DLD Nature

Linda Hinz is Director of FOCUS Online Earth, a journalistic brand that reports on essential questions of nature preservation and the climate crisis. Previously, she created News to be Good, a project of Burda Forward, and was deputy Editor-in-Chief of Focus Online, one of Germany’s largest online news portals.

Prof. Dr. Maja Göpel is a German political economist and an influential voice for a sustainable transformation of society, working at the intersection of economy, politics and society. A policy advisor and bestselling author, she teaches sustainability transformations at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg. (Photo credit: Anja Weber)

Mara-Daria Cojocaru is a philosopher and award-winning poet from Germany, affiliated as private lecturer (Privatdozentin) with the Munich School of Philosophy. In addition, she is as virtual fellow and writer in residence with PAN Works, a think tank dedicated to people, animals and nature.

Maria Furtwängler is an acclaimed and multi award-winning-actress, producer and activist. She co-founded DLD Women. In 2016, she founded the MaLisa Foundation together with her daughter Elisabeth. The foundation’s work focuses on the protection of social diversity, biodiversity and the climate, a crisis that is the central issue of our time, if not our century.

Markus Blume is Bavarian State Minister for Science and Art. Previously he was Secretary General of the CSU party from 2018 to 2022. Blume has been a member of the Bavarian state parliament since 2008.

Markus Söder is the Minister-President of the German Free State of Bavaria. A member of the Christian Social Union party, he was elected in 2018 and previously served as Bavarian Minister of Finance, Regional Development and Regional Identity.

Marlene Stechl is a co-founder of HopfON, a startup that specializes in developing sustainable building materials from harvesting agricultural waste materials. Her team successfully implemented a pilot project and has won a number of awards. HopfON was also a finalist in the New European Bauhaus Prize 2024.

Dr. Martin Frick is Director of the World Food Programme’s office in Berlin. He brings more than 25 years of professional experience in the United Nations, goverment and NGOs to the table, in addition to his expertise on food systems, climate, development, diplomacy, and emergency response. Previously, as Senior Director of UN Climate Change, Dr. Frick oversaw the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Secretariat’s Climate Action work.