b'Dutch forestry service, and he took me intobeing anti-tech and living in harmony with forests and natural areas constantly whennature as a rejection of modern life.I was young. That connection to natureThat classic green story never felt like was very much ingrained in me from earlyhome to me. And I also noticed something on. Later, through travel, that feeling onlyelse: it was not winning people over. Green deepened. One experience that really stayedparties and movements that built their iden-with me was a five-day journey through thetity around scarcity, restraint, and limita-Amazon rainforest. Encounters like thattion kept shrinking. That is not surprising. reinforced how much I care about biodi- A politics of sacrifice and restriction is very versity and natural landscapes. hard to sell, especially on a global scale. What began to bother me, though, wasIf sustainability is framed as having less, how environmental protection was almostdoing less, and restricting human ambition, always framed as something fundamen- it will never mobilize broad public support.tally opposed to modern society. NatureSo, I became convinced that we neededScience journalist Hidde Boersma.was placed in direct conflict with pros- a fundamentally different narrative.perity, technological progress, and welfareIn2015,Iencounteredthe creation. That never made sense to me. IEcomodernist Manifesto (https://www. to combine science with culture, evidence did not see why protecting nature shouldecomodernism.org/ ), and for me it was awith imagination. That insight fundamen-require rejecting modernity. moment of recognition. It brought togethertally shaped how I approach my work today.I am trained as a microbiologist, and ateverything I had been struggling to articu-some point, I became deeply involved in thelate. The core idea was simple but powerful:SWE: MUCH OF TODAYS SUSTAINA-debate around genetic modification. There Ifurther modernization, not retreat, is whatBILITY DISCOURSE FOCUSES ON HAR-ran into a wall. Many environmental organ- allows us to protect nature. By increas- MONY WITH NATURE AS THE ONLY izations were simply anti-technology, evening productivity, intensifying agriculture,LEGITIMATE PATH FORWARD. WHY DO when the evidence clearly contradicted theirembracing technologies like advanced plantYOU BELIEVE THIS SINGULAR NARRA-position. It was unscientific, and I could notbreeding, nuclear energy, and urbanization,TIVE HARMS THE HIGH-YIELD SECTOR, reconcile that with my own background.and by using as little land as possible forINCLUDING PLANT BREEDING AND For a long time, I described myself as a kindhuman needs, we can actually free up spaceTHE SEED SECTOR, AND HOW DOES of wandering environmentalist. I knew Ifor biodiversity and wild nature. High-yieldAN ALTERNATIVE, ABUNDANCE-ORI-wanted to work on sustainability, but I feltsystems are not the enemy of the environ- ENTED NARRATIVE BETTER ADDRESS completely alienated from the dominantment; they are a prerequisite for its protec- GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY AND ENVI-green narrative, which revolved aroundtion. That vision aligned so closely with myRONMENTAL GOALS?values that from that point on, I decided toHB: I think this new narrative is important actively advocate for it. because the dominant sustainability story The second layer is why I chose towe are still using today is largely a prod-pursue this mission in the way I do. uct of the 1970s. At that time, economic I started out as a journalist, and for agrowth and environmental destruction were long time I believed that facts, data, andclosely linked. This was the era in which well-written arguments would be enough.Greenpeace emerged, the Club of Rome I thought that if you just explained thingspublished Limits to Growth, and the gen-clearly, people would change their minds.eral assumption took hold that prosperity Over time, I learned that this was nave.inevitably came at the expense of nature.Facts matter, but on their own they rarelyOut of that context grew a powerful persuade. narrative: the idea that the only path toward There was a very concrete momenta sustainable planet is to slow down, step when this clicked for me. I was sitting inback, live in harmony with nature, and a bar with someone from the film world,move away from modernization. That story and he said something that stuck with me:has certainly achieved important things, if you really want to reach people, you haveand it still has value. But it also excludes to work with images, emotions, values,large parts of the economy and many of the and stories. You have to make people feelpeople who are, in practice, doing a great something. That conversation pushed medeal for sustainability.toward film, theatre, and other forms ofI see this very clearly when I visit places storytelling. in The Netherlands like the Westland, Seed People want to belong to a story. TheyValley, or talk to highly productive farmers want a narrative they can identify with, notwho invest heavily in efficiency, innovation, just a spreadsheet or a scientific paper. Coldand environmental performance. These sec-facts and rational arguments are necessary,tors often receive little recognition within but they are not sufficient. If you want tothe current sustainability framework. Over change how society thinks about food,time, that lack of recognition leads to frus-technology, and sustainability, you havetration and disengagement.FEBRUARY 2026|SEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPEISEED WORLD EUROPE I 25'