Vision for the re:nature campus in Switzerland
A place for the re-naturalisation of people and organisations is emerging.
The re:nature Campus Switzerland.
The nature and indigenous heritage of Europe.
Forests, moors and rivers are brought back to life through renaturation.
The same happens with people and organisations.
Both together result in a path that is radically new. And has been tested for more than 20 years.
What's being built on campus
The re:nature Campus Switzerland is the source of vibrant renaturation – in Switzerland, where indigenous heritage is still more vividly accessible in customs and myths, and the approach as uma institut began in 2003.
A gem with great charisma – because the vision is complex enough: Guest house with seminar room, living area for the site guardians, nature and garden areas, close to the forest.
Research & Education Research into the contemporary application of the 5 indigenous principles of living, training in re:nature facilitation and ritual design.
Think and Feel Tank - Events on organisational development, education, community-led economics, collective trauma
Ritual site — deep nature processes such as the vision quest, seasonal rituals and rituals for climate change
Interconnection point — Meeting for the re:nature community and partners
Place of residence — a small community practically, energetically and ritually guards the place
The re:nature movement and the four positions of co-creation
The centrepiece of the re:nature approach is the re:nature Compass — a seasonal model that makes the four qualities of the year's wheel accessible as a guide for change.
If we place the vision of a re:nature movement into this orientation wheel, four positions emerge with a common alignment:
⚫ WINTER — Source
The re:nature Vision
The vision is the Revitalising Europe through its indigenous heritage, the 5 indigenous life principles and the re:nature compass as a map of the Natural Order.
⚪ SPRING — Curiosity
Research and Training
The re:nature institute conducts research and provides education at the re:nature Campus – an acupuncture needle for European indigenous knowledge, nature-connected economics and a think- and feel-tank for the future.
🔴 SUMMER — Manifestation
Application and Public
At many decentrally organised re:nature sites, human renaturation is manifesting itselfOrganisations, initiatives, users, re:nature partner organisations.
Autumn — Thank you
Value creation and compensation
A to-be-established re:nature Foundation takes and gives. and connects like-minded people, enablers, sponsors, and supporters with the vision and enables manifestations.
Join in
Grand plans are made when the right people come together. Everyone can be part of this project.
- As a sponsor (land, construction, build-up phase)
- As a Network Ambassador (Places, Contacts, Opportunities)
- As a partner (business, education, foundations)
- As a co-supporter of the campus community
- and naturally, as creatures of the Swiss landscape. These are the most important players.
We look forward to ideas, exchange, contact, networking
Contact: vision@renature-institut.org
An infectious inspiration
Our Vision Paper
Do you know a possible place?
Searching together
Who is behind the vision?
Visions need embodiment
These are people who are passionate about turning an idea into tangible reality. The vision of a re:nature movement with a local re:nature campus in Switzerland is, on the one hand, radically new. However, it also emerges organically from the previous nearly 25 years of the re:nature institute (formerly uma institut).
The campus idea stakeholders are therefore Ursula and David Seghezzi and their re:nature institute.
But alongside the pioneers, we also need those who believe a vision is important. Our core team will be supported during this development phase by Daniel Humbel and Raphael Baumann – linked by the collaboration in applying the re:nature approach at Transa Backpacking AG.
Ursula Seghezzi (55) - Founder and visionary architect
Religious studies scholar, ethnologist, myth researcher, ritual expert, author
Ursula founded the uma institut in Lucerne in 2003 – the origin of the current re:nature institut. Her decades of field research into the indigenous roots of European cultural history form the intellectual foundation of the approach. Ursula developed the re:nature compass and embodies the Natural Order in all that she thinks and does. Ursula grew up in Switzerland and is returning to her homeland with the campus; two of her four children live in Switzerland.
