From Berlin to Spain by Train and back. My experience.
How to Limit Carbon Emissions While Traveling
Ready for my next adventure: I will travel more than 2,000 kilometers by train. From Berlin to the North of Spain. About 26 hours on wheels. Three years ago, I’ve committed myself to not flying anymore unless there is a really, really good reason to do so. I want to pave ways for the “new […]
Times of Change
In the past months, the world seems to have changed. More than once I thought: „Wow, I could not have imagined this happening a year ago.“ Most recently: Germany’s vote in the EU elections. Some media commentators think that climate protection was the issue that made all the difference for the German vote in the […]
Reviewing Developments in Hambach Forest
Words fail to convey my happiness and joy when I learned that Hambach Forest would not be logged – for now. The court had ruled that before any logging could take place it needed to evaluate whether (1) the forest should be protected under the Fauna Flora Habitat Directive of the EU and (2) if […]
The Good News from Hambach Forest
On Sunday September 30th again thousands of protesters and supporters joined the walk in Hambach Forest. Again thousands broke away from the official demonstration route and went into the forest. Many re-errected barricades and dug ditches to make it more difficult for the machines to evict the remaining tree houses Paragraph11 and GhostTown. Possibly more […]
Hambach Forest: Lies and Nepotism
Most of the information about the currently situation in the Hambacher Forest is in German. I want to make some of the recent events accessible for the international world. To start with I summarized the incidents that astonished me most. Here we go: Deutsche Bahn Supports Coal Nepotism The national train company Deutsche Bahn that […]
Sunday Walks in Hambach Forest
During the last Sunday Walk in Hambacher Forst I saw a transformed forest and civil society. It was sunny and the activists in the tree houses were extremely happy to see hundreds of citizens who had entered the forest despite the police prohibiting it. They came with Michael Zobel’s Sunday Walks which have now become […]
Hacking Live Bullshit Interviews @ Hambi
In a live interview a reporter from Welt24 spoke about riot tourism and said that environmental organizations had called for massive civil disobedience for the weekend. Both is bullshit!! Since I happened to be in the forest, I used the opportunity to jump into the live interview, grab the microphone and correct him on the […]
7 Ways to Create the More Beautiful World
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” I love this quote by Arundathi Roy, Indian author and political activist. It reflects the experience I made during the past two years when I travelled the world to find future-proof solutions for tomorrow. And […]
Neoliberal Indoctrination in Economics
Do text books of economics in standardized university education use elements of indoctrination? That is the question Silja Graupe, vice president of Cusanus University and professor for Economics and Philosophy investigated. Her findings are alarming. Prof. Graupe analyzed textbooks that are used around the world, translated into over 40 languages with millions of copies sold. […]
Lobbying for Planet Earth at Bundestag
Power to the people! In Germany you can talk to your representatives in the Bundestag. Even as a normal citizen. With the volunteers from the citizens’ climate lobby we do exactly that: We lobby for the needs of the one whose lobby is far too small: Gaia – our planet earth. The Lobby Goal […]
Imagination – Threat to Power Elites
I felt like a character in a utopian novel when I walked through some 10 centimeters of fresh snow on my way to the Leipzig book fair. It was only five days before the start of spring! Utopias and future topics were popular for readings, book presentations and discussion rounds at this annual bookworm gathering. […]
How Something Worthless Reigns the World
Currencies constitute a means of exchange. When we think of a currency today we usually think of money. However, anything that is used for exchange could be a currency. Just think of the war time in Europe, when cigarettes or coffee were used. Currencies serve as symbols. They symbolize value. Today there is a trend […]
Economy for the Good of All Beings
“All economic activity caters to the common welfare.” This phrase sounds like a utopian ideal. Too good to be true. Yet this is article 151 of the Bavarian constitution which legally took effect in 1946 (and is now obsolete in large parts due to the German Constitution). But there are economic alternatives. Last weekend some […]
Words Create Worlds
Language is one of the invisible architectures that shape our world view and group dynamics without us really noticing it. To express our thoughts we use language. At the same time language restricts us to the words that are already there. To Be? No! Not to Be: e-Prime Hacking our language is actually not new. […]
How Architecture Influences Group Dynamics
Recently I have been thinking a lot about what shapes our view of the world without us really noticing it. I like to call these phenomena “invisible architectures”, referring to Jean-Francois Noubel, a researcher on the field. Here I focus on the invisible architectures that are relevant to (almost) everybody in a given society. I […]
Solidarity with Oppressed Authors
“The most powerful thing one can do for a journalist or author in prison is to make their story international. To show solidarity,” said Can Dündar during a panel discussion of Turkish authors at the Frankfurt Book Fair. “It gives imprisoned writers hope to know that their story is out there, although they are in […]
