Kersti Ruth Wissenbach

Kersti R. Wissenbach is a political sociologist working at the intersection of digital transformation, sustainability, and inclusion since the early 2000s. She has collaborated with activist groups, NGOs, and public institutions worldwide, leading strategic planning, policy advice, and the design and facilitation of civic participation processes.

Her work focuses on participatory and activist research, inclusive community processes, and co-creative methodologies. Kersti has extensively researched power structures and their negotiation through dialogic practices within transnational civic tech and maker movements.

She is the founder of Cultiva Lab, where she works with rural communities across and beyond Spain to apply participatory systems research and design to address hyperlocal climate resilience challenges.

In recent years, her work has increasingly drawn on permaculture as a lens to rethink digital transformation as a regenerative, place-based practice.

Kersti operates from rural Spain, consulting civil society and public sector institutions and collaborating with networks such as the Global Innovation Gathering (GIG).