David Seghezzi (46) - Transformation Expert and Organisation Developer
Cultural Scientists, Facilitator, Organisational Consultant, Author
David developed the re:nature approach for the field of organisational and transformation work, and has tested it in companies, networks, and educational institutions for over a decade. He is currently writing a book on applying the re:nature approach in companies. He is a passionate visionary for things that are not yet thought of but are entirely possible. Together, Ursula and David have been running the re:nature institute with its own seminar and further education centre in Northern Germany since 2013, and are parents to two sons.
Daniel Humbel (58) - Entrepreneur
long-standing CEO of Transa Backpacking AG
In a world where religion and politics are losing their significance as guiding systems, work carries a great existential resonance. The economy must transform accordingly.
The nature-cyclical approach of re:nature enables companies to have an organic form of organisation and communication, allowing them to navigate everyday processes efficiently and transparently.
As an entrepreneur and a visionary, I am supporting the re:nature Campus Switzerland project in finding fertile ground here in Switzerland.
Raphael Baumann (40) - Organisation Developer
Business IT Specialist, Musician, People & Culture at Transa Backpacking AG
Many are trying to save themselves into the future with New Work models and want to jump from their old culture to a new culture, thereby giving too little importance to the path, the process. The re:nature approach is a tool to make exactly this space tangible and communicable. Raphael combines systemic thinking with cultural creativity and supports the re:nature Campus Switzerland project in this regard by connecting with other interested partners.
History of a nature-co-creative emergence process
How does a project arise after re:nature?
Everything that arises anew arises according to natural laws.
The Wheel of Unfolding
What does nature tell us about spring and creativity and becoming? How does the map of the re:nature compass guide a project with the wheel of unfolding?
Part 1: How It All Began
Caught off guard and off you go
Projects never spring from nothing, just as no spring could exist without a preceding winter and autumn.
That's why the start of a project idea is always interesting: is a desire the starting point? Or a shock? In our case, the latter. We have been building up the re:nature institute with our own house and seminar operations in Northern Germany since 2013, and we’ve finally finished all the renovation work. Then, in September 2025, „autumnal things“ suddenly happen. Ursula visits her two adult daughters in Switzerland, full of love, gratitude, and sadness at living so far away from them. At the same time, the neighbour's notice, with the consequence that all three mobile homes on the Northern German property must be removed, hits like a bomb. Autumn relentlessly says: things cannot stay as we have built them here. What do we do, we ask Autumn? Look honestly.
We do this with a friend who, as a geomancer, uncovers the connections and themes of people in a place through a setup and moves them in a healing direction. Many of our issues and fears are literally brought to light using all sorts of little animal proxies. New energies would then move in if the residents gave a clear yes to the place. Ursula raises a finger and says that for the sake of completeness, she would have to set up Switzerland too. That was the beginning of the end... Many tears, with a jumble of homesickness, relief and longing, break free. And David also feels a lot of spaciousness and openness at Schweizer Platz.
It's no use. If such perceptions are present, they are simply present. It took us a full three months to even acknowledge that these feelings were there. To even broaden our thinking enough for a move to be possible. To allow ourselves to see how foolish and nonsensical it would be to move away from this paradise... The space of winter, of absolute openness, of infinite wisdom, of „thy will be done, if it is to be“, the space of all spiritual potential opened up. The whole load of not knowing and surrender. Literally speechless.
Part 2: The First Beer
Unexpected assembly of the core team - Switzerland is calling
In winter, the seeds germinate. Circumstances align. Roots are formed. Ideas come to light on 01.02. So at the beginning it was just a feeling and a wish, not yet a project.
Ursula works in Zurich for Transa and enjoys a farewell beer with Daniel Humbel, CEO of Transa. And the two confide their feelings and desires in each other. Somehow, they have something in common. Further conversations follow, first with David in a group of three, and then with Rapha in a group of four. Over the first beer in a small circle, it becomes clear: the budding idea of a re:nature campus affects all four of us. Nobody understands why the two of them are suddenly involved. They themselves least of all. But when a spark flashes, you follow its glow.
