General Meeting 1/2026 in Cologne
17. June 2026
- The unusual venue was, in fact, a church. The parish in Cologne-Kalk had kindly offered Solimed Cologne the use of the church as a venue large enough for the event.
On Friday evening, we kicked off with the public event ‘Caring Cities – Infrastructure of Solidarity’, and the venue was packed to capacity; there was a great deal of interest. Together on the panel, we discussed what a city might look like in which people support one another and work together to look after their health. Alongside Solimed Köln, the panel also included representatives from In-Haus Köln, the Kalk Solidarisch neighbourhood trade union and GeKo Berlin.
Saturday was packed, as the General Assembly traditionally takes place during the spring general meeting. Before that, however, we headed to the workshops; this time, we covered the following topics:
Our role in the International Network of Social Clinics
Socialisation
Door-to-door conversations
Structural competence
The care-organisation approach
Abolitionism
In addition, a discussion space on critical whiteness took place on Saturday. This space was initiated by a member of the BIPoC Working Group as a critique of our own structures, which are predominantly white, German and academic.
We were able to appoint Bonn, Nuremberg and Lübeck as full members, whilst Halle became a probationary member. We’re growing and growing and growing.
In the evening, we headed to a party at AZ Cologne, where karaoke and electronic dance floors awaited us. On Sunday, we moved into a phase of networking and discussion on topics that are currently important to our members within the Syndicate. And to round things off, the Solimed Cologne local group gave us a tour of their new premises, including their communal garden. We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers, the Küfa, the people from the BIPoC working group and everyone who helped out over the weekend. This autumn, we’ll be meeting in Leipzig for the second general meeting of the year!
