EuroEnviro 2010 16th European Students’ Symposium on the Environment

Sustainable Lifestyle :: Ideas for Consumption and Mobility

famiglia

consume

mobility

serious

Diskurs

succès

sustainable

lifestyle

future

network

DI. Nikolaus BerlakovicAustrian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Envi-ronment and Water Management

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Claudia BinderInstitute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research, University of Graz

Werner FaymannChancellor of Austria

Univ.Prof. DI. Dr. Martin H. GerzabekRector of the University for Applied Life Sci-ences, Vienna

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Alfred GutschelhoferRector of the Karl-Franzens-University, Graz

Mag. Siegfried NaglMayor of the City of Graz

Elinor OstromAwarded with the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Indiana University and Arizona State University, USA

Janez PotočnikEuropean Comissioner for Environment

Lisa RückerDeputy Mayor of Graz

Mag.a Ulli SimaExecutive Councilor for the Environment, City of Vienna

Dr. Michael SpindeleggerForeign Minister of Austria

Mag. Franz VovesGovernor of Styria

Ing. Manfred WegscheiderMember of the Provincial Government in Styria

Coordination• Andreas Kreuzeder (Graz)• Huem Otero (Vienna)

Finance• Julian Fink• Anna Unterköfler

Public Relations• Stephan Kupsa • Alex Rüther• Margarethe Staudner

Program• Anton Sentic • Robert Schönegger

Facilities• David Biegl • Stefanie Peßenteiner

Organizational Staff• Anjoulie Brander• Maria Clar• Veronika Draxler • Johannes Draxler • Franz Fuchs • Martin Guggenberger• Robert Glanz• Klaus Jarosch• Christian Kozina• Florian Ortner• Bettina Pöllinger

• Galina Hagn• Isabelle Scheibelhofer• Christina Scheiber• Robert Schönauer

HochschülerInnenschaft an der Universität Wienc/o EuroEnviro 2010Spitalgasse 2, Hof 11090 Wien, AUSTRIA

office@euroenviro2010.comwww.euroenviro2010.com

The EuroEnviro 2010 Report

ÖH Uni Wienc/o EuroEnviro 2010Spitalgasse 2, Hof 11090 Wien, AUSTRIA

EDITORAndreas Kreuzeder andreas.kreuzeder@gmx.at

PHOTOGRAPHYAnton Sentic, Andreas Kreuzeder, Huem Otero, Juli-an Fink and the participantsFrontpage: day-walker (photocase.com), Steve81 (photocase.com), Andreas Kreuzeder

DESIGN AND LAYOUTAndreas KreuzederChristine Zingl

PRINTServicebetrieb ÖH-Uni Graz GmbH8010 Graz, Schubertstraße 6a

The EuroEnviro 2010 was held under the patronage of:(in alphabetical order)

The Organizing Team

04 EuroEnviro2010

Content

The Organizing Team

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

The participants

The History

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EuroEnviro 2010The Program of this Year’s Meeting

Sustainable LifestyleA Brief Introduction

Daily Reportswritten byMorana Starčević, Petra Skuljevic, Margarita Miletić and Matija Penezić

The EuroEnviro World

PresentationsThe Participants Presentations

Special IssuesHighlighting Education for Sustainable Development, the Example of Food Co-ops in Spain, the Disadvantages of Driving a Car and the Advantages of Riding a Bike.

EuroEnviro 2010In Pictures

The VetBIB Meeting

EuroEnviro 2011A Sneak Preview

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Foreword

Some introducing words on the thrilling experience of the EuroEnviro 2010 in Austria.

The experience of participating in an EuroEn-viro meeting is overwhelming. Writing these words means that finally our organizational work has come to an end. Only the vision of this event remains. One that bonds generations of students together in their effort to create a network, to exchange their views and to learn on an international level. One year ago lots of students started to orga-nize this meeting and soon it became clear that some of them would generously contribute their energy and spare time even though they only had a very vague picture of what this was all about. This report compiles the events and happenings around the EuroEnviro 2010 in Austria, but it is also a way of saying thank you for a year of teamwork, organizing, planning and hopefully joy when the event finally became real. Often all this work stays invisible or unnoticed. Therefore, it is even more important to highlight these peo-ple behind the scenes who did a great job. Thank you so much for all your time, personal effort and strength you have put into this. I hope that you were able to enjoy at least a few moments of “your” EuroEnviro and of course I hope to see you again at the upcoming EuroEnviro 2011!

In this report we attempt to condense these in-credible days into a few pages. However, texts and pictures can only offer a little glimpse on this meeting. It seems impossible to describe the dynamics, the energy, the exchange and spirit of such an event. Nevertheless, we hope to offer an insight view on our activities, our discussions, ideas and visions.

This report contains a mixture of articles, pic-tures, stories and some background information of the EuroEnviro - or BIB, as many participants still refer to it. The idea of this EuroEnviro 2010

report was to gather the experiences, describe our activities from different viewpoints and then send this book to all participants. We also want to document what we did and what a Eu-roEnviro meeting is all about. Thanks to all the contributors to the participants and organizers. We hope that this will help you remember the fun we had, brings back the unique feeling and refreshes the promise, that we all are going to meet again someday.

Starting with general information, we collected daily reports by the participants of this year’s EuroEnviro. These reports tell individual sto-ries which are as multicolored as the meeting itself. The hardest part is to show the emotions, the energy or generally, the EuroEnviro-vibe. We hope that some of the pictures could cap-ture these moments.

Finally, I want to spend a big thank you to the next year’s organization team. With the words “yes, we’ll do it!” you have accepted to focus your energy, spend your free time and to work hard for a meeting so far ahead, that you can‘t even imagine how it’s going to be. I wish you all the best of luck, the eagerness to push through hard times and many chances to enjoy the fruits of your work.

I hope you will enjoy this report on the Eu-roEnviro 2010. Maybe it wets your mouth for more. Keep it as a souvenir or close it into your heart. Show it around and tell people about the EuroEnviro: invite them, thrill them, discuss, tell and inspire them. That is what the EuroEn-viro is about.

Join and Enjoy!Andreas Kreuzeder

September 2010 – Graz, Austria

06 EuroEnviro2010

Preface

The EuroEnviro is a students’ organized meeting of European students with an en-vironmental focus. Since 1995 the annual EuroEnviro is taking place in different European countries on a temporal theme about environmental protection. The 16 years long lasting tradition of the Euro-Enviro is based upon a vision shared by people all over the continent. Every year the event is hosted by a new country invol-ving new people and new ideas. Without a headquarter or long lasting organization structures this EuroEnviro-vision has endured even though, it has changed it‘s appearence every year again. What puts all these different events in one line is the network which was created over many years and that has bonded generations of students together. This network is what the EuroEnviro is about.

In 2010 the EuroEnviro was organized by students from Graz and Vienna, Austria. It was held on the topic “Sustainable Life-style - Ideas for Consumption and Mobi-lity”.

A sustainable lifestyle is fundamentally the application of sustainability through choices and decisions. The term sustaina-bility is defined as meeting present needs without compromising these factors for future generations on the following three dimensions (i) ecological, (ii) societal, and (iii) economical. Therefore, a lifestyle is sustainable when the innate carrying capa-cities of these factors are considered.

However, this theoretical approach is very hard to implement in practice. This is because of the highly complex world of goods and services we live in today. Furthermore, there is no red line between sustainable and non-sustainable - even more, the character of goods may change.

There are different ways of approaching this problem. Some say that a Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) or a Lifestyles of Voluntary Simplicity (LOVOS) offer a solu-tion. Others point out that simple technical improvements might help to solve environ-mental problems in the future.

Regardless of that viewpoint it becomes clear, that there is not a single answer to the questi-on of “how” we can live in a sustainable way. However, there is a broad consensus regar-ding the question of “if ” we need a sustaina-ble lifestyle.

The EuroEnviro 2010 tried to offer a frame for discussions and for exchanges of different viewpoints. The diversity derived from diffe-rent backgrounds and countries of origin of the participants, provided vast fields to do so.

