structural development

Hello!   

What a pleasure to be able to get to know and interview so many committed new colleagues in such a short time! Today we present Laura Horst, who, as a native of North Rhine-Westphalia by choice, has her very own view of the region and structural change. Laura comes from Meschede in Sauerland, studied landscape architecture in Dresden and landscape planning in Vienna and made Saxony her adopted home.    

We in the ENO are pleased that Laura has been part of the municipal team that advises municipalities from the Görlitz district on processes of structural change since the beginning of May!  

What made you, originally from the west of the republic, then come back to Saxony after completing your master's degree - and how did you find your way from Vienna to Zittau?  

I fell in love with the city during my bachelor's degree in Dresden and met a lot of great people there, so it was clear to me to move back to this region. At the same time, I also noticed in Vienna that the big city is not for me. I don't like the anonymity, the long distances and the lack of spontaneity. So it was a good thing that my friend found a job in Zittau. I made friends very quickly in the city, I love the landscape, the mountains and the incredibly committed people who want to use this space with their creativity.   

Your areas of expertise are protected area management, sustainable tourism and destination development in rural areas. Please, be so kind and explain this to us - preferably in simple words.   

Because I really enjoy doing this myself, I have dealt a lot with people who go into nature to relax and who want to hike, bike, experience culture and learn about nature. Why are you going there? What are you looking for there? How do they behave? What infrastructure is required? How can visitor flows be recorded? I have dealt with these questions both scientifically and in practical cooperation with two national parks. The findings can be used, for example, to develop sustainable tourism strategies for protected area administrations or for rural regions in general, from which various management approaches can be derived.    

Another area you know your way around is landscape architecture and practical garden landscaping. To what extent is this relevant to structural change?   

My parents run a nursery and a gardening and landscaping business, which I often helped out with. This gave me an early insight into construction site operations. This must have prompted me to study landscape architecture for my bachelor's degree. What always fascinated me about it was the planning and organization of projects from the idea to implementation. This experience helps me a lot in supporting projects for structural change in our district, because in many cases it is a question of structural measures. I hope that this will enable me to quickly get involved with the project ideas of the municipalities and to support them.    

 You are on the municipal team and I can imagine that one of your passions - promoting sustainable tourism - will not be neglected. Are there already projects or ideas that the municipalities have brought to your attention, or have you perhaps already considered and set your own ideas or goals?    

There are many projects in the field of tourism that also pursue the idea of ​​sustainability. This is also anchored in the guideline InvKG (Coal Regions Investment Act), which I find very positive. For the future, I personally wish for projects in which the municipalities work together more and jointly develop sustainable tourism projects for their region. Many subject areas are relevant: How do I motivate tourists to use public transport if possible and how does this have to be expanded? How can we strengthen regional value chains? How can the mentally and/or physically handicapped use the tourism infrastructure? How can I digitize tourism - keyword virtual and augmented reality - i.e. specifically enable tourists to gain added value through digital technologies? And many more…   

What are you looking forward to most about working in the Structural Change working group and what do you see as a challenge?  

I am already looking forward to working in the wonderful ENO team and the exchange with so many interesting people. Soon there will also be a municipal office in Zittau, where the door is always open so that we can get in even closer contact with the local people. It is definitely challenging that the term 'structural change' is sometimes still very negatively coined. Therefore, we will constantly seek dialogue with the citizens of the district, talk to them about it and try to take away their fears and worries.   

Welcome to the ENO, dear Laura! 

Best regards -  

Your  

Yasna