Prof. Dr. Florian Wichern
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New impetus for teaching and research at the university
Prof. Dr. Florian Wichern - Diploma I Ecological Agriculture and Master International Ecological Agriculture, graduated 2004.
Currently: Head of the Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Kleve, Germany.
When I returned to Germany in 1999 after a year of church partnership work on sustainable development in South Africa, my studies in organic agriculture with a focus on international agricultural development at the University of Kassel had already been organized. Moreover, the choice seemed logical to me, as it was the logical continuation of my voluntary work in the Nature Conservation Union and in development cooperation. The farming roots and the years of sheep farming underpinned the decision. At the time, however, some older farmers in my northern German homeland, who dismissed the ecological orientation of agriculture in particular as a crackpot idea (Mrs. Künast had just become the Federal Minister of Agriculture), saw it as less sensible. Today, a good 20 years later, organic farming has emerged from the niche it had at the time and must regularly reinvent itself as a pioneer of sustainable agriculture due to the rapid development of this topic, although the sustainable development of agriculture as a whole is sobering and the future CAP of the EU does not hold out any hope for improvement.
What is sustainable organic agriculture?
It is more important than ever that new models of sustainable agriculture emerge. Even during my studies, I enjoyed the critical discourse of the concepts of conventional but also organic agriculture in Witzenhausen, as well as the role of large corporations and NGOs. I have fond memories of the emotional discussion about the use of small amounts of mineral fertilizer in African subsistence farming systems for initial biomass production to make nutrient cycling possible in the first place. Inspiring were also the thoughts at that time about the idea that farmers can also become energy farmers. In addition, the topics of agroforestry and permaculture, which I knew from my time in Africa and partly before, were discussed in the context of international agricultural development. Even then, there were many scientific studies and practical experiences on the topic of agroforestry in the tropics and subtropics, which lecturers such as Prof. Bürkert brought us closer to. It is all the more gratifying that these topics are currently also being discussed more intensively in Germany and that networks are developing in the field of agroforestry. It remains to be critically noted that at that time in Witzenhausen I would have liked to have acquired more profound knowledge of sustainability methods and in-depth knowledge of ecological concepts, since these aspects enable critical scientific analysis and further development of organic agriculture. In Witzenhausen, however, I appreciated the idealism of many students, as it enables the release of energy and the implementation of new ideas. In my case, it manifested itself, among other things, through my involvement in the student council and with WOW (Witzenhausen-Ortsnah-Weltweit) at the study information days, where we always took great pleasure in trying to convey our enthusiasm for our chosen course of study to prospective students .
PhD in soil biology
After the successful completion of the diploma I, checked the learned in practice on different farms in Australia and enjoyed the big, wide world. However, it only took a year and I was back in Witzenhausen and followed the offer of Prof. Jörgensen and Dr. Müller to participate in a PhD project. Prof. Wildhagen and Prof. Richter already aroused my interest in soil science and plant nutrition, and Prof. Jörgensen got me interested in soil biology early on. In addition to greenhouse and field experiments in the project, I completed my master's degree and became increasingly interested in teaching students, which also manifested itself in my involvement in establishing the ecology project weeks for the beginning of the bachelor's degree. Due to the meager career prospects of a permanent position in the scientific community, I decided to work in industry after completing my doctorate and was employed for two and a half years at K+S KALI GmbH in Kassel in international marketing.
Building a new university
In 2009, an interesting opportunity to re-enter the world of higher education arose and I became the founding dean at the newly founded Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in Kleve. There, I was able to implement many of my ideas on the content and methodological orientation of university teaching in the new development of study programs for imparting knowledge about sustainable agriculture to students. Thus, our English-language bachelor's degree program "Sustainable Agriculture" reflects my experience in Witzenhausen. Building on this, we have also tried to give greater consideration to the subject areas that I missed during my studies. Hopefully, we are contributing to the further development of organic agriculture and sustainable development of agriculture in general. In any case, we have very committed and motivated students, like the ones I met in Witzenhausen at the time. In addition, we have also been able to establish our research for sustainable agriculture and are working, among other things, on soil fertility, nutrient flows at different scales, sustainable value chains, e.g. on the baobab(Adansonia digitata L.) and new land use concepts in Germany, such as agroforestry systems or permaculture.
Witzenhausen in review
Witzenhausen remains a formative place to which I like to return to visit colleagues and old companions. It was there that I learned some of the basics of organic farming and deepened my systems thinking about agriculture. I met my wife there and two of my children were born. I made friends there for life. What more could you want?