The annual meeting of European students with an environmental focus tries not only to connect the participants themselves together but also aims to connect different stakeholders with an international group of students who might be working in this field one day. The past has shown, that the experiences of the EuroEn-viro meetings are unique and that the networks which have been tied are invaluable.

EuroEnviro 2010: Sustainable Lifestyle - Ideas for Consumption and Mobility

EuroEnviro2010 07

Acknowledgements

Lecturers, Workshop Leaders, GuestsPublic Opening: Mag. Philipp Gaggl, Mag. Dr. Christian Hart-mann, Christina Jahn, Mag. Dr. Clemens Mader, Ao.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Martin Polaschek, Ao.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Alfred Posch, Elisabeth Potzinger, Claudia Sprinz, Ao.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Karl SteiningerLectures: Dr. Birgit Bednar-Friedl, Dr. Rajko Knez, o.Univ. Prof. Dr. Hermann Knoflacher, o.Univ.Prof. Dr. Helga Kromp-Kolb, Prof. DI Dr. Michael Meschik, Prof. Dr. Manfred Prisching, Nikolaus Reinberg, Dr. Klaus Renoldner, DI Klaus Spiekermann, M. Ed. Gudrun UranitschWorkshops & Excursions (Graz): Gunda Bachan, Mag. Dieter Behr, Thomas Berger, Lisa Bolyos, Bakk. Birgit Birnstingl-Got-tinger, Mag. Mario Diethart, Mag. (FH) Andreas Giselbrecht, Franziskus Forster, Mag. Philipp Gaggl, Nino Kervalize, Dr. Manfred Klade, Mag. Dr. Clemens Mader, Dr. Martin Mit-telbach, Prof. Michael Narodoslawski, Mag. Joachim Ninaus, Dr. Ing. Roland Pomberger, Mag. Dirk Raith, Mag. Gerald Schmidt, Dr. Christian Schreyer, Mag. Bernhard Sundl, Parkis Tschanta, Mag. Andreas Türk, Mag. Corinne Von der Hellen, Peter WagnerWorkshops & Excursions (Vienna): Argus –Vienna, Bikekit-chen, Tadej Brezina, Design for all, MBA M.E.S.Roland Dimai, Forumtheater, Mag. Alexander Gabl, Heavy Pedals, DI Vera Hofbauer, Doris Holler-Bruckner, Dr. Heinz Högelsberger, IG Fahrrad, Wolfgang Kremser, Mag.(FH) Eva-Maria Kriech-baum, Mag. Robert Krutak, DI Gudrun Maierbrugger, Mag. Wolfgang Nowak, Mag. Andreas Rauter, Dr. Klaus Renoldner, Ralf Risser, t.b.d., Virus

Sponsors and PartnersÖH Boku, ÖH Uni Graz, ÖH Uni Wien and ÖH Bundesvertretunghttp://oeh.boku.ac.at - http://oeh.uni-graz.at http://oeh.univie.ac.at - http://www.oeh.ac.atUniversität Grazhttp://www.uni-graz.atUniversität für Bodenkultur Wienhttp://www.boku.ac.atUniversität Wienhttp://www.univie.ac.atBundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschafthttp://www.lebensministerium.at Arbeiterkammer Wien - Umwelt & Verkehrhttp://wien.arbeiterkammer.atStadt Wien - Stadtentwicklung und Stadtplanung (MA 18)http://www.wien.gv.at/stadtentwicklung/dienststellen/ma18Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologiehttp://www.bmvit.gv.atStadt Wien - Umweltschutzabteilung (MA22)http://www.wien.gv.at/umweltschutzKlima Aktiv http://www.klimaaktiv.atLand Steiermark - Sport, Umwelt und Erneuerbare EnergienLandesrat Ing. Wegscheider Land Steiermark - Abfallwirtschaft und Stoffflusswirtschaft Dipl.Ing.Dr. Wilhelm Himmel - http://www.steiermark.at

VIDA, deine Gewerkschaft http://www.vida.at

Die Grüne Bildungswerkstadt Wien http://www.gbw-wien.atDie Grünen http://www.graz.gruene.at http://www.steiermark.gruene.at

Bio Ernte Steiermark http://www.ernte-steiermark.at Austrian Institute of Technologyhttp://www.ait.ac.at/mobility

Wiener Linien http://www.wienerlinien.atÖH BOKU: Studienvertretungen KTWW, LBT und UBRM http://oeh.boku.ac.atÖH Uni Graz: Studienvertretung USW, Fakultätsvertretung URBI and Alternativreferathttp://oeh.uni-graz.at http://www.umweltsystemwissenschaften.atGrüne Akademiehttp://www.gruene-akademie.atspirit of fire - Scheibelhofer GmbH & Co. KG http://www.spirit-of-fire.comForschungsgesellschaft Mobilität - Austrian Mobility Research http://www.fgm.atPricewaterhouse Coopers http://www.pwc.com/at/de/nachhaltigkeitKWB - Kraft und Wärme aus Biomasse GmbHhttp://www.kwb.atIGF - Interessengemeinschaft Fahrradhttp://lobby.ig-fahrrad.org

SupportersAbsolventInnenverein Umweltsystemwissenschaftenhttp://www.umweltsystemwissenschaften.atArge Kompost & Biogashttp://www.kompost-biogas.infoblp GeoServices gmbh http://www.blpgeo.atGrüne und Alternative StudentInnen http://www.gras.atOIKOS Grazhttp://graz.oikos-international.orgRCE - Regional Center of Expertise Graz-Styria http://www.rce-graz.atRad & Reisenhttp://www.radreisen.at/ SOLID Solarinstallation und Designhttp://www.solid.atVIRUShttp://virus.wuk.at

First Name Surname Country of StudyElona Muci Albania Sejnada Beshku Albania Andreas Kreuzeder Austria (Graz)Anton Sentic Austria (Graz)Christian Kozina Austria (Graz)Christina Scheiber Austria (Graz)Franz Fuchs Austria (Graz)Isabelle Scheibelhofer Austria (Graz)Johannes Draxler Austria (Graz)Julian Fink Austria (Graz)Martin Guggenberger Austria (Graz)Stefanie Peßenteiner Austria (Graz)Stephan Kupsa Austria (Graz)Veronika Draxler Austria (Graz)Alex Rüther Austria (Vienna)Anjoulie Brandner Austria (Vienna)Anna Unterköfler Austria (Vienna)Bettina Pöllinger Austria (Vienna)David Biegl Austria (Vienna)Huem Otero Austria (Vienna)Klaus Jarosch Austria (Vienna)Margarethe Staudner Austria (Vienna)Maria Clar Austria (Vienna)Robert Glanz Austria (Vienna)Robert Schönegger Austria (Vienna)Onur Fidangul Belgium Amra Hasagic Bosnia and Herzegovina Belma Selimovic Bosnia and Herzegovina Nadja Bascausevic Bosnia and Herzegovina Billa Cyprian Cameroun Ana Stosic Croatia Ante Matulić Croatia Dubravko Bogović Croatia Ivan Puzek Croatia Ivana Trinajstić Croatia Margarita Miletić Croatia Marija Bilandžija Croatia Mario Dimač Croatia Matija Penezić Croatia Morana Starčević Croatia Petra Kutlesa Croatia Petra Skuljevic Croatia Sonja Jelić Croatia Sonja Potocnik Croatia Zorana Divić Draganić Croatia Anastasios Tsiolakidis Denmark Maili Lehtpuu Estonia Fatih Cengiz Finland

