EuroEnviro 2011 in Croatia

Biodiversity & Urbanism

I can still remember writing my first application to EuroEnviro. It was in 2011 and EuroEnviro was held in Croatia. I was really nervous and didn’t think that my application would ever get accepted. When I got the positive reply, I was extremely happy!

After a short and warm welcome in Zagreb, we checked in at our hotel and met in the hotel garden. Just like me, the other “first timers” were really nervous, but everyone calmed down very fast. On the first evening, the international evening was held; it was the perfect ice-breaker event and afterwards everyone already felt connected somehow (it might have been the Croatian liquor…)

During the following days, we had a lot of interesting lectures, workshops and field trips. During these activities, we got the possibility to talk about and share ideas, with people from completely different fields of study and different cultural backgrounds. We got insights from professionals (scientists as well as practitioners) in the field of biodiversity, providing us with a wide spectrum of knowledge and experience. Because of this wide range of topics, everyone found something he/she was interested in or was excited about, and interesting discussions emerged from this.

The “input sessions” were made even more enjoyable by the recreational breaks in-between them. We got the chance to explore the amazing Croatian countryside. In Fužine (where we arrived in the middle of the night, and still had to do a 30min hike in the woods! ), for example, we slept in little huts, in a camp near a lake were we would swim in our free time. In Rijeka, we enjoyed a cool evening beer at the seaside!

For me EuroEnviro was an amazing experience, I made a lot of friends, and still have lots of nice memories about my time there. I really encourage everyone who is interested to apply for EuroEnviro 2014!

Philipp Mitterhofer, B.Sc. student of Geography
Univeristy of Graz, Austria

Read more about EuroEnviro 2011 on Ecogreen Europe website.