Isabel de Maurissens

Certified: April 2022
Country: Pisa, Italy
Nature (Re)Connection in: Italian

Looking at the root of an oak tree at my feet, I imagine the tangle of roots and filaments of mushrooms under it - whose mystery we unveil during Nature (Re)Connection - and I think of this beautiful sentence by Victor Hugo who wrote that nature always says something to someone...

Understanding that sustainable development first needs the development of affect towards nature helps me as a citizen and a researcher, as well as an ambassador for the EU climate pact. When I think of my role in the Italian national education system, I like to imagine that it is not too late to avoid "the extinction of the experience of nature" (Pyle & Louv, 2011) of the new generations.

Some questions for Isabel

If you were a natural element, would you be...? A hazel. Because for me it is a magic tree… and not only for me. In the original version of Cinderella by brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, there are no fairies, but a magical hazel who grants Cinderella's wishes. When her father went to the fair, he asked his three daughters what they wanted. The first replied, “beautiful clothes” and the second “pearls and precious stones”, and Cinderella replied, “Father, the first branch that strikes your hat on the way home, pick it for me.” It was a hazel branch that Cinderella later planted on her mother's grave and she wept so much that her tears watered the tree, which grew tall and strong. And her wishes were granted by a little white bird which came to rest on a branch. Nature was therefore still magic when the Brothers Grimm wrote Cinderella. In addition, the hazel has long been the tree of dowsers, doctors and alchemists.

Which sense instantly connects you to nature? Hearing. Hearing the sounds of nature allows me to hear my own voice and feel nature too.

What natural object do you treasure in your home? I have a very special collection of shells which are called “unghie di fata” (fairy nails) in Italian. They are translucent, pale pink shells that look like a woman's painted fingernails. When I go to the beach, I enjoy looking for them.