Europäische Akademie für Landschaftskultur
European Academy for the Culture of Landscape
Académie Européenne pour la Culture du Paysage
Accademia Europea per la Cultura del Paesaggio
INITIATIVE BOARD
Contact person at the Academy
The Initiative Executive Committee is responsible for the further development of the substance of the PETRARCA initiative, as set out in the key points and the description of the Academy.
The Initiative Board meets at least twice a year to work on the intellectual foundations of the initiative and to develop ideas for activities and projects within the framework of PETRARCA, as well as to promote dialogue with other institutions and specialist circles that are relevant to the PETRARCA initiative.
The Initiative’s Executive Board currently comprises the following members:
• Laurens Bockemühl Saarbrücken, DE
• Holger Coers Überlingen, DE
• Dr. Thomas van Elsen Witzenhausen, DE
• Jean-Michel Florin Kaysersberg, FR
• Dr. Bas Pedroli Amsterdam, NL
• Dr. Angela Pfennig Stralsund, DE
• Tanja Plümer Heidelberg, DE
• Sonja Schürger Stralsund, DE
• Hermann Seiberth Berlin, DE
Other members:
• Katharine Buchanan East Lothian, UK/Schottland
• Karin Mecozzi Marken, IT
Former members:
• Dr. Jochen Bockemühl (*1928, †2020)
• Dr. Margaret Colquhoun (*1947, †2017)
• Prof. Dr. Ana Firmino (*1954, †2020)
A coordination group is responsible for day-to-day administrative tasks as well as additional organisational duties (e.g. events).
Below, members of the initiative’s executive committee introduce themselves:
Laurens Bockemühl
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes.” Marcel Proust
Everyone is familiar with the restorative effect of a hike or a walk through the countryside. Refreshing and healing powers unfold, particularly when encountering landscapes perceived as ‘beautiful’. Landscape is also home; it reflects the soul of the individuals and the communities connected to it.
Having grown up in the border region between Switzerland, Germany and France, I was fascinated from an early age by the act of crossing borders. One astonishing experience was the change in the landscape that occurs the moment you cross a border. Something new and entirely distinct reveals itself immediately, even though only a few metres separate one place from another and even though the basic structure of the landscape continues across the border. Recognising this different character of the landscape is an immediate experience, yet at the same time it is difficult to grasp consciously or to describe in words.
My interest in landscapes – in their diversity, their changeability, their contrasts and the connections between them – gave rise to a desire within me to discover and understand them. I wanted to learn how a landscape comes into being and is shaped in its development by the interplay of climate with geological processes, rocks and the water cycle; by the ever-changing vegetation cover; and, brought to life by the presence of animals and shaped by the way people live. I am fascinated by the atmosphere of a landscape in a particular place, from which an image of a specific kind of culture immediately emerges – ranging from the things created by the people living there, right down to everyday details such as the colour shades and shapes of road signs and the way they manage, cultivate and shape their land.
The destruction of our environment reflects the loss of our living connection to our landscapes. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that we face the task of finding new ways of coexisting with our landscapes. In the PETRARCA Initiative, I see a way to forge new relationships with our environment through the conscious perception and experience of a landscape’s unique character or essence – encompassing its past, its geographical location and the people who live there. From this responsible connection with my surroundings, new creative ideas for shaping the present can emerge. I have felt a connection to landscape research – which preceded the founding of the PETRARCA Academy – ever since my student days, and in 1998, as a working group leader in Kaluga, I played an active role in organising a ‘Landscape Week’ for the first time.
The development of a renewed relationship with the landscape through mindful attention is more than a journey of discovery; it is also a path of learning that leads us to ourselves.
Biographical notes
Born in 1966. From 1988 to 1992, studied geography at the universities of Marburg and Strasbourg, graduating with a ‘maîtrise de géographie’. Thesis on changes to the landscape and vegetation caused by skiing on the Markstein in the Vosges. Since 1992, employed as a graduate engineer at the environmental planning consultancy Froelich & Sporbeck, initially in Plauen (Saxony), then in Potsdam and Saarbrücken, working as a project officer and project manager, primarily in the fields of strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact assessment, landscape conservation planning and landscape planning. From 2011 to 2012, undertook part-time training in conflict management and mediation at the Vaihingen Academy. In 2018, obtained certification as a project manager (DEKRA) in Potsdam; since 2016, has also been working in communications and public engagement as part of the ‘SuedLink’ power line project. Employee at the PETRARCA Academy since its foundation in 2000.
