Left to right: Kazuma Matoba, Silke Weiß, Adrian Wagner, Kosha Joubert, Anne Vollborn, Damaris Pietsch, Sonita Mbah, and Iman Abdulhamed — gathered at the Cultures of Welcome for Social Resilience workshop in Berlin, May 9, 2026

On the evening of May 9, 2026, something meaningful happened in Berlin, and the smiles in the room said it all.

The Pocket Project hosted its first in-person interactive workshop for the Cultures of Welcome for Social Resilience initiative at bUm, Paul-Lincke-Ufer 21 in Berlin. The gathering brought together a diverse group of practitioners, leaders, and community voices to explore one of the most pressing questions of our time: how do we build integration that truly works for everyone?

The evening was described by participants as a rare and joyful experience of genuine in-person connection, something increasingly precious in a world of virtual gatherings. Representatives from German institutions and people with lived migration experience sat together to explore integration not as a one-way demand for adaptation, but as a mutual, systemic, and relational process.

Led by Kosha Joubert, Kazuma Matoba, and Adrian Wagner, the workshop moved through four powerful moments: listening deeply to lived experiences from migrants and refugees in Germany; making the invisible visible through tools for resilience building and collective sensemaking; exploring Social Presencing Circles to surface what becomes visible when we truly listen across difference; and closing with a collective commitment, what capacity is most missing, and what small prototype could each participant test in the next six months?

The event also marked the official launch of the Cultures of Welcome initiative, a trauma-informed leadership and resilience facilitation training pathway for practitioners, leaders, and community stewards dedicated to building societal resilience from the inside out.

This was not just a workshop. It was the beginning of a living ecosystem — one where welcome is not a policy, but a practice.

🔗 Want to be part of what comes next? Learn more about the Cultures of Welcome initiative and take the Needs Assessment to shape the journey ahead.

🧠 Glossary Connection: Cultural Retraumatization