Mega Event of International Publishing Industry
The Frankfurt Book Fair is THE global gathering place for the international publishing scene. By default it is a B2B fair. But even if you are an author, translator, self-publisher, a creative mind or a simply a reader: you will find something interesting here. As an accredited blogger I had the opportunity to join the […]
Occupying Hambacher Forst
I spent two days and two nights in the Hambacher Forst, an ancient forest near Cologne that has to give way to the brown coal excavators. Forest occupiers have been living here since 2012. The community wants to save the small remains of the old and beautiful forest. They live in tree houses to make […]
Legal Reflections
Stopping Coal Infrastructure: Police-Countered Crime This year in August the Klimacamp (climate camp) took place in the Rhineland, only a bit more than one hour from the city where I grew up. One group of climate activists had proclaimed that – besides many legal actions – some of them would enter the open-cast brown coal […]
Climate Activism & Police Violence
The Klimacamp Rheinland (climate camp Rhine Land) is a 10-day open camp organized by different groups of climate activism. Thousands of mostly young people gather for education, political action and experimenting with new low-carbon-emitting forms of living. The Klimacamp takes place close to Europe’s largest brown coal surface mines in the Rhineland, North-West of Cologne. Even […]
Sharing Economy – Sharing Future
Can you imagine a place where exchanging business cards, using compost toilets, pitching start-ups, doing meditation and covering face and hair with colorful glitter in preparation for a wild dance don’t contradict but complement each other? That is OuiShareFest! The Meditating Eco Manager Geek What really astonished me about OuiShareFest was this: eco folks, business […]
Back to Germany: Old Country – New Perspective
In the first days and weeks I looked at sceneries I have passed by millions of times and I am awestruck with their beauty as if I perceived them for the very first time. For example when I studied in Mainz I often took the train through the Rhine Valley towards Cologne. Returning from Frankfurt […]
Permaculture Design Course in „Zukunft“
I was back to the Future. “Zukunft” (future) is the nick name of the community “Wir bauen Zukunft” where I recently completed my 100 hours Permaculture Design Course. I was here last August for the first summer work camp and couldn’t wait to come back. It’s a lovely place of wild nature, rare plants and […]
Get an Insider’s View of a Co-Working Space
KoHub is a Co-Working Space on the chilled island of Koh Lanta in Thailand. It is located on Long Beach, just 3 minutes from the tropical water line. I loved to sit on the bamboo chairs of the deck because I enjoyed the beautiful view into a garden with a giant Buddha statue made from […]
Work-Life Balance in Paradise
While working in paradise I discovered my ideal work-life balance. The early sun-set and the opportunity to watch this wonder of nature were a big motivation to really cut down working hours and call it a day by 4 pm at the latest. I found my effective 6 hours of work super productive and I still […]
Future of Work – Expectations, Challenges & Dreams
How do young people envision the future of work? That’s what I asked my fellow co-working space members in the Ko Hub on Koh Lanta in Thailand. Some of them are Digital Nomads and have been travelling for years. Most but not all work location independent and earn money through using a computer and the […]
Why Join a Co-Working Space?
I went to Thailand to explore the scene of Digital Nomads – people who travel and work at the same time over the internet. But why pay for a co-working space if you get free wifi in your hotel room or any coffee shop? That’s what I asked Stephanie, Jenny, Alex, Keji, Matt, Laurent and […]
Hybrid Business Model: How to Finance Your Own Non-Profit Work
Eco Femme is a social enterprise for female hygiene products. The hybrid business model combines both for-profit interests and non-profit social work: With the commercial gains from selling re-usable cloth pads the all-female team based in the intentional township of Auroville, South-India, finances their non-profit activities in education and research. When I met Jessamijn Miedema , […]
Interview with Change-Maker Jessamijn Miedema, Co-Founder of Eco Femme
Even though they concern half of the world’s population, menstruation topics are a taboo around the globe. We don’t often talk about female hygiene products. However, disposable sanitary napkins and tampons come with tremendous costs for both the female body and the ecosystem. In recent years, re-usable female hygiene products have gained popularity. Jessamijn Miedema co-founded […]
Ecovillage Design Education Video: 5 Weeks in 20 Minutes
36 participants from across the globe – 5 intensive weeks – 1 intentional township striving for human unity. Serena Aurora managed to fit this wealth of information and emotion into a 20 minutes video. Enjoy watching. The Ecovillage Design Education course is recognized by the UNESCO and provides students of all ages with knowledge and practical […]
Sadhana Forest Kenya, Volunteering Experience
I volunteered for two weeks in the reforestation project Sadhana Forest in Kenya in November 2016. The organization originated in Auroville, India about 15 years ago. It later spread to Haiti and Kenya. During my Ecovillage Design Education Course in Auroville I had the chance to talk to the founder and visit the Indian campus. […]
Designing Tomorrow’s World
