Vielfalt schmecken – Gemeinsam kochen, Vielfalt erleben

Cooking is an invitation to take an active part in a shared experience – with care for oneself, for others, and for our natural resources. Planning, cooking, and sharing a meal together means listening, negotiating, and taking responsibility. This is exactly where the project comes in: recipes become stories, ingredients become conversation starters, and food becomes lived participation.

In the 90-minute workshop "Tasting Diversity" ("Vielfalt schmecken"), students from grade 7 and up start conversations around their favourite spices, explore different cultural backgrounds and tastes, and create their own spice blends. Cooking together afterwards, they discover new worlds of flavour and experience democratic exchange in a hands-on way: different perspectives become visible, valued, and discussed.

At the heart of the project is überkochen's mobile kitchen, which transforms the WDC Pavilion in Darmstadt into an open space for learning and encounter. Across four workshop sessions, school classes from the Rhine-Main region cook right in the middle of public space. In this way, the project combines sensory practice with social reflection and asks: How do we shape living together, care, and the future?

The non-profit association überkochen has been bringing young people into conversation through cooking, designing, and sharing since 2018, working with more than 100 schools across Germany. Its focus lies on food education, education for sustainable development, and hands-on learning that connects to students' everyday lives.