The Participants

First Name Surname Country of StudyFoad Younis al-Sudani Finland Heini Karvinen Finland Iida-Elina Kiminki Finland Philip Luthardt GermanyAdelwin Bothe Germany Anne Siemons Germany Daniel Holtermann Germany Jana Edlinger Germany Josefine Springer Germany Luise Heym Germany Marcus Behrendt Germany Nina Moehrle Germany Maria Ntovantzi Greece Annamária Szalóki Hungary Norbert Koncz Hungary Noam Leiter Israel Francesco Neri ItalyEdgar Uggiano Italy Roberto Urso Italy Veronica Neri Italy Arabi Abdelhaq JordanAlen Nurkenov Kazakhstan Rania Alam Lebanon Zdravko Andonovski Macedonia Masa Stojanovic Montenegro José Edson Mesquita Cândido Portugal Chien-Tsang Shen Republic of China Maksim Gridasov Russia Ramona Lescesen SerbiaDajana Hrnjez Serbia Ivana Kohutková Slovakia Michaela Mackovova Slovakia Rastislav Krivosudsky Slovakia Veronika Tatarkova Slovakia Veronika Veselská Slovakia Irena Sovdat Slovenia Lara Kastelic Slovenia Simon Guštin Slovenia Tomislav Tkalec Slovenia Alexandro Leverkus Fierro Mexico (Spain)Blanca Ruiz-Echarri Spain Carmen Sánchez García Spain Carmen Hernández Esclapez Spain Cristóbal Rodríguez Coca Spain Yguanira Muhren Spain Andrea Gammeter Switzerland Aurélie Vuilliomenet Switzerland Dominik Julian Egger Switzerland Francesca Gambazzi Switzerland

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EuroEnviro2010 09

EuroEnviro The History

2010Graz and Vienna, Austria: “Sustainable Lifestyle - Ideas for Consumption and Mobility”2009Rostock, Greifswald and Berlin, Germany: “Renewable Energies - Possibilities and Limits”2008Soomaa National Park, Estonia: “PAN Parks”2007Skopje, Republic of Macedonia: “Ecotourism – Discovering the Hidden Natural Treasures”2006Geneva, Switzerland: “Food: An Environmen-tal Perspective”2005Seville, Spain: “Environmental Communica-tion and Education”2004Bucharest, Romania: “Preserving Nature and Culture Through Tourism”2003Paris, France: “Eye to eye on Sustainable Development”

2002Belgrade, Serbia: “Sustainable Development – Considering the Environment During Socio-economic Transition”2001Aberdeen, Scotland: “Industry and Environ-ment”2000Moscow, Russia: “Our Common European Heritage”1999Évora, Portugal: “Mediterranean Ecosystem”1998Graz and Vienna, Austria: “Water and Groundwater Ecology”1997Zürich, Switzerland: “European Freight Transport and Traffic”1996Krakow, Poland: “Humans and its Environ-ment”1995Born, Germany: “First Round: The National Park”

The EuroEnviro was created in 1995 in Born on the peninsula Darß (Mecklenburg - Vorpommern, Germany). The aim was to exchange opinions internationally with students on environmental sciences and ecopolitical issues. Since 1995 the meeting has taken place in many European coun-tries all over the continent.

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The program of the EuroEnviro 2010 offered ten interesting days focusing on options for a sustainable lifestyle.By having diversified days with workshops, excursions, discussions and lectures, stu-dents from all over the world got to know each other in an international environ-ment. This framework offered the opportu-nity for the participants from 30 countries to discover the heart of the continent, and gain deep insight and experience on the topic of “Sustainable Lifestyle”.

The Opening:The program was opened by a city rally through the city of Graz in order to get to know the new town and to start to think about the EuroEnviro‘s topic “Sustaina-ble Lifestyle”. After the rally an official public opening of the EuroEnviro 2010 was held. This included an interesting plenary discussion where thinkers and doers from politics, science, and the business world were invited.

Sustainable Lifestyle: Focus on Consumption (Graz)The following days mainly consisted of lectures and workshops. Therefore scien-tists, people involved in NGOs, companies, and other research institutes were invited to share their knowledge. The days started with lectures and then moved on to more specialized workshops where participants got the chance for hands-on experiences.

Sustainable Lifestyle: Best Practice (Graz, Ökoregion Kaindorf, Pöllau)To create a useful knowledge and an exciting experience some excursions to local sustai-nable companies were organized. Amongst others participants visited a chocolate manuf-actury or the Eco-Region Kaindorf. Afterwards the group of students stopped in a rural region, geographically right between Graz and Vienna, for one day. This allowed them to escape from the stress of the cities, and gave them time to relax and to focus more on the topic.

Sustainable Lifestyle: Focus on Mobility (Vienna)The last days in Vienna were dedicated to the field of mobility. Like in Graz a mixture of lectures and hands-on workshops were provi-ded. Workshops and excursions on mobility were especially focused on practical hands-on experiences. This included the construction of crazy-bikes, public actions raising aware-ness, bike-tours and excursions to regional best-practice examples.

The End: Election of the EuroEnviro 2011 host countryAfter the final lecture an intensive feedback round was held to gather experiences and to further improve the upcoming EuroEnviro. This session included the election of next year‘s host nation for the EuroEnviro 2011 - Croatia was chosen from three interested host countries. A farewell party put an end to the EuroEnviro 2010. It was a great time - we all enjoyed it!

The EuroEnviro 2010 took place in Graz and Vienna, Austria. Students from Europe and even further away met for ten days, starting on May 8th.

EuroEnviro 2010 The Program

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An Introduction to Some Aspects on Sustainable Lifestyle.

Sustainable Lifestyle

Sustainable LifestyleRecognizing the need for sustainability is usually not a big issue. Most people do agree with the simple, but theoretical implication that one cannot take more than exists or can be re-grown. However, when the question is raised to change behavior, or more generally speaking a lifestyle, the willingness to accept constraints shrinks. Even more, there are so many different approaches, open questions and leading or misleading information that there is no consent on how such a sustainable lifestyle might look like. However, it is certain that a change of our conventional “developed” lifestyle is necessary to ensure an acceptable way of living for our children and grandchild-ren.

The success of implementing sustainable lifestyles is believed to be contingent upon the existence of an “informed public”. Many campaigns aim to create such awareness and have been quite successful over the last few years in doing so. But, why is this awareness not acted upon and how comes the “attitude-action gap” into existence? Is it a lack of spe-cific scientific knowledge or useful behavioral information in the public arena? Is there someone to blame in the fields of science, politics or is it really every one’s own business and responsibility to act in a sustainable way? There are many more questions to be asked but answers are hard to find.

The topic of sustainable lifestyle is hard to understand and define. The “official” point of view about sustainability was first postulated in the so called Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and De-velopment in 1987: “Believing that sustaina-ble development, which implies meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, should become a central guiding principle of the United Nations, governments and private institutions, organizations and enterprises” 1

The United Nations also hold consumption and production responsible for the innumera-ble “sustainable destruction” of our environ-ment: “(…) the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries (…)” 2

Obviously, this is understandable but in fact sustainable lifestyle is very vaguely defined and therefore it is hard to get a grasp on. This might explain the fact that usually this topic is not well covered in media. However, there have been recent movements sparking public interest and at least offering a projection area for public discussion. Opposing the approach of consumerism new ways of dealing with the modern world of goods and services like LO-

1 http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/42/ares42-187.htm2 http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?DocumentID=52&ArticleID=52&l=en

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HAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) or LOVOS (Lifestyles of Voluntary Simplici-ty) have popped up. Although, they only offer a more or less applicable set of principles for a daily use. These approaches have been exposed to criticism from both, the environ-mentalists as well as people who do not care about the environment at all.

Two main areas of a sustainable lifestyle are consumption and mobility – both were the fields of interest during the EuroEnviro 2010.

