You live and work in Cologne. What drew you to North Rhine-Westphalia – and how is it working from a home office in the long run?

I was initially drawn to NRW by my job in Telekom’s Smart City unit. I stayed in Cologne for love – and because of the open Rhineland culture, which makes the city very livable. Home office in the long run is not quite true: Thanks to my regular visits to the head office in Berlin and customer appointments and trade fairs all over Germany, as well as a super nice coworking space in Cologne, I spend little working time at home. I take maximum advantage of the remote working that a laptop allows!

You’ve been with DKSR from the beginning. What surprises you the most when you look back at the development of the last two years?

Surprising is perhaps the wrong word – but I think it’s great how the team in particular has developed, and how a wide variety of expertise and characters have come together to make cities more sustainable.

What do you think makes working at DKSR special?

I have to split this answer in two. What makes working in the DKSR team special is that we are such a young, diverse and motivated team. And the great willingness to support each other. Working with clients is special because working with cities always relates to our own lives: Topics like better mobility and sustainable urban development are exciting because they affect us all – and in this context you learn a lot about how cities work.

Which of your achievements during your time at DKSR are you particularly proud of?

I kind of have a problem with “proud.” I’m not really proud of anything I’ve accomplished myself – in fact, it’s all been teamwork so far! I hope that in the coming years, as a team, we will really create tangible impact for people on the ground.

To get away from work – where are you drawn to? To the city or to nature?

Always to nature! If there’s enough time, to the ocean for surfing – in the summer evenings to some lakes. That’s how it is as a child from Lake Constance: the main thing is the water!

If you could introduce one digital innovation to make cities & regions fit for the future – what would it be?

The data-based expansion of micromobility and shared mobility solutions – resulting in a drastic reduction of cars in city centers.