Daniell Roldán is a 27-year-old from Bogotá, cheerful, curious, and passionate about finding new challenges at every moment. While he is trained as a forest engineer, he prefers to be recognized for what he does and who he is, rather than by the diplomas he carries under his arm. Daniell is the voice of a generation that believes in good living, one that got tired of having bosses and seeking job stability, and that travels the world to build networks for a better world. In this edition of 3colibrís, we tell you his inspiring story.
Daniell Didn’t Know What He Wanted to Do in University
At first, creating his own life project has been a dynamic and ongoing process for Daniell, starting when he began his studies in Forest Engineering at the Universidad Distrital in Bogotá. In high school, he wasn’t clear about what he wanted to study or do; forest engineering was a coincidence that only started to make sense in his life by the fourth semester.
Daniell wasn’t excited about the traditional career paths of forest engineers, like working for multinational paper companies or creating land-use plans. However, when he took courses in botany (the study of flowering plants) and dendrology (the study of non-flowering plants) and participated in field trips to the departments of Bolívar, Antioquia, and Córdoba (in Colombia), he grew fond of his profession, understanding the potential for social transformation in an Amazonian country and the second most megadiverse country in the world, after Brazil.
«My training as a forest engineer reminds me that plants are living beings and the foundation of life. We must learn to use them without exceeding limits,» Daniell shares. It was in practice with communities that Daniell began to find a connection between his work and his life’s purpose, in a very authentic way, learning on his own terms.
Daniell Roldán
«Forest engineering is like a petal of permaculture.»
I’m a self-taught person.
After finishing his degree in 2017, Daniell felt an insatiable need to learn and educate himself. However, he felt that his questions weren’t being answered in traditional academia, so he began experimenting and taking courses in carpentry, bioconstruction, tourism guiding, and working as a forest fire brigadier. Much of his education has been possible thanks to the offerings from the National Learning Service (SENA).
According to the Peruvian newspaper, the generation born between 1989 and 1996, known as Millennials, make up about 30% of the global population and about 35% of the global workforce. They are highly connected to technologies and tend to seek alternative forms of education outside traditional institutions.
The Japanese philosophy of ikigai has deeply influenced Daniell’s worldview, as he believes that all knowledge and experience gained should help us understand our inner selves, through patient exploration, to reach the depths of our being and connect every action in our daily life with our life’s purpose.
In his constant pursuit of learning from experience and trial and error, Daniell has had many fortunate encounters with networks of young people, like him, who seek to make the world a better place by building sustainable cities, through urban agriculture and bioconstruction.
Working in networks to recognize the skills of others
As soon as Daniell finished his undergraduate studies, he joined youth-led organizational processes and created his own projects with friends. In 2017, he volunteered with the collective «Sembradores Van der Hamen,» a group of young people protecting the Van der Hamen Forest Reserve, an environmental protection area declared a reserve in 2000. In 2017, Daniell, along with a group of friends, created the non-profit organization «Corpacedros.»
In 2018, Daniell contributed to the Mercado de los Pueblos, a community resistance movement taking place in Tibanica, Bosa (a locality in Bogotá), by developing urban gardens with neighbors, participating in farmers’ markets, conducting agrofood expeditions to visit strategic ecosystems to implement gardens, and providing local solutions using appropriate technologies, such as rainwater harvesting, low-impact soil plowing, and live fences.
In 2019, Daniell joined the collective «Con la cuchara no se juega» to generate reflections and actions promoting food autonomy. In the same year, with his project «Echar semilla,» he debuted as an urban agriculture teacher with children from the Egipto neighborhood, one of the most marginalized areas of Bogotá. Talking about seed bombs, home gardens, composting, and worms, Daniell broke down invisible borders between neighbors from different neighborhoods that had created boundaries whose crossing could put anyone’s life at risk. From this perspective, urban agriculture can become a mechanism for reconciliation.
A milestone for Daniell has been being part of two collectives, both ironically named «Buena Semilla» (Good Seed). One is a children’s community dining program that helps improve food security and autonomy for children in marginalized neighborhoods of Bogotá; the other is a group of young people dedicated to building sustainable cities through bioconstruction, especially with bamboo. Under a unique scheme of sociocracy and solidarity economy, with Buena Semilla Permacultural, Daniell has learned to share knowledge with others to build together.
«To build networks, the most important thing is to enjoy and live the teamwork.»
«To make compost, you have to mess up a lot.»
Currently, Daniell is building his future. By blending urban agriculture, bioconstruction, and community tourism, he dreams of contributing to dignifying the lives of others. He envisions future cities as more conscious of their environmental footprint and more open to building sustainable lifestyles, where traditional knowledge, healthy food, and sustainable housing coexist with the needs of large cities.
Additionally, Daniell dreams of consolidating a network of sustainable and community tourism projects through avitourism, apitourism, and experiential tourism, to highlight the rich biocultural diversity in Colombia and encourage people to stop fearing life projects in rural areas.
Daniell’s story inspires us because we know that, like him, there are thousands of young people—men and women—who have found their life projects in dignifying rural life and building bridges between rural and urban areas. With his project «El Nido,» developed together with his cousin Julián, which combines circus, bioconstruction, and urban agriculture, they aim to contribute to sustainable rural living.
You can contact Daniell at +573046077027.
If you know a story of someone working to build sustainable rural communities, we want to hear from you!
3colibrís 