Contact
Laurens Bockemühl, Laurens.Bockemuehl[at]petrarca.info
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Holger Coers
What is landscape (to me)?
From a very everyday perspective, landscape is perhaps simply the part of the world that is visible to me and accessible to my senses.
In my life story, this world has been and remains, above all, a conglomeration of environments shaped to a greater or lesser extent by humans and drawn from the natural world, with transitions ranging from stark (the red evening sky over the city) to barely perceptible (sheep on a salt marsh at the edge of the mudflats).
Often, all of this is initially a ‘out there’ that is not me.
Landscape is both a collective and an individual experience: I share it, for instance, with the rocks, plants, animals and people who, like me (or even more so), are at home within it and who, through their very existence, help to shape and define it.
On the other hand, however, it is I who experience and endure a landscape, absorbing it into my physical, emotional and mental experience through my senses.
In doing so, it makes a significant difference whether I try to open myself up to the surrounding world fully awake and consciously, or whether, more preoccupied with my own thoughts and feelings, I ‘sleep through’ its effects on me.
Where does a landscape begin, and where does it merge into another? How deep does it extend beneath my feet? Does it end at some visible or invisible boundary above our heads?
And what of me? Is ‘I’ really so clearly defined and separate from my surroundings? What does ‘out there’ have to do with me?
Whenever I turn my attention – ideally together with others – to a landscape or a place, mindfully and as unreservedly as possible, a kind of intense ‘I-You’ relationship gradually emerges. A growing sense of familiarity becomes apparent as my initial boundaries with the outside world become more permeable, shifting away from me as if of their own accord. At the same time, characteristic features, as well as moods and atmospheres, gain in definition and depth. They become eloquent as I learn to listen.
I can observe the role my (ever-changing) consciousness plays in my understanding of my apparent surroundings and also of my supposed inner self.
Perhaps I come to the realisation that landscape, as something ‘out there’, arises directly as an effect of my personal sense of separation from ‘the world’. It is, at the same time, a sensory and transcendental testing ground on which I can learn to overcome this sense of separation by creating space within myself once more for the ‘Thou’-like essence, whilst at the same time being granted a share in that essence.
To the extent that we endeavour to experience and transform ourselves once more as organic parts of a great spiritual fabric of life, we will be able to overcome our crises.
Biographical notes:
Born in 1968 in Wuppertal. Grew up in the northern Ruhr area and in East Frisia. Developed a keen interest in ornithology and ecological gardening at an early age. After completing his A-levels and civilian service, began a biodynamic gardening apprenticeship on Lake Constance (Freie Landbauschule) in 1990.
Worked in organic farming for several years.
1997–99: studied natural sciences at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, specialising in landscape studies. Associated with the PETRARCA Academy since its foundation in 2000.
Self-employed as a tree surgeon (qualified agriculturalist), garden designer and forest educator in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony.
Back at Lake Constance since 2014. Here, a new focus has emerged: the connection between landscape perception and eurythmy (‘Evolutive Eurythmy’).
Father of two children.
Contact
Holger Coers, wurzelweisheit[at]mail.de
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Dr. Thomas van Elsen
During my biology studies, I became fascinated by arable weeds – plants that are considered "weeds" in agriculture and are now largely on the Red List due to the industrialization of farming, even though most of them only migrated to Central Europe through agricultural practices in historical times. Organic farming replaces chemicals with mechanical methods and the term "weed control" with "weed management" – but this hasn't yet resulted in a different approach to dealing with historically developed biodiversity.
After completing a diploma and dissertation on the dynamics of arable weeds on herbicide-free cultivated fields, research on vegetation on industrially damaged areas, and supervising students of Ecological Agricultural Sciences at the Witzenhausen campus of the University of Kassel, the research question expanded more and more towards cultural landscapes: How can people be sensitized to the development of their landscape, and how can perception of the landscape stimulate perspectives and action based on insight into recognized connections?
