Bryan-College Station, Texas und Greifswald

Phase 1 adapts Greifswald’s artistic and cultural strategies to spark conversations around active micromobility and draws inspiration from Goethe-Institut’s CYCLE UP! program, which connects artists, policymakers, and communities on innovative ideas and practical solutions for increasing bicycle use in urban spaces. U.S. partners support a structured cultural demonstration cycling ride designed to embrace artisans for shifting travel perceptions and encouraging behavioral change through making the everyday benefits of shared, smart city shared roadways more visible. In this context, a Bryan-College Station Sister Cities “Biketober” micro-mural will be developed as a commemorative public artwork to celebrate the legacy of this project phase, a continuation of a past sister cities project. Unique to this proposed cycling ride is a planned wellness rest stop and turnaround point that connects similarities and cross-promotes Greifswald’s premier Fall Festival, Erntedankmarkt. Participation from the City of Greifswald brings valuable expertise in mobility and urban planning, strengthening the project’s cross-cultural exchange and practical application.

Phase 2 focuses on Greifswald’s charming reputation as a Northern German artisan hub, where heritage cuisine merges with a vibrant community of drawing and sketch artists, fostering creativity and new cultural discoveries. Greifswald chefs and illustrators travel to Bryan-College Station to mentor high school students in culinary arts and visual design, blending cultural exchange with hands-on learning, inspired by the Goethe- Institut’s Graphic Travelogues Series, Graphic Cooking concept. The final products will be carried forward by the participating students through involvement in scholastic festivals and industry-backed competitions where their schools are represented at regional, state, and national levels. Collaborating cultural partner Texas Restaurant Association’s Brazos Valley Chapter elevates project visibility and publicity exposure to the state’s $138 billion foodservice industry. On the German side,University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald, St. Spiritus – a socio-cultural center and intercultural café – and Kunstwerkstätten, a Greifswald nonprofit in the field of cultural education and operator of the state-approved youth art school in Greifswald, support the exchange and develop opportunities for the Bryan-College Station return exchange to Greifswald.