Consumption and MobilityGreen consumption or sustainable consump-tion are terms that mean different things to people. In any context, there are alternative discourses that surround alternative forms of green buying, which might pertain to a range of activities, from purchasing fairly traded tea bags to buying organic meat. This is based on the assumptions, that (i) consumers as the last part of the consumption chain can use their power to change the whole line of production, and (ii) everyone can act as a role-model which then performs as a catalyst when it comes to spread sustainable behavio-ral patterns. However, there is no general set of principles or rules for sustainable consumption or mo-bility. Even more severe, in some cases, these behaviors appear to be in conflict: buying local food to support local producers as com-pared to purchasing organically farmed pro-ducts. For the question of mobility a similar contradiction can be found when it comes to shopping: Should I use my car to buy the best quality, i. e. organic food, directly from local farmers or should I simply buy what I find in the grocery store around the corner without using any form of transport?These examples show the difficult nature of

the topic and it also illustrates why many people still reject to deal with the subject. The idea itself, as attractive it might be, also lacks an agreement on what is sustainable and what isn’t. Instead, there is split in different approaches and directions. Recent advertising from all kinds of products has also shown that everyone wants to be green – but mostly in a limited area where it is easy and com-fortable. This tendency to “Green-Washing” creates a tension between the ones pointing out that minor improvements are better than none and others strictly rejecting sustainabili-ty for marketing purposes.

OutlookTalking about sustainability means that there is not only the environmental aspect to be con-sidered. There are also economical and social dimensions to be addressed. These ever-expan-ding indicators which are used as proxies for green consumption, have necessarily diluted the environmental dimension and incorpora-ted numerous alternative discourses that relate more readily to sustainability in general.

Recognizing the need for sustainable lifestyle does not necessarily mean that the “barriers to action” can be overcome. It is, especial-ly for those who consider themselves as moderate environmentalist, not easy to adapt behavior. Therefore it is absolutely necessary for policymakers, NGOs and also private companies to mobilize in a policy arena. Any move towards sustainability and sustainable lifestyles will be a gradual process but must be seen in the context of a holistic move towards new lifestyles, incorporating habitual elements that cross conventional behavioral boundaries.

Stephan Kupsa and Andreas Kreuzeder

014 EuroEnviro2010

After a good night‘s sleep and a good breakfast we were eager to start our Euro-Enviro 2010 experience. The Organizing team gathered everybody in front of the hostel and sent us off into the world with nothing more than a map of Graz and some tasks! Small groups of brave parti-cipants endeavored to complete the City Rally‘s tasks, to get to know the wonderful city of Graz as well as each other. With cameras in our hands and sustainability on our mind we walked through Graz and enjoyed the sights. We were thrilled by the new – such as Kunsthaus Graz and the Murinsel and loved the old - such as the Hofbäckerei (Bakery) Edegger-Tax and the Clocktower on the Schlossberg. After this short introduction to the city we were excited for the opening of this year‘s EuroEnviro. The venue of the grand ope-ning was located in one of the old buildings of the University - so the sightseeing was not over after all. All of the Organizing team members were dressed up for the event and a lot of prominent speakers came to greet us and to open the EuroEnviro. We were greeted by representatives of the City

of Graz and the Karl-Franzens University. They expressed their gratitude and support for our interest in ecological topics and sustainability. The plenary discussion was very interesting and intense. The speakers raised a lot of questions and gave a few con-troversial statements. Consequently there were a lot of comments from the audience and the discussions were spilled to the halls and around the buffet tables. This gave us a good idea of what was to come in the next days of the symposium.

It was time to relax and get to know more participants of the EuroEnviro. Our hosts prepared a big map of Europe on which we had to leave messages and marks of our home countries. Soon we had a lot of fun with the map, redrawing the borders of Europe and making up ways of better con-nections among the countries, all of which were sustainable alternatives of course. At the end of the first day the ice was broken and we were ready for more fun and more activities together.

Morana Starčević

EuroEnviro 2010 - Getting Started

Saturday, May 8th

The EuroEnviro StoneTo keep the EuroEnviro in our minds a stone was unveiled at the campus of the University of Graz.

The Plenary DiscussionThe opening ceremony inclu-ded a plenary discussion with experts from NGOs, the private sector and universities.

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Although it was Sunday we were up for an early start. It was time to deal with the concept of sustainability. The first lecture was held by Dr. Birgit Bednar-Friedl on “The Challenge of Sustainable Consum-pion”. We learned how we can affect the environment by simply changing our consumption pattern and how consumpti-on varies along the lines of class, income and education. This was the first of many times on this EuroEnviro that vegetari-anism, public transport and fair trade products were mentioned as sustainable choices. The definitions and redefinitions of sustainability followed us through out the week and soon we started to comment on each others actions as “sustainable” and “not sustainable”. The spirit of EuroEnviro had taken us over! Next it was time for a law perspective of corporate responsibility and sustainable be-havior by Dr. Rajko Knez. We discussed how corporations can be forced to be ethical in their treatment of the environment, workers and consumers.For lunch we had a chance to experience sustainability in a adorable little café which serves fair trade products and offers vege-

tarian meals. After a quick lunch we were splitting up again according to the work-shops we had chosen. I attended a workshop called Parkis Tschanta – knitting purses from plastic bags. It was nice to do some work with our hands after sitting through lectures in the morning. Boys and girls alike wrestled with long plastic threads. In the end everyone managed to make something out of it - some better than others. We enjoyed our lesson in upcycling and gender equality in one.During dinner we chatted about the diffe-rent workshops, which we had attended and we were excited about having more fun to-gether in the evening. We also had a chance to see a photo-exhibition on the problems of agriculture in Spain:http://www.forumcivique.org

More ice-breaking and fun followed at the International Night where we showed off what we had brought from our home countries and offered it to the other partici-pants, who did the same. We ate and drank and danced the night away.

Morana Starčević

Lectures, Workshops and the International Night

Sunday, May 9th

The WorkshopsSustainable Lifestyle addresses many different dimensions of our daily actions. In the first workshops we got aware of this complexity.

The International NightWith so many people from diffe-rent countries and cultures, we had brought together a unique group. And every country con-tributed a unique taste, drink or music during the internatio-nal night.

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Monday, May 10th

Today‘s lectures were all about scientific measu-ring of sustainability and the importance of its measuring.The first lecture of the day was held by Prof. Dr. Manfred Prisching. He talked about the sociolo-gical dimensions of sustainability and about the ways of measuring our impact on the environ-ment and sustainability itself. His lecture raised a lot of questions. The participants of the Euro-Enviro 2010 always had energy for discussions even though they partied hard every night. After the coffee break we dealt with one specific method of measuring our impact on the envi-ronment: Nikolaus Reinberg explained how to measure our ecological footprint and introdu-ced us to some relevant research which used this method.After lunch it was time for workshops again. In the workshop “Practical applications of sustai-nability in corporate culture” we had a chance to hear from first hand how it is to work and be a part of two Austrian companies: Sauber-macher and KWB. Representatives of those two companies introduced the philosophies of their companies, their corporate culture and the impact of their companies on sustainability. Although those companies pay a lot of attention both to the environment and their workers,

there were a lot of suggestions from the par-ticipants of the workshop on how they could improve. The participants of EuroEnviro never retire from questioning the status quo and de-manding more and better results from compa-nies and individuals which have an significant impact on the environment. After the representatives of the companies had left, it was time for us to use our knowledge and ideas to create a production and marketing plan for a sustainable beverage. I have to admit that this assignment was my favorite formal EuroEn-viro 2010 experience. Both the group in charge of creating the production and the one for cre-ating the marketing plan had a great brainstor-ming and did a great job implementing all the ideals of sustainability in creating our EuroEn-viro Drink. This was a great opportunity to talk to other participants in small groups and to see their views on sustainability and corporate cul-ture. We left the classroom full of energy and optimism as we saw that it would be possible to have a different economic system and more sustainable food production.After dinner it was time for a farewell party as we were leaving Graz the next day.

Morana Starčević

EuroEnviro BagsKnitting Bags from used plasc-tic bags - that was one of the most challenging tasks for the participants of the workshops.

Corporate ExpertsThe workshops at the EuroEn-viro were held by experts from NGOs, Universities and compa-nies. Especially the representa-tives from PriceWaterhouseCo-opers, KWB and Saubermacher introduced the participants to the world of corporations.

Our last Day in Graz: Energetic Discussions

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Tuesday, May 11th

It was the fifth day of our stay in Austria and it was time to leave Graz. We packed our bags and after a big breakfast, we went to visit the Zotter chocolate factory by bus. I was really excited and didn‘t know what to expect. When we arrived, I was impressed with the architectural design of the factory. It is a relatively small building but decorated with a lot of attention. The yard was decorated with sculptures that showed different people in caricaturistic poses. At the entrance we got a spoon that became our closest compa-nion during the tour through the factory. After a short presentation of the factory owner, our journey through the world of chocolate began. First we had a chance to try unprocessed cacao beans from different countries of South America. Only the bravest could eat more then one cacao bean because they are very bitter. The next room was very educational as we got all the important information about the production of chocolate. However most of us were more interested in the chocolate fountain but it turned out that it was only for the bravest because it contained 100% cacao. Therefore it was as bitter as the raw cacao beans we had before. In the next room we could try different chocolates lined up according to the content of cacao. I discovered that my taste buds prefer chocolate with maximum 70% cacao. We could also smell different spices and ingredients that are used for making chocolate

such as cinnamon, different flowers, vanilla etc. Then we came to a long corridor where we could taste all types of chocolate the factory produces. I tried to take a bite of every single one but it was a ‘mission impossible’ so I tasted only those with a special flavor. When we entered the next room, hospitable employees welcomed us with a glass full of warm milk. All kinds of little chocolate bars were circling through the room waiting for us to choose any of them to make a delicious drink. It‘s amazing what they can do with cho-colate and what combinations they invented (for example a chocolate with fish or bacon). We left the factory full and satisfied and went to visit the second place planned for that day – Eco Region Kaindorf. In a beautiful hotel we had lunch (although we were not hungry because of all the chocolate we had eaten that morning) and saw a presentation about the Eco-Region Kaindorf. It‘s admirable how people of that area organised themselves in an attempt to live, eat and travel in a more sustainable way. They include all levels of society in that effort from mayor to consumer. Some of us had an oportunity to visit a butche-ry which is declared as sustainable and 100% Austrian. In the evening we arrived in Pöllau, a beautiful place near a Nature Park. We spent that evening playing table tennis, volleyball, and hanging out around the campfire.

Petra Skuljevic

Chocolate, Eco-Region and the Quiet Island of Pöllau

The Chocolate FactorySustainability and luxury? Yes, the chocolate company Zotter combines marvellous chocolate with organic and fair-trade approaches. And everyone en-joyed the tour at the chocolate museum.

Being togetherBeing busy with all the ideas and influences might prevent people from meeting each other. The campfire was the perfect opportunity to do just that.

018 EuroEnviro2010

Wednesday, May 12th

It was comfortable and magical to wake up in a peaceful, fresh and rural place like Pöllau. I felt like I was in some other dimen-sion, everyone seemed so relaxed. Unfortu-nately, from that day on, it was constantly raining. We spent the morning doing free activities. Some went for a walk in Nature Park Pöllauer Tal (those who didn’t mind the rain and had suitable shoes and raincoats), some played a role play (very interesting

game about understanding and tolerance between diametrically opposite groups of people), and some just relaxed. After lunch people who had prepared presentations had their chance to share it with others. Some people rented bikes and went to explore the settlements nearby. We were surrounded by nature and didn’t have the possibility to scatter around so we looked for entertain-ment together, we talked, joked, exchanged opinions and experiences. That afternoon I learned a lot about other countries and the way they function and, more importantly, I got to know nice and interesting people. For me, the days in Pöllau were definitely the best ones.

Petra Skuljevic

Peaceful and Quiet - a Day to Recharge our Batteries

PresentationsEveryone has a story to tell! The participants discussed with the lecturers.

Vienna field toursThe program in Vienna included field tours, hands-on workshops and excursions as well as lec-tures.

The audienceListen carefully! Participants following the presentations of their colleagues during the pre-sentations-session in Pöllau.

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Thursday, May 13th

It was our first day in Vienna. We arrived early in the morning and with no time to waste we went to the beautiful University of Vienna. The-re we heard a welcome speech from the Vienna organizing team and the first two lectures on the topic of mobility. The first lecture was held by the brilliant Dr. Klaus Renoldner. The 61 year old doctor, who travelled half the world with his work, held an inspirational lecture on the way our lifestyle affects our health and climate change in a globalized world. This lecture was accompanied by a short presentation of the doctor’s foldable bicycle which he uses for his everyday move-ment and also for his vacation with his family. It made us all think about the changes, that we as young individuals could do. After a short discussion we had a coffee break and we went to the next lecture.It was held by Gudrun Uranitsch, mobility consultant of the city of Graz, who talked more about different mobility patterns today. I found it rather interesting, especially the parts that were discussing the difference in mobility between men and women. The lecture gave us scientific proof that women do a million diffe-rent things in one day, which of course lead to an intense discussion after the lecture.We had lunch in the University yard, which consisted of a healthy and environmentally friendly mixture of everything - admittedly a quite new experience for some of us. Right afterwards the best part was there – the work-shops. I was in a Crazy Bike workshop and I was expecting that we would have some discus-sions and sketching to do. But the workshop

was quite the opposite - it was real work! We went to a bike workshop which is part of the WUK (Werkstätten und Kulturhaus). There we met Jasper, our mentor for the next two afternoons. He instructed us that the point of the workshop is to create real, physical bikes, that we can use and that they should also have some sort of crazy design. The idea was brilliant – including us, in the process of creation made us understand the bikes much better. Searching for parts, cutting metal, welding, being all gre-asy, made us unusually happy and creative. We worked on two different designs – a chopper bike for two, with only one pair of pedals and steering wheel and a taxi bike consistent of two welded bikes with a third seat in the middle. The workshop inspired us to be creative and see the fun side of the bikes and also to make us think of how to encourage people to use bikes more often. The project was not finished on the first day, so we left some work for the next day and went to our hostel. Unfortunately the weather in Vienna was not on our side, so we had to fight a storm, wait for a tram that was horribly late and we had to find unknown bus lines just to get to our hostel. Due to the weather problems the hostel was out of electricity so we felt really sustainable finding the rooms in the dark and saving some of the world‘s much needed energy. Poor weather did not stop us from continuing the evening in a good mood, searching for good Viennese pubs and discussing the day’s events. We were all looking forward to the next day and also some good night‘s sleep.

Margarita Miletić

First Day in Vienna – a Mixture of Bad Weather, Good Lectures and „Crazy” Work-shops. After Two Relaxing Days in Pöllau, the Real Work was Ahead.

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Friday, May 14th

On our second day in Vienna we had a tight schedule so we had to get up pretty early, eat breakfast quickly and then travel with haste through Vienna‘s traffic to arrive on time for our morning lectures. All lectures were interesting and educational. Themes were mobility (the central idea was that every individual has responsibility towards our planet and environment in a way that she/he should walk and cycle instead of driving a car. If an individual has to travel long distances she/he should use trains, boats or public transport whenever possible) and climate change (What is our impact on the process, can we reduce it individually? etc.). Anyway, in conclusion to the lectures, the most important thing we can do to help our planet was to become vegetarians - or vegans if possible ;-). After an exhausting morning we had a lunch break and then the afternoon workshops continued. They were all about mobility (E-cars, bicycle tours, utility bikes, etc). I was on a workshop called Utility Bikes. This workshop was definitely the best at the EuroEnviro. We had these very cool

‘utility’ bikes that are used for transporting heavy loads. They are robust and strong but very hard to control, especially on the traffic-heavy streets in Vienna. Our objec-tive was to help some girl move from one apartment to another. Sounds hard? Well it wasn’t!

It was, actually, very easy and fun because we had 12 bikes. Two were ‘heavy duty’, meaning, they could carry a LOT of stuff ! We started at the old apartment where we placed all the things that had to be moved on our bikes, secured them with wires and ropes and then we maneuvered around the city while avoiding traffic. After this fun and relaxing ride we arrived at our destination, the new flat, where we unloaded everything and had some pizza (of course it was vegeta-rian) and local beer which was provided by our lovely and grateful hosts. I just want to repeat what I said before: this was THE best workshop during this EuroEnviro period.