Numerous courses and landscape seminars, particularly on organic farms, followed. Contacts with many biodynamically managed farms and a frequently insensitive attitude towards nature conservation issues, even there, prompted a study on ecological aspects in Rudolf Steiner's lectures (1996). The complex portrayal of the human-nature relationship—that humans owe their existence to nature and, with current awareness, predominantly view "nature" as a "manufactured world" in terms of its usefulness—culminates in a turning point: Does humanity, "released" from natural contexts, now possess newfound freedom and have opportunities for development and responsibilities in relation to nature? Landscape seminars are particularly well-suited for taking initial steps together on this path.
In practical agriculture, labor and time shortages often severely limit initiatives for landscape development. Social farming, which combines agricultural production with social and educational work (www.soziale-landwirtschaft.de), offers great potential in this regard. People with support needs are integrated into farm work, and more helping hands allow for the revitalization of wasteland and hedgerows that have fallen outside the farm's context: the care of people and nature is the perspective of a socially oriented agriculture.
contact
Thomas van Elsen, thomas.vanelsen[at]petrarca.info
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Jean-Michel Florin
Born in 1961 in France, he studied agriculture and nature conservation as well as Goethean natural science at the Research Institute of the Natural Science Section at the Goetheanum. He lives in Alsace near Colmar.
After his studies, he worked in environmental protection and education. Since 1988, he has been the coordinator of the national association Mouvement de l'Agriculture Bio-Dynamique, F-Colmar www.bio-dynamie.org . He is a co-founder of the first French biodynamic training program.
Since 2010, co-director with Ueli Hurter of the Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum, www.sektion-landwirtschaft.org
International lecturing, seminar and course activities on biodynamic agriculture, landscape topics, social innovation and Goethean natural science.
Publications
• Rencontrer les plants with C. Escriva, Ed. Amyris.
Co-author of collaborative works, including:
• Agriculture for the Future. Verlag am Goetheanum. 2014
• The Emerging Life of the Future, Verlag am Goetheanum. 2015.
• Biodynamic viticulture. Verlag am Goetheanum. 2017.
Author of articles in the journal « Biodynamis », Das Goetheanum and other journals on the topics of biodynamic agriculture, plants, landscape and social issues.
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Dr Bas Pedroli
Having grown up in the southern Netherlands, in the transition zone between the varied landscape of sandy soils and the open clay polders of the Scheldt and Rhine estuaries, I have always felt a particular affinity for the cultural landscape. For 40 years, I have been enjoying the special quality of life on a former cargo ship, which is usually moored as a houseboat in Amsterdam but also frequently sails around the inland waterway network through north-western Europe. Even on the salty Wadden Sea in the north of the Netherlands, where I take great pleasure in experiencing the unbridled forces of the tides, wind, sun and moon, signs of culture are always perceptible. Apart from the Dutch countryside, I feel at home in Tuscany and the Russian countryside. Every now and then, however, I also need the wildness and challenge of high alpine regions.
My aim is to demonstrate how new, vibrant landscapes can develop. A sufficiently long-standing personal connection between people and the landscape in question must be guaranteed in order to counterbalance an increasingly short-sighted, profit-driven policy that leads to dull landscapes. This is only possible if we recognise the intrinsic values of the landscape and use them as the basis for planning and assessment.
PETRARCA is an initiative dedicated to creating the conditions necessary for sustainable, vibrant landscapes. This work is rooted in our personal attitude towards nature and our involvement in landscape development. This is entirely in line with my own endeavours and intentions.
Biographical notes
Born in 1954. Studied geography at the University of Amsterdam. Obtained a PhD with a research thesis in landscape ecology on a sandy landscape in the south of the Netherlands. Subsequently, through research and consultancy work, engaged intensively with river landscapes and guiding principles for their development. Currently a Senior Researcher at Wageningen Environmental Research and an Associate Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, working as a consultant and researcher on landscape planning and development projects at European level, in the Netherlands and in other countries.
Closely involved in the implementation and further development of the objectives of the European Landscape Convention, including through the establishment and coordination of the UNISCAPE network of universities committed to the European Landscape Convention.
Contact
Dr Bas Pedroli
Email: bas.pedroli[at]wur.nl
WUR: www.wur.nl/en/Persons/Bas-dr.-GBM-Bas-Pedroli.htm
LinkedIn: nl.linkedin.com/in/bas-pedroli-11a41a150
Selected publications
• Pinto Correia, T., J. Primdahl & B. Pedroli (2018): European Rural Landscapes in Transition – implications for policy and practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 298 p.
