Kersti Ruth Wissenbach
Kersti is the founder of Cultiva Lab, a socio-ecology driven consultancy and exploration space that is
rooted in the permaculture principles of People Care, Planet Care, Fair Share. Cultiva Lab works with
citizens, organisations and public sector institutions to embrace all-life-affirming understandings and
approaches in their work.
Kersti is a political sociologist with deep roots in the participatory communication and communication
rights movement. Prior to founding Cultiva Lab she has spent almost twenty years working on the
intersection of digital transformation, sustainability, and justice in the international development
cooperation sector. Kersti has extensively worked with activist groups, NGOs, and public institutions
leading strategic planning, policy advice, and implementation of civic participation processes around the
globe.
As a convinced hybrid, Kersti combined working in academia in practice for many years. In her role as
researcher, she has extensively explored power dynamics within transnational digital activist
communities, and how they translate into the tech we build. She is a vocal advocate for trans-disciplinary
collaborations in academia and practice, questioning dominant understandings of science in her work on
the shaping of Citizen Social Science.
Kersti earned her Bachelor ́s degree in Political Sciences, Sociology and Communication Sciences from
Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf and her Master ́s degree in International Development Studies from
University of Amsterdam. She has conducted postgraduate research at the New Media Department of
the University of Amsterdam and the Center on Social Movement Studies at the Scuola Normale
Superiore in Florence. Over the last years she trained in permaculture, systems thinking and feminist
leadership. Kersti operates from her off-grid home and community in rural Spain.