And so, many conversations follow, initial internal formulations for a potential project. And the question becomes ever clearer: is this not solely about Ursula's homesickness, but is Switzerland calling, offering re:nature more and different opportunities than in Northern Germany? Could a campus here become like an acupuncture needle for Europe, a place of inspiration for many further re:nature locations in many landscapes? Is Switzerland and the Alpine region, with its still accessible customs, not only the research origin for the re:nature approach (Ursula lived and researched in Central Switzerland from 1995 to 2013), but also a fertile ground for vivifying the indigenous European heritage, because it is less traumatised by the Third Reich and today's right-wing movements, as in Germany or Austria? Is the long-standing cooperation with Transa Backpacking AG the starting point for further networking and development?
Over the New Year holiday during a ski trip, Ursula and David tell their friend Susanne Ilg (also trained in re:nature) about the vision of a campus – in the form of a short improvised play. Susa lies awake at night, takes a pencil and draws a picture with houses, and a barn, and a well, mountains, a scattered fruit meadow… The first picture emerges. And if it's to be a new form, then let it be different from before. Community-driven, for example. We can't quite grasp it yet. But Susa's picture moves us. Because in this transition from 1 February, from the spiritual winter to the early spring, pictures are stronger than words. Poetry is the foundation of projects.
Part 3: a first place - was it not
Acceleration and deceleration
Spring plays its own game. Warm days alternate with winter spells Ab. What approaches harmlessly can suddenly take shape. One never knows where one is...
When a vision truly „clicks“, things can suddenly accelerate in spring. It happens. But you only know afterwards, when you've followed the signs. And so, precisely on the 1st of February 2026, a property appeared by Lake Biel that seemed to have everything we dreamed of. Unlike Susa's drawing, it wasn't an old farmhouse, but a watchmaker's villa. Yet, it was in a secluded location, on the edge of the woods, with a view of the lake, large enough for a small guest operation and a few residential units. So, we went for it. Could the campus also be a statement? To take land away from the capitalist system, to acquire it communally, and then to give it back to ourselves? The four of us experienced ourselves as a team for the first time, recognising the advantages in discussions with the estate agent and the head of the local building authority. Ursula had to explain to the Bernese cantonal lawyer for the first time publicly what wisdom lies in our European indigenous heritage. If he didn't understand much, let him be forgiven; Ursula was sweating and stammering her absolute best... At that time, it was unclear whether this first property already marked the threshold of spring and we'd rapidly landed in the realisation phase? Or whether this first concrete property merely lifted us over the threshold of the 1st of February.
The excitement was followed by a sobering reality. And with it, it became clear: it was „only“ the 1.2. in our project process. Switzerland, you see, has a detailed zoning plan that is disadvantageous to our vision. Landscape zones are not allowed; for that, you have to be a farmer. Residential zones are not allowed; you cannot run a business here (as was the case with the property on Lake Biel). And mixed residential and commercial zones are located in the core settlement areas, which are of no use for our work in the forest... Exhausted and with heads hung low, we left Biel again. But we knew about spring: it always has a gift ready, even if it's usually different than expected. The four of us knew more about ourselves and our idea afterwards. Biel polished our gemstone for the first time and forged us together. Many more were to follow. Furthermore, Céline Fitzé helped us with childcare (also trained in re:nature), and many inspiring conversations sharpened our vision of the campus community and what supports or, indeed, should not support a team on site. And for the visit to Biel, Dani activated Pascal Angehrn. He is a member of the executive board and the board of directors at the well-known Swiss architecture and planning firm. Building office on site.
Whether the re:nature Campus could also be an architectural statement? Sustainability in construction and renovation, alongside research into the interplay of humans and landscape, and ritual community design...?
Part 4: CAN VISIONARIES ALSO WORK TOGETHER?
Online meeting with 60 people and their landscapes
On the cusp of 1 February, the plants take on their first form. One should not pull at them then. It is the same with visions.
