A new chapter on my climate resilience journey

Anyone who knows me knows that open and honest communication is of great importance to me. Openness creates trust and connection and we need that especially in times of change. I would therefore like to share my thoughts on my new chapter, what I have learnt over the past few years and what lies ahead.

It is now 10 years since I started working in the city administration. Back then, I worked for the City of Munich in the Department of Health and Environment. I later moved to the City of Regensburg in the Climate Resilience Management department. I actually worked in administration for 10 years to the day. Of course, that wasn't planned, but still a nice round number.

I learnt and experienced an incredible amount during this time. I always wanted to understand how the dynamics in a city work and what makes a healthy city. I think Regensburg does so much right in many respects and I am very happy to have been part of the city's design for six years.

I was able to learn how to set up a strategy, how to liaise with the specialist departments and motivate them to develop climate adaptation measures and establish the topic more and more in their own areas. I was in contact with citizens who are very concerned about their city and their well-being, especially during extreme weather events. But I was also in contact with organisations that are committed to the issue, as well as the press, which provides the public with information and has a great responsibility here. I have seen what and how my projects and topics are ultimately communicated and what impact the type of reporting can have. The media have a particularly great responsibility here, as they are given a great deal of trust and belief. I was also able to learn how to support the city leadership and other officials and decision-makers in their decisions in the best possible way and to work closely with politicians. You can develop a lot of great projects and measures, but if they are not decided on, it is of course not very effective.

I could name so many more topics and facets that I have encountered in my many years of work. But that would be going too far here. I have always enjoyed passing on my experiences, which is why I have decided to embark on a new chapter in my life and on my climate resilience journey. I would like to support municipalities, institutions and organisations in the development and implementation of climate adaptation strategies. I do this as a consultant, speaker and trainer. The main focus here is on communication, passing on knowledge about strategy development and motivation.

And that's why I created this website with this blog and the Resources page. I would like to share a few useful tools and experiences here from time to time. I firmly believe that we can get our act together, even when everything is on the brink. We all know that things can't go on like this and that we are already clearly noticing the effects of climate change. Our human race has incredible intelligence and power when it comes down to it. We have always been great innovators, especially in Germany. And we love order and strategy. These are actually very good prerequisites for change, aren't they? I believe that if we were to develop a much stronger drive for implementation and overcome our fear of change, we would be able to realise our full potential.

I warmly welcome all new people who find their way to my site and I am happy about the interest and a possible common path to more climate resilience!