr. Faas, first question: Is the Koblenz National Garden Show 2011 “working”?

17.08.2011 - From the garden festival to Bürgerpark - subsequent use in practice

There were 61 participants: Heads of parks departments, senior employees from horticultural companies, associations for the promotion of State garden shows, planners and landscape gardeners accepted the invitation to the show to exchange news and views with their professional specialist colleagues. The programme included lectures on horticultural practice and constructive discussion seminars.

17.08.2011 - The garden for movement and play

The world is conquered during play – the fascination lies in the playing. This motto has been taken by the new landscape play area in the Bleidenberg fortress on the exhibition site of the German Federal horticultural show in Koblenz.

17.08.2011 - Damming, squirting and diverting at Deutschen Eck

The "Water Experience" playground at the BUGA in Koblenz, Germany.

Designing a playground is always a challenge. There are so many regulations, standards and customer requirements involved that it is difficult to keep a clear overview. An additional aspect in Koblenz was the requirement for a maximum of accessibility for the disabled as well as safety from flooding, while focus was to remain on the play and experience value for children.

11.10.2011 - Sparkling with a zest for life

On the area of the old Oberlaa Thermal Space centre, the new thermal spring - in addition to high quality spa facilities - will offer about 4,000 m² of water surface, 3,000 m² of sauna areas and a 6,000 m² area of comprehensive health facilities. And a water playground.

11.10.2011 - Dancing with Giraffes

Recent trends in zoological gardens tend to reshape the animal compounds into impressive surroundings which provide an intensive experience through observation of the animals in their natural environments. With this new appearance, zoos intend to inspire visitors and make an impression on them in order to have a positive influence on their approach to animals.

15.12.2011 - Pilot project within the framework of the Hessian sustainability strategy

On 1 June 2011, the Hessian State Government joined forces with the town of Hanau, the regional sports association, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt, Darmstadt College, as well as RheinMain College, as participating project partners, to open a fitness trail for senior citizens in the Hanau Palace Gardens.

15.12.2011 - Exercise in the school playground

First and foremost, they need space to play and exercise. Lack of exercise is the biggest problem facing our health care system. Obesity, motor weaknesses and an underdeveloped sense of balance in childhood are the consequences of lack of exercise.

15.12.2011 - New Internet portal www.bigpublic.de

Whether well-kept and modern or more run-down and dilapidated – a town’s features can have positive or negative effects on people, images and economic development.

12.03.2012 - Playgrounds need committed volunteers

Many areas of public and social life would hardly exist anymore without volunteers. And without committed volunteers, some playgrounds would no longer be what they once were.

12.06.2012 - Wanderlust – with a playground

“The world champion of travelling has sent out a message – give in to your desires and go on holiday, rather than be frustrated by the financial crisis,” was the prognosis delivered last year by the BAT foundation for future issues on the Federal Republic of Germany’s 2010 holiday season which had just ended.

08.08.2012 - Give teenagers (green) play areas

This was a success with the outdoor space at Michaelshof in Hepsisau www.mh-zh.de close to Weilheim/unter Teck. The company KuKuk (in German: Kunst Kultur Konzeption (meaning Art Culture Conception)) from Stuttgart was responsible for the planning and implementation of the outdoor space. Starting with the initial discussion with those responsible for the provision of educational aids and a planning workshop with 19 school pupils from grades 7 and 8 to a five-day project week, the ideas and wishes of teenagers were taken seriously and these teenagers were given the right to voice their own opinions and were able to help out with the construction themselves.

08.08.2012 - Animals and wilderness: The Bat Forest Playground

Both in the Bohemian and in the Bavarian part of the Bavarian Forest, 22 locations worked together, representing another distinctive feature of the project. Consideration went into making visitors curious about the term “wilderness” and focussing on indigenous animals as popular figures as part of the tourism work. The municipality of Rinchnach selected the bat-plus-playground.

08.08.2012 - Green Oases in the city -

Green and city – to all appearances a contradiction. Yet there are and always have been areas to retreat to within the city; areas that give nature room to flourish and its users somewhere to relax.

08.08.2012 - Nature conquers the heart of the city

Lettuce and tomatoes growing on a former brewery site – more and more people living in inner-city environments are planting vegetables, fruits and flowers in courtyards, on balconies and in larger vacant brownfield areas.

08.08.2012 - Play area as a close-to-nature world of experience

The solution: Clear functional spaces, interlinking play sequences and designs using natural materials by the landscape architect Friedhelm Ebbinghaus with specially produced play equipment made of naturally knotty locust tree wood from Kinderland Emsland Spielgeräte.

08.08.2012 - Green oasis and private paradise

Playground@Landscape: Turnover of the GaLaBau in 2011 has increased by nearly 500 million Euros. You have taken over the position from Hanns-Jürgen Redeker at a point when the association is doing well. What would you like to improve, change, initiate?
BGL-President August Forster: At the moment a positive general feeling exists throughout the whole "green" sector, which is very pleasing. The association for garden, landscape and sport facility construction (BGL) intends to make use of this mood in order to further develop the trade.

18.10.2012 - Child’s play makes you clever

They need to be exercise spaces that provide for free and unlimited physical activities and a wide range of play and game options. This is the conclusion of Prof. Dr. Renate Zimmer, who claims that “child’s play makes you clever”.

04.12.2012 - Sawn up and sprayed

We define vandalism as destructive fury or the strong desire to destroy. “We encounter modern vandalism in the form of shattered shop windows, slashed underground seats, punctured car tyres, torn-out phone cables or as graffiti.

27.02.2013 - More in the community funds?

The NRW local authorities are to receive circa € 8.7 billion from the state coffers in 2013.

27.02.2013 - Playgrounds - when money is a problem

One of your first ports of calls might well be your bank, who will be happy to explain their various loan options to you. However, who can you consult if you need advice on how to obtain funding for playgrounds?

Individual loan agreements at optimal rates?

10.04.2013 - Landscape designers plan Kita (child care facility) playground

Their central targets are the construction of playgrounds for the under 3's, and improved training and quality of the carers.