• Metzger, M. J., M. Lindner & B. Pedroli (2018): Towards a roadmap for sustainable land use in Europe. Regional Environmental Change 18(3), 707-713
• Pedroli, B., T. Pinto Correia & J. Primdahl (2016): Challenges for a shared European countryside of uncertain future. Towards a modern community-based landscape perspective. Landscape Research: 41(4): 450-460
• Dobričic, S., C. Magnani, B. Pedroli & A. Strecker (Eds., 2014): Quaderni di Careggi Nr 6: Common goods from a landscape perspective. UNISCAPE, Florence. 216 p.
• Pedroli, B., M. Antrop & T. Pinto Correia (2013): Living Landscape: The European Landscape Convention in Research Perspective. Landscape Research 38 (6): 691-694
• Pedroli, B., S. Tagliasacchi, Th. Van der Sluis & W. Vos (2013): Ecologia del paesaggio del Monte di Portofino / Landscape Ecology of the Monte di Portofino. Portus Delphini No. 2, FERGUS ON, Wageningen (bilingual Italian-English edition). 457 p.
• Stobbelaar, D.J. & B. Pedroli (2011): Perspectives on landscape identity, a conceptual challenge. Landscape Research 36 (3): 321-339
• Pedroli, B., A. Van Doorn, G. De Blust, M.L. Paracchini, D. Wascher & F. Bunce (Eds., 2007): Europe’s living landscapes. Essays exploring our identity in the countryside. Landscape Europe, Wageningen / KNNV Publishing, Zeist. 432 p.
• Pedroli, G.B.M., Th. Van Elsen & J.D. Van Mansvelt (2007): Values of rural landscapes in Europe. Inspiration or by-product? NJAS – Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 54 (4): 431-447
• Buijs, A.E., B. Pedroli & Y. Luginbühl (2005): From hiking through farmland to farming in a leisure landscape. Changing social perceptions of the European landscape. Landscape Ecology, 21 (3): 375–389
• Pedroli, B. (Ed., 2000): Landscape - Our Home / Lebensraum Landschaft. Essays on The Culture of the European Landscape as a Task. Indigo, Zeist. 221 p.
Full list of publications here
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Dr. Angela Pfennig
Am Anfang steht immer die Frage der Motivation. Warum engagiere ich mich und wofür? Bei mir waren es wohl zum einen das starke Empfinden, etwas dem Geschichtslos-Sein oder dem Geschichtslos-Werden entgegensetzen zu wollen, sowohl in der Region als auch im eigenen Leben, zum anderen aber auch der immer schon vorhandene Wunsch, Lebensleistungen anderer Menschen zu würdigen. Das mag zum Teil daran liegen, dass ich auf Grund meiner DDR-Sozialisation in meinem Umfeld wenig beziehungsweise nur recht einseitige Anerkennung geistig-kultureller Leistungen vergangener Generationen erlebt habe. Biographiearbeit ist mir daher besonders wichtig.
Meine Motivation, mich für den Erhalt, die Pflege und Entwicklung von Garten und Landschaft einzusetzen, entspringt immer einer inneren Notwendigkeit zum Handeln als Reaktion auf äußere Entwicklungen, der eine Suche nach Partnern und Assoziationen folgt.
Wachsamkeit und Erspüren, ob eine Initiative gewollt ist, gehören hierbei ebenso dazu wie das Einbeziehen eines Scheiterns, manchmal auch eines notwendigen Scheiterns, dem man immer wieder offen in die Augen schauen muss.
Geboren 1959 in Dessau und aufgewachsen in der Chemie- und Braunkohletagebauregion Bitterfeld gehören die gartenkünstlerischen Schöpfungen des Wörlitzer Gartenreiches, der große Selbstversorgergarten meiner Großeltern in der Nähe des Luisiums und die Tagebaue zu meinen Ur-Erinnerungen an Landschaft. Aus diesem Kontrast hat sich mein Bewusstsein für menschliches Maß und Landschaftskultur entwickelt.
