History

Rembert Biemond – Founder and Chief Advisor

Now in my sixties, looking back I see that my professional life has been a meandering journey with the three red threads of “new economy”, youth work, and curating art. Born and raised in the Netherlands I later lived and worked in Switzerland and Germany for longer periods of my life. Now based in Sweden the two biggest projects I am involved in are an organic tea company in the Indian Himalayas, and Sekem in Egypt a very successful greening the desert project, which also includes a university for sustainable development. I believe we are on this planet to learn and to contribute. Planetary Service tries to make that very concrete on a global scale. I am excited to launch a prototype and hope that in the future this could lead to a global movement.

Teresa Ramos Serra – Planetary Service designer and coordinator

My beginnings in life were placed in a small town in a rural area of Catalonia, Spain.  From the surroundings I lived in, a strong bond with the natural world was created. When I was five, my family started a Waldorf School at our house to which I was never able to attend because at the beginning it was only a kindergarten, but with which I was always very involved and inspired. I myself went to a traditional school all my life, and having both methodologies very close I developed a very critical view on education and society. For these reasons, I have always had an impulse to make the world a better place. That is why I decided to participate in the ninth edition of the International Youth Initiative Program (2016-2017) which was the beginning of a very profound personal transformation of two years that broadened my horizons and understanding of life and the world, by attending various programs and meeting many inspiring people. After all those experiences it was clear to me that I wanted to study Education Sciences (2018-2022) for I strongly believe that the change has to originate from the base of society, and for me, that is education. I wanted to be able to accompany youth through the transformational transition towards adulthood. And also I wanted to be able to accompany young children in nature surroundings to create strong and solid roots with the earth since the beginning of their lives. My call now is to create spaces where we, as humans, can explore what is our function and place in a balanced ecosystem putting nature in the center and as the measure of it all, and work towards a more nature-connected and sustainable society. 

Demy Vermeij – Network coordinator

I have a background in health- and neuroscience, with a special interest in the role of lifestyle behaviours on mental health. I love how spending time in nature, eating healthy, and having different mindfulness practices affect the way we feel and improve our ability to learn. These interests arose together with my passion for cooking and my curiosity about every step in the process of making food. I enjoy learning about the importance of soil health, the different ways to grow food and I find great pleasure in the way sharing food creates a sense of community. Currently, I am volunteering at different farms and communities, which allows me to get more hands-on experience in these practices. Being in a different environment and surrounded by people with a variety of cultural backgrounds, enables me to see things from new perspectives and has made me more aware of the role of social structures as determinants of health. Having the chance to learn new skills, gain new ideas and combine my passion for cooking with different ways to connect to nature and people has been inspirational. I believe the Planetary Service movement is a great initiative to connect people and their ideas, allowing them to work together towards a more sustainable society and I am excited to contribute to this movement.

Saci Reilly-Jasper – Communication coordinator

In my late teens I attended the International youth initiative program, an adult education designed to empower youth to take initiative to address contemporary challenges. During my time there I discovered my calling to reconnect people with nature through growing food and nature based education and experiences, challenging the misconception that humans are separate from nature, which I believe is at the root of many of our environmental problems. Upon returning to New Zealand, I delved into permaculture design studies and practice. I fostered my love for youth development through my involvement with Tides, a rights of passage program which supports young women to consciously transition into adulthood. It was during this period that I learned about Planetary Service, an initiative that combines my interests in youth development, fostering human-nature connections, and embracing multicultural experiences. I chose to do the prototype, and in September 2023 I went to Brazil and volunteered for 4 months. This was one of the richest experiences of my life, I learned so much about myself, the value of cultural immersion and of being in service to a greater cause.

Nakyta Grimm

Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, I grew up on a wild mountainside outside of the city where bears and other wildlife regularly visited our garden. My childhood cultivated a deep love of nature, as well as a deep curiosity about how we can live in harmony with the natural and human world. At age 16 I spent 4 weeks in Honduras, as part of a nurses without borders team that was bringing basic health care into rural areas. It was a raw experience that triggered me to question my basic assumptions and beliefs about my own culture. My learning and work has been diverse. I studied at YIP in Sweden (2009/2010), worked as a volunteer coordinator for an art exhibition (2012), studied agro-ecology in India (2012),  co-founded Summer of Soil (2013), and worked for YIP (2013/2014). I am currently working part-time as a chef on an organic farm outside of Amsterdam. At the moment, my learning edge is in exploring “The Work that Reconnects” from Joanna Macy”  and Non-violent Communication. I am a mother of three young children, and have spent the last few years providing a warm basis for their unfolding lives. It is with my children in mind that I want to bring my inspiration to this project.

Rebeca López Walker

Life for me began in Germany in the winter of 1996, we moved around a lot, not only between countries but just the house itself. I lived in Stuttgart, Madrid, North London and Birmingham before my parents moved back to Spain and my brother and I became independent adults. Since then I have kept moving, working in France and Germany, travelling for a while and then spending some time in Spain again, this time on the eastern coast by the mediterranean sea. I attended the International Youth Initiative Program (2016- 2017) and went on to study Liberal Arts and Sciences (BA) in Maastricht, the Netherlands (2018-2021) focusing on politics, law and sociology. I have always been interested in education both formal and non-formal, how people learn and how as a society we enable or hinder learning to occur which led me to focus the last half year of my bachelors degree to educational sociology more focusing on literature of first-generation academics and students.
Throughout my adult life I have worked in one way or another in the hospitality industry with a keen interest in food; both how we connect to it, from produce to a meal as well as the cultural and social aspects.

Livia Strub

Ever since I was little, I’d always felt that there needed to be purpose and reason behind the work I’d end up doing, to do something “good”. Leaving home and living overseas to realize the tool bag I already came with through having grown up on an organic farm and having gone to a Steiner school. My adventures in Europe led me to take part in YIP in 2017/2018 where I was able to continue both discovering my own skills as well as learning and practicing new skills. This was a space where I could more actively pursue my passions and learn about how I could implement them in the world. I spent several years after that working in hospitality, events management and outdoor education before moving back to New Zealand where I grew up. Currently I am studying a double degree in Global Studies and Commerce at the University of Auckland, focusing on sustainability, entrepreneurship and sustainable business practices. I lead the gardening team of the largest tertiary sustainability club in the country, and am very involved in the urban farming and regenerative agriculture space in Auckland. For the last 10 years, I have been involved with facilitating a rites of passage program for teenagers in NZ, marking the transition from child to young adult. Currently a small team of us is in the process of developing a rites of passage program for the age group of 18 – 35-year olds, where participants are invited to step into authentic being while marking a threshold in their lives through rites of passage and ritual.

Pieter Ploeg

After graduating from YIP Sweden in 2010 I have dedicated my efforts towards accelerating the transition towards a regenerative society on a thriving and resilient living earth. I strongly believe soil is the acupuncture point through which we can restore our relationship with the earth, and tackle biodiversity, food, climate and resilience challenges. My learning and work journey has been diverse, and has given me a wide range of skills. I co-founded Summer of Soil (2013), worked for YIP (2010-2014), during which I developed the Sustainability Challenges consultation projects as well as Mission U in Berlin. In 2012 I was part of launching the International Partnership for Transformative Learning. In 2016 I graduated with a Masters in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability in Karlskrona, Sweden. Currently I am part of the Commonland Landscape Development & Support team as Design Strategist and Facilitator with a focus on using Social Labs to cultivate transformative systemic change and create an enabling environment for the transition towards thriving ecosystems and communities. I live in the Netherlands with my family.