In the days to come, we will introduce you to the individual experts who will be present at the Minett Beyouthsphere Youth Forum on the 23rd and 24th of April in Lasauvage. These experts will draw the participants’ attention to various environmental challenges within Luxembourg’s first biosphere reserve. And as a clear outcome of the forum concrete solutions will be found through a diverse set of creative workshops.
The first expert we introduce is Georges Moes. He is a passionate friend of nature and a fan of all things living. Situated in the beautiful Mosel region of Luxembourg, Georges is engaged as a landscape planner in a number of instrumental initiatives spread throughout the eastern portion of the country.
From chemistry to landscape planning
Georges’ story didn’t start in the Mosel, nor did it start with in the environmental field. As it turns out, Georges actually grew up in the south’s very own Leudelange! The regions, then, strong industrial activities lead Georges to pursue chemistry at school. Extracurricularly, George was also a keen sketcher of cartoons and it was actually this hobby which initiated his tertiary studies to become a drawing teacher in Vienna.
During this time, many influential artists were leading the emergence of global environmental movements, including the likes of the famous Joseph Bueys and his 7000 Eichen project (1982). Georges, became inspired by these pioneers and thus, in solidarity, eventually shifted his studies towards landscape planning and agriculture. He went on to spend many years in Kassel, involved within and outside of the university, where he focused on diverse urban environment topics until finally making his way back to Luxembourg where he now works at natur&ëmwelt’s ‘Fondation Hëllef fir d’Natur’ branch.
Life Orchis & SEED
In this current role, Georges focuses on the management and conservation of open land biodiversity hotspots in the eastern regions of the country. It was under this framework that he and colleagues undertook the ‘Life Orchis’ project between 2014-2019, with the aim of securing and restoring all remaining calcareous grasslands and juniper formations in the southeast of Luxembourg.
In 2012, George was also one of the initial founders of ‘SEED – Som fir d’Erhalen an d’Entwécklung vun der Diversitéit’. Georges own love affair for gardens plays well into the non-profit organisations multifaceted goals of promoting the conservation of seed diversity and production practices as well as raising awareness for the importance of seeds to society.
Within the backdrop of the Minett UNESCO Biosphere’s Beyouthsphere Youth Forum, Georges aims to sensitise the forum’s participants to the value of these topics. Afterall the Minett, in all its diverse glory, has a long tradition of gardening, which Georges believes the region can only benefit from if its inhabitant’s connections to its practices and worth are strengthened again.
Registration for the Youth Forum still possible
If you are between 17 and 29 years old and would like to work with Georges Moes on concrete measures to protect and preserve or enhance and restore biodiversity in the south of Luxembourg, then register quickly for the Minett Beyouthsphere Youth Forum and become part of the change.