Ich lebe und arbeite seit 1987 als Gartenhistorikerin in Stralsund an der Ostsee, einer Region, in der das Leben vieler Menschen von mehrfachen Biographiebrüchen, Verunsicherungen und Ängsten in besonderer Weise geprägt wird: Nationalsozialismus, Zweiter Weltkrieg, Flucht und Vertreibung, Nachkriegszeit, DDR, Wiedervereinigung. Da war und ist es besonders wichtig, sich seiner Vergangenheit zu vergewissern, um in der Gegenwart zu leben und Zukunft denken zu können.
Wie ein roter Faden zieht sich das Anliegen einer Sensibilisierung für die gartenkulturellen Werte Vorpommerns und eines öffentlichen Diskurses zu den vielschichtigen Fragen der Förderung einer lebensfähigen und lebenswerten Stadt- und Kulturlandschaft durch all die Jahre meiner überwiegend ehrenamtlichen Tätigkeit. Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Parkpflegeeinsätze und persönliche Pflegepatenschaften für öffentliche Gärten standen und stehen im Mittelpunkt meiner Bemühungen. Die äußere Form der Arbeit hat sich entsprechend der gesellschaftlichen Erfordernisse und persönlichen Entwicklungen wohl verändert, ihrem inhaltlichen Anspruch auf Verbreitung und Verlebendigung von gartenkulturellem Wissen ist sie aber stets treu geblieben.
Die 2011 von mir gegründete Stralsunder Akademie für Garten- und Landschaftskultur versteht ihre freie gartenkulturelle Tätigkeit als Kulturimpuls. Sie bildet einen Raum der Begegnung mit Garten, Kunst und Landschaft. Gemeinsam mit Expert_innen unterschiedlicher Fachrichtungen versuche ich durch Vorträge, Führungen, Seminare, Pflegeeinsätze und Gespräche das Bewusstsein zu öffnen für Geschichte und Pflege von Gärten, Parks, Wäldern und Friedhöfen, für Biographien sowie Lebenszusammenhänge zwischen Mensch und Kulturlandschaft.
Im August 2020 wurde ich während der Landschaftswoche in den Karawanken in den Initiativ-Vorstand von PETRARCA aufgenommen. Gern möchte ich die wichtige Arbeit zum Erhalt, zur Pflege und Entwicklung der europäischen Kulturlandschaften unterstützen und werde viermal im Jahr – Michaeli, Weihnachten, Ostern und Johanni – einen Rundbrief gestalten.
Vita
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2014-2017 Lehrauftrag an der Hochschule Neubrandenburg, Modul „Geschichte der Gartenkunst“
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2011 Gründerin der Stralsunder Akademie für Garten- und Landschaftskultur
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2010 Promotion über Leben und Werk von Ferdinand Jühlke
Zur Dissertation (pdf-Datei) -
2006-2010 Gründung und Gestaltung eines GartenSalons
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seit 2003 freiberufliche Tätigkeit als Gartenhistorikerin
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1998 Gründungsmitglied der Interessengruppe Stralsunder Stadtgrün
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seit 1994 Sachbearbeiterin für Gartendenkmalpflege bei der Unteren Denkmalschutzbehörde der Hansestadt Stralsund als Teilzeitbeschäftigung
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1993-2014 Mitglied der DGGL
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1990 und 1991 Geburt der Kinder
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1989-1998 Mitglied der Fachgruppe Dendrologie und Parkgestaltung im Kulturbund e.V.
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seit 1987 Weiterbildung in den Bereichen Gartenhistorie und Gartendenkmalpflege;
Forschungs-, Publikations- und Vortragstätigkeit -
1987 Projektantin für Grün- und Außenanlagen beim VEB (K) Stadtwirtschaft Stralsund
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1985-1986 Stadtplanerin im Büro für
Stadt- und Dorfplanung Neubrandenburg -
1984 Mitarbeiterin beim Hauptauftraggeber
Komplexer Wohnungsbau in Neubrandenburg -
1977-1984 Studium an der Hochschule
für Architektur und Bauwesen Weimar
Abschluss als Diplomingenieurin für Gebiets- und Stadtplanung -
geboren 1959 in Dessau
Das Jahresprogramm 2021 der Stralsunder Akademie für Garten- und Landschaftskultur finden Sie hier:
Tanja Plümer
Growing up in a diverse, low mountain landscape, streams and forests were always a second home to me from a young age, where I could wander for hours with friends or alone, playing and exploring. It was a profound experience of belonging and security that I found in nature. During my biology studies, specializing in classical botany, I deepened my detailed knowledge of morphology and systematics; field trips broadened my understanding to include plant habitats in the landscape and their diverse forms in different locations. However, it remained fragmentary and didn't quite coalesce with my early experiences; something was missing.
