Katja is a program designer and facilitator in the China-Europe learning and cooperation sector. She has more than 20 years of experience, both in institutions and as an independent entrepreneur. Her career has been driven by her natural curiosity and a passion for nature and culture. Her first contact with China was in the West of the country in 1994. As a student of Chinese Studies, she reached Chengdu by train from Lengerich (Westphalia) via Berlin, Moscow, Ulaanbaatar and Beijing. Two other early experiences that shaped her understanding of China were an internship for a renewable energy project in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, that involved forays into distant rural areas, and time spent in Beijing in the early nineties, when she became fascinated by China’s contemporary art scene.
Always able to see the bigger picture, Katja’s strength lies in linking people, potential and perspectives. She loves to facilitate, curate, catalyze and create meaningful spaces for people to communicate, and has initiated numerous projects – be it for the City of Hamburg in Shanghai, as environmental manager for the German Chamber Shanghai or as a founder of the agency CONSTELLATIONS.
Beyond CITYMAKERS as its flagship “learning cities” program, CONSTELLATIONS has had various other mandates relating to city topics in the last 10 years, including the URBAN CAMPUS Chengdu (KAS – Konrad Adenauer Foundation) and the Cities of Tomorrow project (BMBF/DLR).
Katja is also the creator of “SHANGHAI FLANEUR – A Walking Think Tank.” While Shanghai was her home for 16 years, she now enjoys walks in her Berlin Kiez, Weissensee. In this neighborhood she also co-hosts C*SPACE, a workshop and co-working location in a former furniture factory, one of the junctions for the China-Berlin creative community.
Katja’s disciplinary background is in Chinese and Management Studies, and she received training in learning program design and facilitation from the Presencing Institute @MIT and the Berlin Generative Facilitation Institute.
Katja Hellkötter: “The fascinating challenge of building a network around such a complex issue and broad purpose.
The gift of being able to work towards the (non-commercial) values of global understanding, solidarity and friendship PER SE.
The beautiful constellation of people that has come together through the project. I am fascinated by and so appreciative of all the peers who recently answered my call to join a virtual circle of presentations.”
“To me, city making means building relationships more than houses. More precisely, I believe that if we relate deeply to nature, openly to culture, authentically to other people, and honestly to ourselves, then we can we foster the natural development of sustainable living spaces.”
2015 zog Katja Hellkötter von Shanghai nach Weißensee. Dass das Empfinden, was einen Kiez lebenswert macht, auch sehr individuelle Bezugspunkte haben kann, die vor dem Film der persönlichen Erinnerung und Assoziationen zu ganz anderen Orten und Erlebtem entstehen, zeigt dieser Kiez-Artikel von Katja Hellkötter.
Three insights led to the program’s design in 2016. First, technological innovation needs to be complemented by social innovation and a more holistic view to sustainable development. Second, a large group of people who studied architecture, urbanism, and city planning between China and Germany are a potential leverage point for stronger Sino-German people-to-people relations.
Using mapping as a methodology, this analysis by Katja Hellkötter and Magali Menant looks at the bigger picture of cooperation on cities and urbanisation cooperation and identifies blind spots for action. The article is part of the CITYMAKERS Recommendations 2016.
Sind Diaolog und Kooperationen zwischen Deutschland und China zu nachhaltiger Stadtentwicklung und Urbanisierung möglich? Einführungsgedanken zum Programmstart 2016 von Katja Hellkötter und Eduard Kögel