In Design week participants were encouraged to voice their dream projects they want to work on after the Ecovillage Design Education Course. Out of around 50 dreams, we collectively chose four that teams worked on with the method of Dragon Dreaming, a visionary process for planning, implementation and evaluation. It builds upon three principles: Inner […]
World-Views – Ancient & Contemporary
In World-View Week of the Ecovillage Design Education Course in Auroville, India we explored the dynamics of internal and external influences on the way we see and perceive the world. We also visited an Ashram and the local village Nadukuppan to study different world views and life situations. Other topics included Ayurveda as a holistic […]
Economic Dimensions of Tomorrow’s World
Economy week came with a full load of deep insights and amazing aha-moments about old and new economic paradigms. We got an overview of the history of production from manufacturers to mass production, different schools of thought like John M. Keynes and Milton Friedman and the current distribution of wealth. We dismantled the concepts of money […]
Ecological Dimensions of Tomorrow’s World
We challenged conventional ecologic assumptions in the Ecology week of my 5-week Ecovillage Design Education Course (EDE) in Auroville, India. I became aware of the fact that we need to change the narrative of nature to a public responsibility, something like a community project on a global scale. The closed loops that nature presents should […]
Social Dimensions of Tomorrow’s World
I am in Auroville, an international city that runs experiments on many levels with the aim of unifying humanity as a whole. I just completed a five week long Ecovillage Design Education Course (EDE) designed by the Gaia trust. This program provides students of all ages with knowledge and practical skills on how to evolve towards […]
Water-Saving Handwashing Station
With some simple tricks and very few items, you can construct a convenient handwashing station. Make a T-shaped wooden construction with some nails and some string. Drill a hole into both a tin and a half coconut shell (or similar containers). Attach both to the horizontal bar with nails. Put a bucket of water with […]
Free Tutorial: Using a Compost Toilet
Always wondered how to use a compost toilet? Here is your tutorial. Completely free of charge! When you use a compost toilet, you have to train your muscles a little bit because #1 and #2 go separately. First you use a little container to pee into. Then you collect the pee in a larger bucket. […]
Water-Saving Shower
Building and using a basic water-saving shower is very easy. All you need is a small metal pot, some string and a place to attach it. Drill some holes in the metal pot. Attach both handles to stable strings. Tie the strings on above-head level to some stable pole or the like. For some privacy […]
Children in the Slum
Don’t let everybody see your big camera when travelling. Never take the camera or other valuables to a slum. Better don’t even go to a slum. These kinds of advices I threw completely over board. I had the great opportunity to visit Southlands Slum in Nairobi with my friend Tomo. She works for the Japanese […]
Mindset of Helping Each Other
One afternoon during my volunteering experience at OTEPIC in Kitale, Kenya heavy rains set in. It was the onset of the rainy season. We gathered in a small hut on the premise to have lunch in nearly complete darkness. The hut had neither a window nor electricity. After the rain, it had gotten cold and […]
Planting Trees. Planting Life.
Trees are life. Trees make life possible. I experience a huge difference between two of the Otepic gardens. Armani garden is very shade thanks to some tall trees, including banana palm trees. Sabwani, on the other hand, is quite hot. Only some of the huts provide some shade. Working on the field under the equatorial […]
Meet the 16 Otepic orphans
16 kids live in the Otepic orphanage. All of them go to school. The orphanage is situated outside of Kitale. The kids live on the ground floor of a house with a large garden. Planting vegetable and fruit in the garden is only possible during the rainy season because there is no water supply for the […]
Kenyan Kids Sing Anthem of South Africa
Have you ever listened to the National Anthem of South Africa? It is a very beautiful song. The kids in the Otepic orphanage sing it just for joy. They don’t understand the language, which is very different from their native tongue. In fact, they were taught that song by a German volunteer. Isn’t that truly international? Here […]
Handmade Bricks
Why buy bricks if you can make them at home? The crew of the ecological project Otepic in Kitale, Northwestern Kenya, makes bricks manually. Without using any electricity. Zero-emission footprint. They want to construct a seminar center in Sabwani Garden, the largest of the three gardens they own. It will be a school for permaculture […]
Clubbing with Special Care
On Saturday night we went clubbing in downtown Kitale. For pre-partying, we went to the allegedly cheapest pub in town, where a bottle of beer still costs about 2 Euros. Africa is not a cheap place in many regards. The pub was dark and fairly crowded, a pool table in the middle, a TV with […]
Heros’ Day in Slum
The air carried a stinging smell of rotting vegetable and animal droppings. I made my way through the dusty roads following Millicent and Lucy, my two new African friends. Sometimes we needed to jump over small canals, half filled with a dark liquid garbage mixture that I did not want my foot to slip into. […]
My New Home in Kitale
My new home in Kitale is a bungalow in the African Theological Seminary. The place is heavily influenced by American evangelists. And Melinda Gates is actually coming here next week. However, it is a very comfortable place: I live in a bungalow with a kitchen. My bedroom has an adjacent bathroom. The bungalow is situated […]