In 2005, I came into contact with PETRARCA's work through my participation in my first PETRARCA landscape week. This led to an inner connection and a deepening of the relationship with various landscapes that had begun in my youth; now, however, on a deeper level. The two approaches – from childhood and during my studies – enriched each other and became a meaningful, perceptive pursuit. For many years, as part of a stream stewardship program, I approached a defined habitat with observation and perception, increasingly intervening practically by clearing small areas, creating paths, and highlighting special places and plants. The unique character of the place and making it visible were always central to my endeavor; I wanted to restore its significance. The practical work broadened my perception and allowed me to get closer to the essence of the place; I could often observe the harmony of the changes.
It touches me to bring people back into contact with themselves and their natural environment through encounters with landscapes; it is precisely through practical, collaborative work that doors open both inwards and outwards.
In the following years, I participated in further PETRARCA events and deepened my contacts. Since 2012, I have been a member of the PETRARCA board.
I am involved in the redesign of the website and support Laurens Bockemühl in setting up a regional exercise group for landscape perception.
stations
Studies in biology in Heidelberg, many years of permanent employment on an organic farm with a focus on farm education, further training in farm education, fruit tree pruning and Waldorf education.
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Sonja Schürger
During my studies, I was particularly interested in meadows and pastures, and how their diversity depends on how they are used. Agricultural lectures were a valuable complement. Later, this interest expanded to include questions about how natural conditions and human culture intertwine to create diverse, regionally typical landscapes.
I gladly took on the task at the Witten/Ruhr environmental office of transforming lawns into wildflower meadows and introducing native perennials into parks. Landscape studies for environmentally friendly urban development were another exciting challenge.
In the early 1990s, I was drawn to the still largely undisturbed landscapes of East Germany. After founding my own office, I began mapping biotopes and conducting studies for nature conservation authorities in Brandenburg, as well as providing ecological expertise for construction projects. It was important to me to incorporate the experiences and perspectives of the local people. I particularly enjoyed supporting organic farmers and communities in restoring cleared fields with rows of trees, fruit trees, and hedges. Projects for the regeneration of local water cycles demonstrated the extent of the human impact on this landscape.
It was essential for me to describe the landscape in such a way that the reader could develop an experience and thus a relationship with it. The landscape weeks with Jochen Bockemühl were very inspiring in this regard.
The question of how to transform the atmosphere of a military-style site so that people can heal while nature can flourish was my focus during the redesign of the 16-hectare garden park at the Havelhöhe Clinic in Berlin-Kladow. The shared perception of the landscape's qualities and atmosphere with staff and patient representatives was a crucial foundation for the project's implementation.
While creating a therapeutic garden with young people, I experienced firsthand how working with the soil promotes healthy development and provides a sense of purpose. At the same time, a neglected space is nurtured and enriched both ecologically and aesthetically. The combination of therapy, education, and landscape conservation holds great potential, especially in the age of virtual media.
Biographical Notes
Born in 1959. Studied biology and landscape management in Würzburg and Stuttgart-Hohenheim; completed an artistic-anthroposophical study year and Waldorf teacher training for upper secondary school. Subsequently worked in landscape planning and design for, among others, municipalities, farms, and therapeutic facilities. Further training as a horticultural therapist.
Seminars and courses on experiencing nature and landscape design, as well as Goethean natural science. Conference papers on landscape aesthetics.
contact
Sonja Schürger, Stralsund
Tel.: +49 (0)3831 942 38 09
info[at]landschaftsgarten.net
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Hermann Seiberth
After studying horticulture and landscape planning at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences and the Technical University of Berlin, followed by a traineeship, I worked for approximately 20 years in the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and Environmental Protection, focusing on official nature conservation. The tasks of the highest authority for nature conservation and landscape management included, among other things, contributing to the revision of federal and state regulations for the protection, maintenance, and development of landscapes, and implementing these regulations in the spatial development of Berlin. Presenting the concerns of nature conservation and landscape management within the framework of the Berlin Landscape and Species Protection Program offered the opportunity to incorporate biological, ecological, urban climate, and urban design perspectives into urban development discussions, legislation, and relevant administrative actions at all scales.