Normally, the early spring phase of a project is very intimate and very vulnerable. This is because imagination needs a lot of room to manoeuvre at this stage. The reality check comes later, around the threshold of the spring equinox. One should share their initial ideas with select people who have an understanding of visioning and who tend to open up space rather than closing it down too soon. At the same time, our vision involved travelling together with a community of many people who have been accompanying our work for a long time – as participants in our seminars, trainees, book readers, or newsletter subscribers. A community that is not yet aware of itself as a community, because it has never been addressed or networked as such. Normally, this community is only approached once the vision has been formulated and it's about funding the project. But we didn't want that. Re:nature always means breaking new ground. And what if many people in our circle were already familiar with visioning? What if not only David and I sought support from nature and the spiritual dimension through rituals, but many people did? What if the landscapes and the season of early spring itself were part of our creation process? We could simply try it out...
In a training module, we taught collective nature walks for a project by venturing out into nature on campus. The shared image was poetic and symbolically meaningful: the campus is small, fine, simple, aesthetically pleasing; there is a lot of open space; the essential is not visible or tangible, but happens as sound in between; it is important to tend the fire, keep the water clean, and at the centre of it all stands the vibrant passing on of the European indigenous tradition.
We then widened the circle and invited anyone interested to an online exchange evening with a preceding nature walk, advertised via the newsletter of 1 February. The response was overwhelming. 60 people tuned in. We split into smaller groups so that everyone could share their nature walk experiences. Some trained facilitators led the small groups and brought the findings back to the plenary session. Ursula wove a collective story from this. Poetry in clarity – completely different people and landscapes, and yet very similar insights to those from the training group two weeks prior… Long before a project materializes, the soil of meaning is laid in this way, the guardrails of important values and sometimes concrete ideas become visible. Early spring: not yet shooting upwards, but doing spiritual groundwork!
Those who wish to read the collective history are welcome to read up.
Part 5: Initial Development Crisis
If things get difficult, stick your finger right in the wound...
Spring is wild. It's warm in February and March and the flowers start to sprout, then suddenly frost seizes everything in its clutches again and forces a pause and strengthens roots. That's how spring teaches us in projects too.
After recovering from the excitement and effort surrounding Biel, we continued our discussions as a foursome. It was clear that David and Ursula, as the originators of the campus idea, had to formulate the concept. This was so that Dani and Rapha could speak to specific people in Switzerland. We always wanted to get back to it. And everything else was more important and necessary. At some point, it becomes noticeable: aha, spring is playing its game. Even though there is enough knowledge and the pressure for concept formulation is increasing, somehow nothing is moving forward. The exclamation marks in the image signal an appeal to discipline. But the energy curve was going down. In a good team, you don't feel guilty about that, but rather share this fact. And the others react with understanding or are even glad that winter conditions still prevail, because they also have so much else to do. Life is demanding us all at the moment. Well, if things aren't looking up, then let's really have one more go at „doing winter“.
This meant that Rapha, as a „native Swiss,“ set off on a natural walk and made very touching observations from his encounter with his ancestors and his landscape. Being in flow, by the river. A mill appeared. Signs that we were simply collecting at that point. And meditating on. At some point, they will become important.
David and Ursula took a week for visioning. They sat together, sharing joys and sorrows, grief and love, alignment and wishes, needs and traumas. Initially, they only spoke about themselves personally. And very quietly, as if in passing, the thread wove itself back to the openness of the winter phase, where everything first dissolved before the seed of the idea formed. Perhaps we shouldn't leave at all? But instead enjoy what we have created here? Is the vision more of an illusion? Are we succumbing to our patterns with it and repeating what actually hinders us from living fully? Or with which part of the vision do we rise above previous patterns? Is our place on the edge of things, holding everything (our hearts grew heavy then)? Or is our position right in the middle of the vision (which would take quite a lot of courage)? Allowing questions made the spring space wide again…
If it doesn't go smoothly, then a pause loop. Slow down, deep conversations.
