Students:Group One: Tereza, Zuzana, Monika, Kristyna H

Assignment One

The first day of our trip we spend mainly on the Graz university campus.

After a short game in which we briefly introduced ourselves and tried to remember the names of the others, we began activities more focused on the topic of our trip. Divided into four groups, we tried to answer questions using our present knowledge and opinions about sustainable development. Maybe one of the most interesting findings was the surprising fact of how Czech universities are doing so little in this field. Even at our alma mater in Olomouc we did not notice any greater efforts other than bins for recycled waste and thermal insulation of the buildings (although in this case the factor of saving money for heating probably played a bigger role).

Then we have a guided tour around the university. Mario as our guide showed us lots of useful examples of how to behave and make others think sustainably. This was, we think, really inspiring for all of us. Just one example for inspiration: a sticker on the stairs warning you how much better it is to use stairs instead of the lift. Simple, but effective.

After the lunch break, our second "home-guide" presented us with the history and beginnings of SD and the current situation in Austria, and even more detailed information about Styria and Graz. Austria is known for its ecological thinking and this fact was simply confirmed. People in Austria are active in this field, not afraid to make changes and have a quite positive relationship to the protection of the environment. Unfortunately we cannot say the same about people in the Czech Republic, we really have a lot of to learn and it is also maybe one of the reasons why we have such a big ecological footprint.

The next point in the programme was Andrew´s presentation about SD in Czech Republic. Because our group (we honestly admit it) does not have much experiences with SD so far, it was for us quite unpleasant surprise that SD in Czech republic does not have government support, so we must rely on non-profit organizations and departments of a few universities. From this reason, the enlightenment of the broad masses is very important and placing an emphasis on education in this field from an early age.

The last activity was about communication - dialogue/monologue, thinking/listening and some of us could even apply their artistic talent. Though this activity was really entertaining, in fact it did not provide us with anything new. We have done similar activities already at high school and we are quite aware of the importance of communication - this is also applicable not only for SD, but for all sectors. We would like to summarize the first day as a really good start to our five day excursion.

The last thing of the day was walk around the Graz. It is probably useless to write more about it - just thanks to Mario for the guided city tour.

Assignment Two

On our very second day of the trip we visited Kaindorf, the Ecoregion consisting of six cooperating municipalities. The still evolving Ecoregion is exploring different ways how to use the energy and save the environment and it is also applies different approaches in order to found out whether those shown up to be sustainable or not. The Ecoregion is completely in the competence of the local administration. However also in the Czech Republic, particularly in our region we may found such an institution that deals with different age groups within the population in order to improve the awareness of non-sustainable approach to our environment and to the world we live in. This centre is called Sluňákov and it is a centre for ecological activities. We chose this institution to compare because we all come from the Olomouc region and we all have been already in touch with activities organized by this centre.

One of the main activities of Sluňákov is providing information for schools as well as for the public. The program for schools comprises of issues where creative way of thinking and finding solutions on the own way is required. Scholars and students may take part on a broad range of day-off trips, on weeklong courses or other one day-long activities. However, also teachers may take part on different seminars where they obtain more information regarding the ways how to teach pupils and students about ecological activities. The whole region is then affected by the activities of Sluňákov that focuses on the broad public, such as organization of Olomouc Ecologic Days, ecological evenings, or for instance promoting of various different campaigns with ecological theme. It is also possible to stay accommodated in a low-energy house located in Horka nad Moravou that was designed especially for tourists and other guests of the ecological centre. In the same building it is also possible to visit the Fair trade shop with broad variety of products coming from Third world countries.

To sum it up, we may say that the Kaindorf ecological centre is much more focused on the process itself and finding solutions however Sluňákov has more or less mainly an informative function in order to raise the awareness of burning ecological issues. Both institutions are regional and work merely on local level however there often exists a close cooperation between different ecological centres within the countries. Both institutions are thus here to help to make the world a little bit better place to live and maintain it for future generations. http://www.slunakov.cz/