Matija Penezić

Impressive Hands-on Workshops, Interesting Lectures and Great Experiences for the Daily Life

ExhibitionsEven the breaks during the lec-tures were used to familiarize with new topics.

The networkThe very center of the EuroEnvi-ro vision is the network. Thanks to all students for participating, for sharing your ideas and visi-ons and hopefully there will be a day when we meet again.

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Saturday, May 15th

The last day in Vienna was also the last day of EuroEnviro. After breakfast, we were di-vided in three groups to set off on different adventures. I was supposed to have a bike tour through Vienna but we encountered troubles in getting hold of them (the door lock would not open). Finally, we set off for our bike-tours on foot, which allowed us to enjoy the beauty of Vienna slowly. Our tour guide was good, and the whole tour was very nice and, in the end, everything turned out just fine.

After lunch we had presentations and some feedback-time. The most interesting and interactive presentation was the one of the Crazy Bike workshop. During our time in Vienna they built two very ‘crazy’ bikes. One was a trio-bike made of two bikes welded together on their sides with a seat in the middle. A third person could sit there and issue commands to the drivers. Riding this bike is hard but not as hard as riding the

other ‘crazy’ bike: This one was an insane tandem with a flexible joint between the riders made of rubber. This bike was almost impossible to ride but some managed to make a couple of circles around the street.

After the presentations it was time to give the organizers some feedback. We shared our opinions about the EuroEnviro and tangled ourselves in wool strings together. The last thing we had to do before having a wild party was to elect next year’s hosting country. The competition was tough but, in the end, Croatia got the honors. As I said be-fore, after the elections we had a wild party/dinner which was awesome. After the party we went to sleep with big smiles on our faces and great satisfaction in our hearts. This Eu-roEnviro was truly magnificent in all of its aspects. Congratulations to the organizing team, you people rock!

Matija Penezić

The Last Day of the EuroEnviro:Final Workshops and Excursions, the Election of Next Years Host Country and the Farewell Party

The Crazy BikesIs sustainability fun? Yes, it is! In the workshop Crazy-Bikes the participants could construct their own bikes for transport or just for fun.

The electionThe election of next years host country was the crowning of the whole program. The restult: The EuroEnviro 2011 is held in Croatia!

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The “EuroEnviro 2010 - World”

We are EuroEnviro

crítica

amor

famiglia

serious

Freude

succès

Represented CountriesAlbaniaAustriaBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaCameroonCroatiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandGermanyGreeceHungaryIraqIsraelItaly

JordanKazakhstanLebanonMacedoniaMexicoMontenegroPortugalRussiaSerbiaSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwitzerlandTaiwanTurkey

EuroEnviro2010 023

Presentations

Highlighting Some of the Slides Shown at the Special-Issues Presentations, Lectures and Talks.

024 EuroEnviro2010

Special IssueUN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is seeking to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. This goal can only be reached with adequate education and a general awareness for sustainability in society. In recognition of the importance of educa-tion for sustainable development, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2005-2014 the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The UNESCO leads the Decade and has developed an international implemen-tation scheme for the decade. The goals of the decade are to provide an opportunity for refining and promoting the vision of, and tran-sition to, sustainable development – through all forms of education, public awareness and training and to give an enhanced profile to the important role of education and learning in sustainable development.

Education for sustainable development aims to help people to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge to make informed decisions for the benefit of themselves and others, now and in the future, and to act upon these decisions.

Sustainable development is a vision of development that encompasses populations, animal and plant species, ecosystems, natural resources and that integrates concerns such as the fight against poverty, gender equality, hu-man rights, education for all, health, human security, intercultural dialogue, etc.

The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), for which UNESCO is the lead agency, seeks to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, in order to address the social, economic, cultural and environ-mental problems we face in the 21st century.

The EuroEnviro 2010 was held as a project focusing on sustainability and embedded in an international students environment. We are very pleased to be awarded as a project of the UN decade of Education for Sustainable De-velopment 2010. We hope that the EuroEnviro project inspires people in the daily struggle of acting responsibly and in a sustainable way.

Education for Sustainable Development

The Ceremonial ActPictures of the organizers and UNESCO representatives at the ceremonial act as the EuroEnvi-ro 2010 was officially awarded as a project of the UN decade of education for sustainable development.

Photos: © ÖUK/Lorenz Seidler

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Special IssueAn Alternative Approach to Food

A co-op Experience in Southern Spain

The Agro ecological co-op “Hortigas” is situated in the Lecrin Valley, about 40 km outside the city of Granada. Its aim is to create an alternative approach to food production, distribution, and consumption, with the final goal of establishing food sovereignty and mutual support with other groups. Six years ago the co-op was founded and currently consists of about 150 people. It is based on agro ecology which we consider a tool for production, a critical attitude, and a social strategy.

How Does it Work?The co-op comprises 77 units (which can be shared by more than one person) divided in 7 groups (11 units per group) and one field group. There are weekly group gatherings on which every unit receives their vegetables and where current issues are discussed. There are also biweekly meetings of representatives and general assemblies on important topics two to three times a year. Absolute consensus must be reached for any decision to go through.The field group consists of three people who work at the farm. They live in a rented house, get their living expenses paid and earn their living from the co-op. Those are young people who used to live in Granada and used to hold a “unit” before.The land has been lent to them by farmers or former farmers who do not cultivate it anymore. Usually there are no written contracts only the verbal permission to farm it.Responsibilities exist on different levels: unit, group, co-op… The basic responsibilities (we don´t like calling them “duties”) of a unit are to assist to the assemblies, to pay a monthly fee, and to work in our fields one day every five weeks. At the group level, there are different responsibili-ties according to the current needs of the co-op. Sometimes, all the groups are called to select two people to work on a specific day, the so-called “green days”, when a lot of work must be done by many people. Other group responsibilites are to make sure the group´s fees are completed, that

representatives assemblies are attended, that so-meone is in each commission, etc. Commissions and “groups” are created for different purposes: Commissions cover important issues and many people are needed. They must have one represen-tative of each group. “Groups” might not be that important and are formed by enthusiasts. For example commissions deal with health issues, with agricultural planning or with gaining new members. Groups deal with bees, plagues or orange trees.The weekly “Orchard´s Journal” which is distri-buted for the weekly assembly, states the points for discussions at the reps assembly, feedback is asked on certain events, groups or commissions can share what they are working on, or publish anything we “need”, “offer”, or “recommend”, excluding any commercial exchange. Through this means we are also informed about any events such as talks, parties, or the yearly agro - Olym-pic games that are organized. We try to support other projects as well. We have friendships with other Andalusian co-ops and when there is some urgent work to be done we go and help out. We also have an “extra-products” commission, which works as a link between producers of cheese, bread, oranges, avocados, jelly, and other organic products, and the consumers of our co-op. We are currently working on also including non-food products on the list.

Things work fairly well, social structures as well as friendships are built. For many people Hortigas is a reason to stay in Granada, and we currently receive a lot of vegetables. However, there are obviously issues we need to deal with, some of them temporarily and others constant-ly. These include the lack of participation of a lot of people, the strong people turnover every summer, the dependence on certain people from the village, the lack of agricultural know-how (we are no farmers!), the uncertainty over land in the long-term, etc.

Alex Leverkus

During the debates and talks in Graz we heard a lot about the problems and issues related to the process of food production, distri-bution and consumption. Some of these included:- Agriculture based on agribusi-

ness: Loss of soil fertility, polluti-on, erosion, GMO crops, loss of biodiversity.

- Market-based production: Who gets the benefit?

- Loss of farmers´ autonomy: dependence on multinationals and politics.

- Distribution in the world- The gap between producers and

consumers- Public health issues- Alternative approaches are

unknown to society, etc.

What are the advantages of such a Co-op: - Environmentally friendly agricu-

lture based on human work - Production for own consumpti-

on only - Total autonomy: horizontal

structure, no legal framework - Works as a social transformation

strategy, it is a real alternative for food

- Totally localized: save know-ledge, seeds, relationships

- Producer = consumer - Own health approaches - Highly dynamic

026 EuroEnviro2010

Special Issue A Virus Called Car …

… dominates our brain, says traffic expert Her-mann Knoflacher. Within the symposium „Euro Enviro“ on may 14th in Vienna he unmasked the myths upon which the current traffic planning is based.

“You are all infected! You have a virus in your brains and you’re not aware of it”, says Knoflacher. The virus is called car and domi-nates our brains. The current way of city- and traffic-planning does not fulfil the needs of the pedestrians but those of the cars. That this principle is accepted without questioning is the result of a “lifelong brainwash”, the pro-fessor of the technical university of Vienna pointed out.

In the opinion of Knoflacher, our society is a society of pedestrians. From the beginning of our existence on - six to eight million years ago – we have moved at a speed between 2 to 5 kilometres per hour on foot. Before the beginning of the mechanisation of transport, the sizes of settlements and cities, but also the culture and the value system, were of a dimension that oriented itself towards the people: Everything necessary for everyday life was within walking distance. The public space belonged to the pedestrians, it was a place of encounter and encouraged social interaction on urban squares that were interlinked by narrow and winding alleys.

Today our public space is limited to sidewalks. Since 150 to 200 years ago, due to the use of cheap fossil fuels, new technologies of trans-port have been developed in rapid succession: first the bicycle, next – as a mean of mass

transport – the coal powered railway, followed by the invention of the car, the airplane and telecommunication. The unity “human being” and “car” and the resulting acceleration fasci-nated people. This development “happened so fast that no one really understood it. It was too much for all disciplines, politicians and society in general”, says Knoflacher. According to Knoflacher, current traffic planning is based on presumptions that politicians and experts try to make us believe all our life but which lack any scientific basis. Time saving, increase of mobility and the free choice of the means of transport, for Knoflacher these presumptions are nothing but myths.

Saving time by using the car – one of three myths. Moving at a higher speed does not necessarily mean saving time. Knoflacher names the first of the three myths. Though all decisions con-cerning investments are currently based on this belief. However, “if this were true, socie-ties with a fast transportation system should have a lot of time “and we Austrians should then be very unhurried”, says Knoflacher ironically, “as we gained a great deal of time through moving fast”. In reality, the distances we cover are becoming longer. The result is a change in the structures of space and of economy: Villages become more and more

EuroEnviro2010 027

deserted, loss of local supply – especially in rural areas- appearance of shopping malls that can only be accessed by car testify to that. Within this newly created structure, the car becomes an inalienable mean of transport.Secondly Knoflacher questioned the myth of the “increase of mobility”. Each and every trip that makes us leave the house has a cer-tain purpose: We go to work, to university or shopping. The number of trips is a constant, throughout the world every person covers on the average three trips per day. An increase of mobility would mean than the number of trips per person rises. For that, the number of purposes that motivate us to leave the house, would have to rise, which is not ac-complished only by the fact of owning a car. However, the possession of a car provokes a shift in our behaviour: As a result of chan-ging structures, more trips are covered by car than by public transport or by foot. Mobility is getting more and more motorised, but it does not increase.

The freedom of choice of the mean of trans-port – the third myth – is not as free as it seems, as Knoflacher shows. Our behaviour is defined by physical and monetary structures that affect our choices. The determining fac-tor is the distance to the mean of transport. Enough parking space in front of the house makes people favour the car. In order to establish a real freedom of choice, the car has to be as far away from the home as the public transport, Knoflacher states.

Each and every one of us believes in the my-ths shown above. With the car as the ultimate benchmark, we do not realise how it controls our life, Knoflacher emphasizes. In the 100 years of its existence, the car has funda-mentally changed the culture and the values of our society. Thus, the results of present traffic planning are traffic jams, accidents, air pollution as well as the closing down of small shops and urban sprawl.

Driving has to become unattractive “The most important thing is to eliminate the car from our brains, because as long as it stays there it is going to influence everything that we do”, says Knoflacher. To change our mobility behaviour, structures that make driving unattractive have to be created. Garages and parking areas should be twice as far away from the home as the next two stops of the public transports. Parking areas within the city should be limited; car free areas, bike lanes and public transport should be expan-ded. Knoflacher is certain, that through this “slowdown” the small shops of local supply are going to return. To enforce such a new spacial planning is the challenge for politi-cians, experts and urban administration. The core of the problem, as Knoflacher sees it, is in the direct contact of people and cars: “As soon as one allows people to get in touch with a car, they are trapped”.

Eva Wimmer Translation: Margarethe Staudner

028 EuroEnviro2010

Dr. Klaus Renoldner arrived for his lecture on his foldable bike/folding bike from Neupölla, Lower Austria. For him there is no reason to renounce this means of transport – if he has to travel long distances, he simply takes it with him on the train. During the international symposium “Euro Enviro 2010” in Vienna, the medical scientist explained why it is better – for the environment as well as for us – to change our way of living.

In 1987 our way of living already caused en-ough concern so as to make the „Brundtland Report“ call for a more sustainable way to use global resources. Only by that our needs and those of succeeding generations could be satisfied. We should also be conscious of the fact that our way of living is particularly at the expense of the „developing countries“, Renoldner underlines. On the one hand, these countries provide resources the indus-trialized countries need, on the other hand it is especially those countries that suffer from the effects of the climate change that is largely caused by the consumption of these resour-ces.At the expense of „developing countries“, for instance, the cutting down of the Brazilian ra-inforest is pushed on; first is to sell the wood and secondly to use the clearances for the cultivation of soy or cane sugar, that is used for the production of bio fuel . Thus, people living in these areas are forced to look for a new place to live. Yet especially the forests are needed to assimilate the CO2-emissions and thus reduce the effects of the climate change – after all 20% of the increase of CO2 is attributed to deforestation, the remaining 80% result from the burning of fossil energy sources.The lifestyle of the wealthy countries – and especially their mobility – attributes dispro-portionately to the global rise of CO2-emissi-ons and thus to global warming. Phenomena of extreme weather and climatic catastrophes

such as storms or floods become more fre-quent and, consequently, can provoke famines and other catastrophes. The expansion of the Sahara, for example, leads to large migrati-on flows as the base of supply disappears by desertification.

How Climate Change Affects Health It is also because of their bad health supply that people in „developing countries“ are at a disadvantage, Renoldner explains. The World Health Organisation (WHO) names ten crite-ria that describe the relation between climate change and health:1. As a result of the increase of CO2-

emissions – they rose by 30% since the industrial Revolution – and the follow-ing global warming, disease patterns changed and the number of heat related fatalities rose.

2. Natural disasters became more frequent and led globally to more than 600 000 deaths. 95% of which occurred in „deve-loping countries“.

3. Strong fluctuations in temperature lead to heart- and respiratory diseases.

4. Respirable dust appears more frequent-ly or in a modified form – all of which increases the risk of asthma.

5. The rise of the sea level leads to floods in the costal areas and alongside great rivers.

6. Irregular precipitation can debase

Special Issue Cycling – Not Only for Health Reasons

EuroEnviro2010 029

sources of drinkable water, which has consequences on hygiene and health.

7. As a result of water shortage in the sup-ply area, families stock water at home, which increases the danger of infecting the water.

8. Climatic diseases such as diarrhea or malaria are worldwide the main causes of death.

9. Bad alimentation contributes indirectly to the susceptibility to diseases. Loss of crops – which could become more frequent as a result of the climate change – aggravates the situation.

10. Active measures to boost public trans-port, cycling or walking could help to reduce climate gases and lower the mortality rate.

