Helen Gosteli

Helen Gosteli serves as the Managing Director of the Swiss Platform for Natural Hazards (PLANAT). In this role, she coordinates platform meetings, public events, and projects such as evaluating the implementation of PLANAT’s strategy. She also prepares consultation statements on standards, laws, legislation, and strategic documents, while overseeing communication with partner organizations and through the platform’s website. Always attentive to new ideas and contacts, Helen is committed to improving how society addresses risk.

Helen holds a master’s degree in Geography with a focus on applied geomorphology and natural hazards, as well as a teaching qualification for German Literature at the upper secondary level. Early in her career, she worked at the University of Bern with Prof. Hans Kienholz, analysing hazard maps after the 2005 floods in Switzerland. She later lectured at ETH Zürich, and taught German at a Gymnasium. From 2010 to 2013, Helen worked as a primary school teacher at the German School in Melbourne, Australia. Returning to Switzerland, she became Deputy Managing Director of the Steering Committee “Intervention Natural Hazards”, before taking up her current role at PLANAT in 2015.

Helen believes that adapting to our environment has always been key to survival. Today, this adaptation must be more creative, inclusive, and forward-looking to build a resilient future for the next generations.

Since connecting with we4DRR in 2016, Helen has found it to be an inspiring network that provides space for exchange and growth for female professionals. Joining the Steering Committee in June 2025, Helen looks forward to raising awareness of we4DRR in Switzerland and contributing her strategic perspective on natural hazards and DRR.

Helen started learning how to yodel three years ago. She swears it is better than yoga and meditation combined! In summer, you might find her on a hike somewhere high up with her family, letting out a ‘Jutz’ on a rocky summit.