Urban landscape – cultural landscape – landscape culture – what connects them?
Cultural development has always been linked to settlement development, ever since its beginnings in the 9th millennium BC in Palestine, the Nile Valley, Mesopotamia, and along the Indus. The fate of the European cultural landscape will continue to be decided in the city. Cultural identity is formed here. Necessary learning processes take place here—or not. The fundamental skills for a successful organization of human coexistence are acquired here—or not.
My work in professional nature conservation was inspired by Jochen Bockemühl's suggestions during the annual landscape weeks, which took place in many locations across Europe and ultimately led to the founding of the European Academy for Landscape Culture PETRARCA. Jochen conveyed a path to understanding the hidden forces shaping a place through careful observation of its interconnected ecosystems.
My current horticultural work focuses on organizational development, conflict management and mediation, social learning, and social art. At the PETRARCA Academy, I aim to support research and training on the social aspects of cultural landscapes. Based on my experience with various concepts, strategies, and models for landscape protection, maintenance, and development, I believe that vibrant social interaction among all stakeholders is key to sustainable development. Therefore, my involvement on the PETRARCA board will center on supporting research projects dedicated to the factors that foster healthy social relationships among everyone involved in landscape development. Developing social skills for the competent initiation and facilitation of all forms of human collaboration is a crucial component of the PETRARCA curriculum. I am eager to contribute my experience in anthroposophical consulting to this endeavor.
contact
Hermann Seiberth, Berlin
Dipl. Ing., Horticultural Director, ret.
Contact: info[at]seiberth.com
www.seiberth.de , www.ASD-international.org , www.anthroposophische-psychotherapie.de , www.afsk.de
Tel.: +49 (0)172 323 94 43
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Katharine Buchanan
Katherine Buchanan lives in Scotland and is an ecological consultant and botanist with a special interest in landscape, medicinal plants, biodynamic methods and archaeology.
Born in South Africa, she completed a BSc in archaeology, ancient civilizations and biological sciences (including botany, chemistry, zoology, history and philosophy of science) at the University of Cape town, South Africa.
She pursued post-graduate studies in Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. in mathematical ecology, evolutionary biology, and molecular genetics, and worked as an ecological consultant in the Rocky Mountain landscape, Colorado. She completed a PhD. in evolutionary biology and ecology at University College, London (field-work based in the French-Italian Alps) in 1991. She held post-doctoral research and tutor positions at both Oxford and Edinburgh Universities.
In 2017 she completed the diploma for the ‘Part-time Professional Training in Goethean-Anthroposophic Natural Science’ (annual meetings held at the Glashaus in Dornach; research in Scotland). The title of the research for this diploma was ‘Some Scottish Healing Places and their plants with special focus on Pishwanton Wood and Soutra-Dean’ and included detailed Goethean landscape and plant studies.
Katherine hopes to join the mentor group for this part time training in January 2020.
Personal statement (especially relating to Cultural Landscape issues)
I have had a long-standing interest in Landscape and our human interaction with it- (both in how we shape the landscape and in how we are shaped by it) and in cultural landscape as an expression of our consciousness. This interest began during my years in the mountains and bush-veld of southern Africa and my close association there with San and other local indigenous cultural heritage, sustainable farming and medicine.
The interest was fueled by the close involvement I have had over several consecutive years, with two ‘ecological’ farms (organic farms that practice ecological farming encouraging natural biodiversity and farming ‘in partnership with nature’ through choosing appropriate crops and breeds of sheep and cattle and through careful grazing practices, one in South Africa and one in Scotland.
The Scottish landscape and the qualities in certain ‘special places’ within it (e.g. ‘Pishwanton’) inspired my research topic on ‘healing places and their plants’. I completed this in 2017. Since then I have been pursuing research on landscape quality and our perception (both past and present) of it here in Scotland.
