Students:Martin Pirkl

About me
I am studying International development studies at Palacký University in Olomouc. This course is provided by Department of Development Studies at the Faculty of Science. I´ve always been interested in problems connected with the poor state of the environment, maybe because I am a fisherman and I´ve grown close to the water and forest.

I´m just finishing the third year and I´ve written my bachelor thesis about the issue of overfishing, and this industry especially is managed unsustainably. In the future, I´d like to do something meaningful to be able to see one day that my work wasn´t useless.

I look forward to our trip to Germany because I like this country and I´ve never been to the northern part of it. I´ve heard that it´s nice there :) I also believe that it will be an important experience which could broaden my academic horizons. Last but surely not least, I look forward to meeting new friends and colleagues!

My view on sustainability
From my point of view, it is life in harmony with nature, so that all the positives which we take for granted in our lives would also be enjoyed by future generations of people without diminishing natural resources. I think it is important to realize that it's not just about us humans and our well-being. I could not live a happy life in an unhappy environment.

Day 1
After quite a long journey which was without any complications we arrived at our destination at about half past seven p.m. - the old university town of Lüneburg. Then a tasty dinner was served and we were ready for our opening session. We played a name game, which was a very good way to help us to get to know each other well. After that, there was a discussion where we offered our point of view on various environmental issues. Due to the clean showers and comfortable bed, the first night was very pleasant.

Day 2
We woke up to a beautiful sunny day. The delicious breakfast was an ideal preparation for a quite demanding program. After breakfast we went for a walk to the city center which was a beautiful experience due to the rich historical background of Lüneburg. Then we continued to the university campus where we had lunch in the organic mensa. After only half an hour, at 12:45, we started our first lesson about the basic concepts of sustainable development; the lecturer was Prof. Maik Adomssent. After a short break we had a workshop with representatives of the student organisation OIKOS. The lecturers briefly introduced us to the organisation and after that there was time for our new ideas. We worked out our projects in the small groups and then presented the final form to our colleagues. It was a very useful experience and the cooperation and communication with our German colleagues was great. After the end of this session there followed a well-deserved dinner and relaxation.

Day 3
The plan for Tuesday was divided into a morning and afternoon part. The program started with a presentation about renewable energy for the city and the region of Luneburg, and also about the whole country and its strategy of sustainable development. The guided campus excursion was also very interesting, and our guide Irmhild Brüggen was sympathic and patiently answered our questions. After lunch there followed a visit to the landfill at Neu Wulmstorf. I liked this part of the program very much, the presentation and also the illustration of wind mills etc. was very beneficial for all of us. It was mainly due to the professional and friendly approach of Mr. Tilmann Wolfsteller. The visit to Hamburg was for me a great experience and I am very pleased that we actually went there. I have never seen any similar city like this before.

Day 4
We woke to another beautiful morning and after breakfast went to Schneverdingen. After a presentation which was made by Susanne Eilers we drove to Luneburger Hiede, where I liked the herd of sheep and discipline of the sheepdogs the most. Our next destination was the organic farm Baukhof in Amelingausen. The approach of the children who jointly gave thanks for the meal was quite inspiring. It was very surprising and heartwarming! And by the way the soup was delicious. Then there followed a visit around the organic agriculture farm and after that a very well timed coffee and engaging interview with Mr. Weber. There was also an organic shop which was a good source of nice presents to buy.

Day 5
In regard to this day I liked another visit of the city of Hamburg the most. Marlene´s comments on the innovative residential buildings enriched me because she explained a lot of things not only about the city housing strategy. The house with the tank full of water with algae on the wall was very inspirational. The city representatives are also trying to make the second bank of the river Elbe thrive and this area with innovative buildings is one of the proofs that it works. Our last stop in the city was an energy bunker and it was quite monumental. I am pleased that there were PV panels instead of cannons :). At the end of our program between the raindrops we summarized our findings of the IBA. The farewell evening was rather quiet, but funny and nice.

Day 6
The last day of our trip was a little bit sad because we had to leave and I personally enjoyed the whole week very much. Nonetheless we had scheduled lectures on the Leuphana Innovation Incubator and discussions with three PhD students, Jana Timm, Sarah Velten and Lotte Lutz. The three students were awfully sympathetic during the discussions in small groups. I like this kind of debate which are conducted between a few people rather than in bigger groups. In addition to that, Jana, Sarah and Lotte were probably equally nervous of me :). After the final reflection and feedback we had to leave the really beautiful city of Luneburg. After a long and quite miserable journey I arrived home exhausted, but fully satisfied.

FINAL EVALUATION
I liked nearly every part of our trip. However, what I enjoyed and what I appreciate the most is the visit to the landfill in Neu Wulmstorf. Our guide in that complex, Tilmann Wolfsteller, was very sympathetic and willing to explain and showed us everything what we wanted to. I was pleased to see how everything can work if there is the professionality and will to do so. One of the common landfills in the 80´s was sealed with several layers of different composition so that the leakage of waste water into the underground of the landfill could be limited to a minimum. The rainwater which soaks the soil also cannot penetrate into the landfill. The experts also took into consideration natural processes when bacteria decompose the organic waste. The outcome of this process is actually gas, which can be and in the case of Neu Wulmstorf really is drained through pipes and subsequently burned. Photovoltaic panels and wind mills are also components of this site and ensure that the compound is completely energy independent. I think that this idea, which came out of an initial public survey was the best one (there were also proposals like creating a pound for fishing or a playground for children). There is also a need to stress the fact that this project is provided by a public-private company. This proves the bottom-up approach to sustainability movements in Germany works.

The positives definitely prevail over the negatives when it comes to a summary of aspects of the trip. I tried to think of something which was not so good and it was really hard. I appreciate thte enthusiasm of all participants, especially our leaders. Their endeavour was accompanied by efforts of all the lecturers, guides and coordinators which resulted in a very enriching and inspiring trip. Therefore, I would not like to criticize any point of the program. Yet one thing which comes to my mind is the non-functioning air conditioning in our minibus. That was a real pain in the ... :) Maybe one more thing which crosses my mind is that I would prefer to work in smaller groups of people and have possibility to talk with lecturers within these groups because I am a little bit shy when it comes to talking in front of more people. I mean the Monday session when we worked on the project was good and so were the Friday lessons with the PhD students.

All in all, I appreciate this one week's experience, I met great new people, saw beautiful places and gained new motivation to continue with the study of sustainable development. However, I feel that I have a huge deficiency in my knowledge of some areas which is on the other hand probably the biggest outcome of this trip, for I now have a better picture of what I should be aware of. This trip also uncovered my language imperfection.

I would like to take part of the trip to Graz in September, but I will be in Netherlands where I´ll be improving my knowledge of sustainability and my language skills - my two main gaps which our trip to Luneburg uncovered :).