Philippe Birker
on Regenerative Agriculture and Climate Farming
“I want to be a farmer” is not necessarily the most common thing to hear from a young person these days.
Philippe Birker’s atypical life story, though, might determine youthful spirits to go down this alley.
He is a social entrepreneur who is scaling regenerative agriculture in Europe through his innovative company, Climate Farmers: “Social entrepreneurship is what shifted my personal mindset from simply earning money while having fun to actually having a positive impact.”
Before embarking on the path to regeneration, Philippe dedicated his 20s to electronic music. He co-founded the Stichting Stichting Love Foundation and organized parties to fundraise money for WASH Projects in more than 50 cities worldwide. He ran the underground nightclub Waterhouse in Amsterdam and co-created the social music label Hug Records, where he supported upcoming artists worldwide and donated 50% of profits to social projects. It seems regeneration always finds its way, no matter the journey, if the quest for purpose is there.
Add to the list that Philippe is also a world record holder in simultaneous fire breathing, a part of Ashoka's ChangemakerXchange community and of TED Countdown network. Still, something was missing from his life:
“I always wanted to go back to the countryside and have nature around me. This is what drove me to the amazing potential of regenerative agriculture to essentially reverse climate change!”
Philippe and Ivo Degn are currently supporting around 700 farmers in 16 different European countries on the transition towards regenerative agriculture. They are helping them access soil’s untapped potential by providing a supportive network, context-specific transition knowledge and transition finance in the form of carbon and biodiversity credits.
“Our objective is to scale our impact, not the organization. In 5 years, we hope to have regenerative agriculture established in the European agricultural context in such a way that it has become the norm. In the end, the objective must be a mindset shift from extractive processes of soil management to systems which optimize for increased resilience of natural ecosystems as well as for the production of high-quality nutrient-dense food.”
When he is not attending events or visiting farmers, Philippe is living in the Serra da Estrella mountain range in Portugal, where he is rebuilding an abandoned village into a music and art residency combined with a regenerative farm:
“When regenerative agriculture is not called regenerative agriculture anymore, but simply agriculture, we have done our work well.”
Read Philippe Birker’s answers for Inspirators or, maybe, come meet him in person at Climate Change Summit in Bucharest, Romania, as he will be one of the speakers!
Thank you, Philippe, for being a Climate Farmer!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Philippe Birker
Company / Institution: Climate Farmers
Title: Co-Founder
Website: www.climatefarmers.org
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippe-birker-94960014/
Country of origin: Germany
Country you currently live in: Portugal
Your personal definition of Regeneration: Regeneration means increasing the life-holding capacity of a place.
Main business challenge you face: A broken agricultural system that does not reward farmers for ecosystem services.
Main driver that keeps you going: I know that this is the only way forward and, also, the fact that I get to support regenerative farmers in their work.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Putting visions into practice.
The trait you most value in others: Kindness.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Dancing, gardening, reading.
The #inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
Allan Savory
Nicole Masters
A hint or starting point for companies or professionals that are taking the first steps in the regeneration journey: Acknowledge complexity!
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you: "We can't feed the world with regenerative agriculture."
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: The solutions are all out there and we can turn things around. Just check out Ted Countdown or Project Drawdown to find them.
Books that had a great impact on you:
All About Love by Bell Hooks
The Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres
Must-reads for any regenerative professional: Regenerative Leadership by Laura Storm and Giles Hutchins.
Movies or Documentaries you would watch all over again: Kiss the Ground
Blogs / Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently: The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Leonard Cohen, Cigarettes After Sex.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Chapada Dimantina in Bahia, Brazil.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:
Daniel Christian Wahl
Laura Storm
Nora Bateson
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: Regenerative Agriculture, Warm Data Labs.
Best places for business networking (online or offline): LinkedIn.
Events we should attend: IDG Summit
Associations, business clubs, tribes you belong to – and why: Respond & Changemakerexchange, because they understand the role of human connections in systemic change.
Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses, trainings, or certifications that reallyteach us how to have an impact: Regenerators by Laura Storm.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: A lot of things are moving in the right direction and we know what we need to do.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: There are powerful organisations which are benefiting from the status quo and actively work against progress, namely big oil & gas and chemical fertilizer companies.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: Kindness, compassion and humbleness.
The #inspirator you are endorsing for a future edition of the newsletter is:
Anne van Leeuwen
The quote that inspires you:
"The Darkness we are in, is an invitation for you to be great." (Indy Johar, IDG Summit 2023)
Your own quote that will inspire us:
