Verena Da Re Landscape planner and conservationist from Niederseelbach , Germany
Verena is from Niederseelbach in Hesse, Germany. After she finished her Abitur in Idstein and spent a gap year in Europe, she moved to Nürtingen in Baden-Württemberg for University. Here she has been working on her bachelor’s in landscape planning and conservation since 2021 at the Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Umwelt (HfWU) (University of Economics and the Environment). Conservation had always been a cause close to her heart, and through work & travel jobs in parks, on farms and in gardens, she realized that she wanted to pursue it as a degree.
For the the Youth Congress for Nature and Agriculture 2021-2023 of the German Federal Foundation for the Environment, she was part of an eight person team who wrote a handbook on agroforestry (‘Leitfaden Agroforstwirtschaft’ available here: https://agroforst-info.de/infothek/handbuecher/) and even created a strip of agroforestry. After the conclusion of the youth congress this project was continued, more was planted, and multiple conference papers were presented across Germany.
Based on this work, Verena was trained by the German Trade Association for Agroforestry (DeFAF) to teach this subject at vocational schools. She has also made instructional videos about woodlands for school projects run by the German Environmental Foundation. Alongside her degree, she has also been working for an environmental NGO for a few months now.
Since 2022 Verena has also been one of 11 German youth partners of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. She met Cornelia because she is a prominent partner of the UN-Decade.
Besides conservation, Verena also loves the arts. She discovered painting, ceramics and various crafts when she was a child. When she was an upper classman, she took advanced courses in art and sold some her paintings at an art faire. Her favorite subjects are animals (especially chicken and insects of all kinds) as well as faces. During her gap year she worked for an English artist in France which she enjoyed a lot.
Verena rediscovered her love of art at Fraggina.
Instagram
What brought you to your work?
In my childhood I spent a lot of time in nature and with our chicken, who are an important part of my life.
My passion and interest in the variety of living creatures always accompanies me. Nature offers inspiration and rejuvenation, room to heal and the base of all life. When I was 14 I read and was fascinated by a small pamphlet (‘Benny Blu – Environmental Protection). It started my engagement with environmental protection. Through BUND – Friends of the Earth Germany, I was trained to run project days for school groups on the subjects of climate and environmental protection. The Fridays for Future protests in 2019 and 2020 showed me that I am not alone in my commitment to these issues.
I am especially interested in the connection between agriculture and environmental protection (eg agroforestry), the fascinating world of animals, ‘wilderness’, rain forests, oceanic ecosystems, nature under the influence of climate change as well as the introduction of measures for environmental protection in landscape architecture.
How did you come to take part in Cornelia’s project?
As a conservationist and initiator of conservation and landscape projects, I am able to be one of 11 youth partners for the UN-Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Cornelia is also a partner of the UN-Decade. She kindly invited us to be part of a Green year at Fraggina.
How did you like your time at Fraggina? Did you find inspiration?
The eight days at Fraggina felt like much more than eight days! It was a time of highs and lows, inspiration, trying out of new things, discovery of new exciting creatures and fascinating places. For me the best was definitely meeting so many great people! Also the trying out of new artistic techniques, and the rediscovery of my love of art and the engagement with my own ideas were very exciting for me.
What did you take back with you?
The most valuable memories are those of all the people there. I am bringing back a suitcase worth of inspiration that I want to realize bit by bit.
