Katharina Kraiss

From this time onwards, I began to learn to really feel at home in nature at nature and wilderness schools. I learned what I could find where to meet my basic needs and, by reducing it to the most immediate basics, I also gained a deep appreciation for the enormous cultural achievement that lies in agriculture and today's culture. I learned about the "CareTaking" approach, which is about taking care of a piece of land: We take a lot from the land, therefore we also give something back. This also involves being consciously guided by the question of what appeals to the heart. It was impressive to see how much people can achieve together and even enjoy what would be a drudgery on their own. Heart and hand came together in the joint work and care of pieces of land.

After graduating from high school, I took a year to go hiking and get to know different types of communities. At first I thought I would study physics. I was very good at it at school, it fascinated me and showed me a lot about how the world works. However, I soon realized that I couldn't sit in windowless lecture halls all day. If my girlfriend hadn't told me about the organic farming course, I probably wouldn't have discovered it.

In 2004, a wonderful and moving time began for me here in Witzenhausen. Together with a friend, I established the elective course "Introduction to Nature and Wilderness Education", which is still very popular today. Towards the end of my bachelor's degree, I learned about the concept of "Community Supported Agriculture" (CSA). It gave me answers to many questions that had been with me throughout my studies. So in my bachelor's thesis (2007), I decided to research what was going on in Germany. I found eight or nine companies, some of which were not yet aware of each other. One of the questions I asked in interviews was what they thought about networking. A lot of heart and soul went into this work, which many interested people from the field wanted to read. Among other things, this led to two very committed people inviting me to a meeting with the question of why there were so few CSAs in Germany compared to other countries. It quickly became clear that it was time to set up a network here too (2011) in order to promote Solawi and bring about an agricultural turnaround. This was when the term "solidarity agriculture" (Solawi) was coined for the first time. Since then, Solawi has been growing continuously in Germany. At the same time, Solawi Freudenthal was founded locally, of which I was also a founding member.

After my bachelor's degree, I did an internship during which I realized that conventional agriculture was not practicable for me. I decided to study for a Master's degree in organic farming in Witzenhausen and combined all kinds of lectures with my self-chosen focus on organic farming. During this time, I was also jointly responsible for establishing the elective subject "Natural tanning processes". I wrote my Master's thesis on the topic of "Success factors for the development of solidarity agriculture". The results were incorporated into seminars and literature: e.g. in the elective subject "Solidarity Agriculture", which has been offered here at the university ever since. Last but not least, Witzenhausen was later mentioned in a book by a Swiss publishing house as a breeding ground for solidarity farms.

Until 2012, a lot of voluntary work went into setting up the Solidarity Agriculture Network. At the end of my studies, I needed to earn a living. It was clear that I wanted to put my work into the network. So I helped to set up my own job. Today, I focus on internal network organization as well as research and education. In addition to the network work, I organize forest vacations, for example, I am involved in bringing the community-based economy to other areas of life and I am active as a lecturer for a "new traineeship" for teachers at the Biberkor Academy.

Ultimately, I could do my work anywhere with a digital infrastructure ... but I'm happy to stay in Witzenhausen. The wooded landscape is beautiful, I like the mix of being close to nature and a small town, and now I also have a plot of fruit trees here.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for my time studying here in Witzenhausen, a place that radiates out into the world on many levels.