I have been very impressed by the work of Petrarca, and feel this would be important to bring to Scotland in a more active way now, especially at this time when charities like the John Muir Trust’ are battling to save unique and important Scottish ‘wildland’ from inappropriate development (especially inappropriately positioned wind turbines). Many of the required ecological surveys are aimed at identifying and saving biodiversity or rare species but they do not consider landscape quality and neglect important cultural heritage held in the landscape as well as the practical problem of peat disturbance and other issues related to the damage of infrastructure required for these wind farms.
Current Employment
I am currently a freelance researcher, ecological consultant and teacher. I am one of the founding members of the new Life Science Group at so called ‘Pishwanton Wood’, aiming to work ‘in partnership with Nature’ there, as well as developing the Life Science Trust’s new research group and working towards a demonstration and teaching space for Goethean Natural Science, ecological biodynamic farming and medicinal herb-gardening.
I have a close working association with colleagues at the Proteus Initiative in South Africa and am interested in their Goethean approach to advising NGO’s and the related social attitudes and ways arising from this approach.
I am collaborating with the University of Cape Town on a ‘food from the wild’ project with indigenous communities and am interested in the related question of nutrition as preventative medicine.
I teach courses and modules relating to Goethean Natural Science, medicinal plants, ecology and landscape studies at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh; on the Edinburgh Steiner Teachers Training course; on the newly developed foundation seminar in Anthroposophic studies in Scotland (“New Beginnings”). I also run related workshops across Scotland including the Western and Orkney islands.
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Karin Mecozzi
I am a certified herbalist. I completed my studies in herbalism, botany, and herbal medicine at the Carlo Bo University in Urbino (Italy) with a thesis on the medicinal plant Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don. I work freelance as a lecturer and course coordinator, author, medicinal plant collector, and health consultant, and I live in the Marche region of Italy.
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Training in traditional and rational herbal medicine and phytotherapy at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Urbino (Italy).
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Further training in homeopathy, aromatherapy, nutritional counseling, and biographical work.
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Further training in biodynamic agriculture, internship in medicinal plant and vegetable cultivation.
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Studies in anthroposophical medicinal plant and landscape observation; active member of the European Academy for Landscape Culture PETRARCA since 2005.
Author of “Ars herbaria, le piante medicinali nel respiro dell'anno” (Natura & Cultura Editrice, 2012) and “Ars herbaria, Heilpflanzen im Jahreslauf” (Verlag am Goetheanum, 2014).
Medicinal plant collector, collection of wild-growing herbs and medicinal plants, production of tea mixtures and extracts for beauty care and to stimulate self-healing powers.
Regular teaching of courses, development of seminars, conferences and workshops on medicinal plants, landscape observation, nutrition and biodynamic agriculture. Chairman of the THALEIA association, establishment of initiative groups on the topics of landscape, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean botany, salutogenesis.
My current research project, “L'osservazione ampliata del paesaggio e delle piante medicinali come strumento esperienziale, nell'educazione e salutogenesi” (Extended Observation of Landscape and Medicinal Plants as an Instrument for Experiencing Nature, in Educational Projects and Salutogenesis), is a collaboration with Laurens Bockemühl of PETRARCA and the Camaldolese Order at Fonte Avellana Abbey (Marche, Italy). www.fonteavellana.it
Since the devastating earthquake in central Italy in 2016/18, I have been working as a herbalist in the earthquake crater, providing free clinics, consultations, and excursions. I also founded the Central Apennines Chapter for the international aid organization Herbalists Without Borders. www.herbalistswithoutborders.weebly.com
contact
Karin Mecozzi, karin.mecozzi[at]aruba.it
www.karinmecozzi.com – fb thaleia karin mecozzi / L'angolo di GEA
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Ana Firmino
Professor Ana Firmino has passed away – she succumbed to a heart attack on May 8, 2020. She was president of the Portuguese Federation for Social Agriculture (FEDPA), which was founded in 2017. As a geography professor at the New University of Lisbon, she organized the last Farming for Health conference, which also served as the closing conference of the MAIE project. A joint tour of several innovative social farming operations and the "discovery" of the fascinating ASTA project on the Portuguese-Spanish border in the northeast of the country led to a Petrarca Landscape Week there, during which we jointly led a working group. Since then, she had also been a member of the founding board of Petrarca, the European Academy for Landscape Culture.
Thomas van Elsen remembers Ana, this powerful and empathetic personality with a big warm heart.
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