Why Change our Lifestyle? In Austria the automobile traffic alone is responsible for 28% of the overall greenhouse gas emissions. But also the production of cars needs fossil fuels – not to forget the air traffic that increases steadily throughout the world. Dr. Renoldner tries to makes the audience aware that, even if mobility becomes more and more important, this development must not continue. We are living way beyond our me-ans – on the average every one of us produces 8,9 tons of CO2 per year. Our daily consumpti-on, our alimentation, the consumption within the household and transport contribute to this. Meat eaters, for example, produce indirectly a much larger amount of CO2 as Vegetarians. It is thus essential to change our own behaviour in order to save our planet. The lecturer explains he wanted to set an example and now prefers the bicycle in every situation– with the exception of cases where he has to see a patient urgently. In such situ-ations he is forced to take his hybrid car. But already switching to the train would reduce the CO2-emissions considerably, as the train needs – compared to the car – on the average 228 times less CO2 per kilometre and person. However, by going by bike the health system benefits as well.

Why Cycling? In the first place, cycling has positive effects on the personal health; it boosts the cardiovas-cular system and the lungs as well as the me-tabolic system. It strengthens the muscles, the articulations and the bone structure. Also, the nervous system and the immune system bene-fit from it. Moreover, cycling is also healthy for fellow citizens since no greenhouse gases are produced and the air in general is cleaner and the health risk diminishes. Although under some circumstances cycling can be uncomfortable and needs a lot of effort, Renoldner thinks, that it is worth to accept the challenge. In case of rain or heavy luggage measures can be taken – however they have to be well planned. To learn this, a change of our way of living is necessary. Luckily there are special vehicles that allow the transportation of almost all kinds of loads, e.g. cargo- and electro-bikes or light mobiles (enclosed bicy-cles) for people who do not like the wind.

No Excuses! To highlight the advantages of the bike compa-red to the car, the doctor acts on the assump-tion of a distance of 10 000km per year. Going by bike takes 1h longer per day than going by car, however, one saves 3000 Euro and 2 1/2t of CO2. Also, the “daily work-out” makes it unnecessary to go to the fitness center – thus compensating for the longer ride to work. After all these convincing arguments, the visi-tors of the EuroEnviro remain sceptical about how many people are really going to try to change their lifestyle. Someone in the audience asks, how he – the lecturer himself – managed to do this. Renoldner answers that the most important factor – of course – is motivation. He always took the bike a lot but always had enough excuses in order not to change com-pletely. But one day he really tried and realised, that it was not so hard after all. Above all, you need good logistics, then there are no more excuses.

Simone TumfartTranslation: Margarethe Staudner

034 EuroEnviro2010

VetBIB - the Network after EuroEnviro!

EuroEnviro is a great student network!But how can we preserve it after university? The solution is VetBIB!

VetBIB is a made-up word of “veterans” and “BIB”. BIB is the forerunner of EuroEnviro and stands for “Born in Born” because Born, located on the peninsula Darss at the Baltic Sea in Ger-many, was the first official meeting point of en-vironmental students. The VetBIB was founded to bring students together who met at former meetings and are scattered all over Europe.

In 2004 we started our first VetBIB meeting in Tulfes (near Innsbruck / Austria). We decided to to organize a VetBIB meeting every other year in a different country. At the moment our intention is to keep it small (around 30 people) so it is easily arrangable for us. However, we will see if the future will raise the number of members.

The website www.VetBIB.org should serve as the technical support to build up a VetBIB com-munity. Our website should be a small social network to stay in contact and maybe find other former BIB participants. However, the main intent is to have a central platform to collect all necessary information for the upcoming VetBIB meetings.

To give you an idea about our program I will publish a short summary about our last meeting in Zingst. This year´s attendees came from Austria, Swit-zerland, Germany, Russia and Slovenia. We ren-ted bycicles and explored the region around the birthplace of BIB. 15 years after the first meeting we decided to meet here again. Thomas, David and Heiko attended both meetings and shared a lot of interesting and funny stories with us!

The first bycicle jaunt brought us to the lighthouse at the northern top of the peninsula and core zone of the national park of “Darßer Ort”. Four hours later we had a broad knowledge

of the coast, wild boars, red deer and sea gulls. The next day we had lessons on the bird island Kirr and a watched different birds including a Sea Eagle. Afterwards we went to the old origi-nal sailing „Zeesboat“ for the Bodden trip.The following days we cycled to the "Sundische Wiesen" (Salt March), had a very interesting excursion about coastal protection, embanking and flood plain. One evening we had a BBQ with a cocktail bar planned for us. Of course a original baltic farewell party in "das aschers", the most frequented discotheque in Zingst, had to take place. As usual we had a good mix between disussions, excursions, informations, relaxing time and certainly we had a lot of fun! Just like BIB / EuroEnviro meetings are!

During the review breakfast meeting we de-cided to have a reunion in 2012: We will meet again, maybe in Austria, Slovenia or Croatia. The VetBIB 2012 will be organized by the Aus-trian crew.We would be happy to welcome some of EuroEnviro members in 2012. As a registered veteran www.VetBIB.org provides you with all necessary information on the upcoming VetBIB meeting.

Previous VetBIB Meetings • 2004 – Tulfes, Tyrol, Austria • 2006 – Gonten, Appenzell, Switzerland • 2008 – Gurzuf, Crimea, Ucraine • 2010 – Zingst, Baltic Sea, Germany • 2012 - Austria, Slovenia or Croatia

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EuroEnviro 2011 A Sneak Preview

Biodiversity by definition represents gene, species and ecosystem richness of some areas. Today it is regarded from a different perspec-tive - as a measure of the ecosystem health. It also reflects the destructive impact of human societies on the environment. Thus, it has become one of the key subjects in environ-mental protection of the 21st century. 2010 was declared to the year of Biodiversity. That is a clear sign that awareness about biodiversity decline is spreading through out the scientific community. That decline affects not only natu-ral ecosystems, but also the quality of human life through direct effects on diet, health and economy. Modern society thrives to achieve faster development and urbanization, but through that process neglects the importance of biodiversity and basic human rights. For that reasons the EuroEnviro 2011 will include not only biological, but also sociological aspects of biodiversity in its program. Our goal is to prolong education about these changes in the future and therefore the talk about biodiversity doesn‘t stop at the end of the year 2010. The EuroEnviro symposium with its unique atmosphere presents a perfect event for students from all over the world to be educated on this important topic. The idea is to connect people with different educational backgrounds who will bring new ideas and experiences to their home countries and one day will form a bridge between government, NGO‘s and environmental experts in solving the problem of biodiversity decline. The symposium will take place in the cities of Zagreb and Rijeka in the end of May 2011. It

will consist of lectures and workshops held by University professors and NGO activists. Part of the program will cover a two day field trip to the area of Gorski Kotar, a mountain region of Croatia with a high level of biodiversity. 2011 is going to be the year of forests and since the area of Gorski Kotar is in largely covered with forests, this theme will also be one of the focal points of the symposium. Students will be able to observe almost untouched natural habitats and draw a comparison to the deve-loped, continental and coastal cities of Zagreb and Rijeka. All lectures will be open for the public with the goal to broaden the knowledge of the local community on this topic. Some of the questions that will be included in our discussions are as followed: • How big is the biodiversity in the world

and in Croatia?• What is the effect of human society on

biodiversity?• How does the decline of biodiversity

affect human life quality?• Are there any alternatives to modern

economic and urban development?• How can local communities get involved

in biodiversity preservation?

All these questions are yet to be answered and we hope that the EuroEnviro symposium can contribute to it through the exchange of knowledge and ideas. So if you are an environ-mentally oriented student, and you feel that you can in any way contribute to the annual EuroEnviro brainstorming, you are most wel-come to join us!

Biodiversity - Biological and Sociological Aspects

The EuroEnviro2010 is a joint project by the following Student Unions and the Federal Students Union of Austria:

Especially: Studienvertretung KTWW | Studienvertretung LBT | Studienvertretung UBRM | Studienvertretung USW

EuroEnviro 2010 Our Sponsors