Originally from Berlin, Germany Friederike came to Calgary via Peterborough, ON where she completed a double major in “International Development Studies” and “International Political Economy” at Trent University. This will be her sixth year in Canada and she is still excited to find differences between the two countries and watch herself slowly become a fusion of the two.
In her current job with an Aboriginal-owned consulting group she documents the history and uses of land by a particular nation in their territory. Friederike is impressed by the respectful and sustainable relationship many traditional societies have with the land. She first experienced this during a three month long learning/research project in the Northwest Territories and incorporated this realization in a concluding research proposal about the influence the built city structure has on city dwellers’ relationship to land and nature.
Friederike is interested in learning about ways to improve cities to lessen their impact on the environment and build conscious and active communities within them. Another desire is to work in the Global South to learn from and collaborate with local organizations to curb rapid, uncontrolled urbanization and install city structures for a dignified and sustainable future.
Some of her previous experiences include working on Project Neutral, a Toronto-based initiative aiming to transition neighbourhoods to carbon neutral and an internship with UNESCO where she helped organize events for the International Poetry Festival in Granada, Spain.
Friederike much enjoys travelling, photography, languages, socializing and tea. Having only been in Calgary for 2 months as of November 2013 Friederike is excited to find a community in Next Up which hopefully even persists after the program ends.