So the concept is stuck. A vision week for two. Peace with what was. Acceleration afterwards: what it isn't and could be tumbles away (downsizing, campus of the re:nature institute, place is simple and small - movement is complex).
Initial discussions, for example, with Daniel Freitag. Mutual inspiration, „Conversation at the Crossroads“ – the future will be very different, thinking about new possibilities.
Part 6: Concept Formulation - Coming Out
Shivering and pride – and it doesn't have to be perfect by a long shot
The threshold of the Spring Equinox brings energy from the spiritual lower half into the upper half of manifestation. Who stands at the threshold of projects, helping to shape and reveal what is emerging?
Meanwhile, another two months had passed. In our 1 May newsletter, we announced a special newsletter for June and invited people to another online discussion evening on 17 June. But work on the concept was progressing only slowly. On the surface, at least. Behind the scenes, things were literally in full swing. Firstly, we were diligently working through our own topics. Secondly, formulating the concept also meant refining our re:nature approach and clarifying what we’d always wanted to say but had never quite managed to get to the heart of (so that even the cantonal lawyer in Bern could understand it). And thirdly, we needed peace and a connection to natural and spiritual forces, which isn’t exactly easy in the midst of a hectic daily routine with young children. But it became possible whilst leading our own vision quest. For four days and nights, we ourselves are at the edge of the forest, looking after the base camp for the participants who are staying in the forest alone and fasting. If all goes well, there isn’t much to do. And so, little by little, the forest, the ritual and the facilitators draw us into an intimate space of connection with the more-than-human world. The concept takes shape through the interplay between David and Ursula, amidst the song of the golden oriole in the tree above the tent and the astute queries from the AI, which is struggling to reach us here in the woods with just a single bar of internet signal. But the collective wisdom on all levels helps. And at the threshold, all hell really does break loose. With his drum, he stands beneath the trees and drums for life and for the visions of a life-affirming future for the participants and all the processes that are set to become reality this year. Anyone who celebrates rituals themselves – and especially large-scale ones such as the Vision Quest – knows the power of rituals. And how they suddenly open up spaces from within that were previously inaccessible. So we, too, returned from the forest with a pearl. In our bag, a concept. And a great deal of humility, and a bow to the great forces that guide our lives.
And then it needs to be shared, first within the team. Dani was relentless. He demanded that we not only write about our vision but also show what has already been researched, published, formulated, and tested. The truly radical new has already been tried and tested for more than 20 years… A beautiful, friendly exchange with the visionary and entrepreneur Daniel Freitag, who, together with his brother Markus, pioneered upcycling in 1993 and made bags from old truck tarpaulins. Mutual inspiration left us with the freedom that we don't need to know exactly what our project should be yet. Rather, every conversation serves to further refine the gem.
Late in the evening, Dani, David and Ursula found themselves at a crossroads in the middle of Zurich. A new depth of exchange about crazy future ideas unfolded. Perhaps everything in the coming years will be entirely different than we currently imagine. The conversation will go down in our memory as the legendary „Conversation at the Crossroads.“ The night after, the project sharpened further, and the morning brought wisdom: it is truly not a transfer of our work from Germany to Switzerland, but a radical transformation. No matter where we end up working.
During the project's progression, we've now reached the vernal equinox and are showcasing what has matured and grown in the meantime. We're still trembling enormously, as visions must, by their very nature, be megalomaniacal. Reality will then grind them down. But to present them is a different matter entirely; it requires considerable courage. What if there's no resonance? What if everyone thinks we're mad? What if we unleash a wave of inspiration and give courage to others? We won't know unless we move from stammering to the first clear formulations.
We've managed it now. The first project draft is ready. You can [do something with it] here read.
He can fly into the world with the birds. Because he doesn’t have to be perfect. Quite the opposite. Through all the resonances and feedback, the project will continue to grow. Whether it makes it into the world is both uncertain and irrelevant. The joy alone counts.
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