Sustainable Lifestyle – Ideas for Consumption and Mobility

I didn’t really know what to expect when I arrived to EuroEnviro 2010 that was held in Austria, but it turned out to be a really great experience. Our theme for that year was “Sustainable Lifestyle”, so there definitely was a lot of issues to talk about, and a lot of program: lectures, workshops, debates, excursions, and lots more.

The lectures worked as an introduction to the topic, and gave tools to understand the related issues and subtopics. In the workshops we got the subject to our own hands: Discussing the topic with others in a smaller group and searching for new solutions together might sometimes be a challenge, but it’s great for learning. And the workshops weren’t limited inside the university walls! We proved to ourselves that moving furniture to a new home with just bikes really is possible. And I still remember the city tour in a wheel chair: searching a detour whenever a stair or a high street edge cuts your way makes you understand how the small details can make a huge difference in urban planning.

Because the other focus of the symposium is to help environmental students to meet up, have fun and create networks, we had a lot of fun leisure activities and parties in the evenings as well. A relaxing trip to the countryside before heading to Vienna and a visit to the sustainable chocolate factory gave us a break from hectic schedules and heated up debates.

The athmosphere in the event was really open and tolerant, everyone was welcome. You don’t need to speak perfect English to speak up. And believe me, in ten days your speaking does get more fluent. Even if you don’t get everything, it isn’t that serious. Maybe the next speech got you back on track again. And we were so many! I was able to see how young, motivated people all around the world are searching answers to the same (or sometimes quite different!) environmental problems. Hearing the ideas and solutions that they shared with the rest of us is still a huge source of inspiration for me, and made me think, once again, that the world may still have some hope.

 

Heini Karvinen, B.Sc. student of Environmental Ecology
Univeristy of Helsinki, Finland

Read the full final report of EuroEnviro 2010 here: