We had our first meeting 4 weeks before the beginning of the Summer School to get to know each other, and to clarify who will join the event in-person or online. The structure and setting of the course allowed both, as it was planned to happen in a hybrid format. At first, I was quite sceptical about how this would work out, however the organization and execution was amazing, making the experience great for everyone!

As the participating students came not only from different countries, but also had different backgrounds, a lot of material for preparation was provided before the start of the course. This was accessible via an online platform, which was very easy and convenient to use. The preparation material encompassed daily compulsory reading, one or two scientific articles, to get a basic understanding of the content. In addition to this, more background information was offered via articles, field studies, blog posts etc. This reading was on a voluntary basis and really provided in depth information about the daily topic.

What was even more exceptional than the organization and provision of preparation materials was the expertise and variety of the speakers during the course. For the first four days, the lectures covered the topics of “Climate history and system”, “Food systems and land use”, “Energy systems” and “Biosphere responses”, which were very natural science-related. The lecturers not only designed the talks in an interactive way, but also showed great knowledge in their field by answering all upcoming questions. After the scientific drivers and impacts of climate change were covered, the course content change to a more socio-economic and political perspective on days 5 to 6: “Climate Law” and “Political economy”. For the last days of the course, the group was introduced to the broader fields of ethics, culture and communication and their connection with climate change. Here, the wickedness of the climate change problem really got into the focus. The topics were called “Consumers and communication”, “Ethics of the Anthropocene” and “Cultures of climate” and really stimulated interesting debates.

The daily structure of the school was as follows: We started in the morning at 9 with a three-hour introduction lecture until 12. I would like to highlight that it was not only lecture-centered teaching, but instead interactive and shaped by vivid discussions. After an hour of lunch break, during which you could enjoy specialties in the nearby Latin quarter of Aarhus, we had another hour to ask questions that came up during the lecture. At 2 pm, we started with our afternoon session, which included the work in our groups.

On the first day of the course, we were split up into groups of 4 and had to choose a topic that is currently connected with climate change and sustainability, e.g. food, travel, family etc. The aim of the group work was to create a presentation for the last day of the course (which was also the examination), in which we show how our topic was connected to each of the 9 topics we covered in the lectures. This approach was especially suited, as the discussion in the group in the afternoons really helped us to comprehend the content that was explained in the morning sessions and apply it in a solution-oriented manner.

Between 4 and 5 pm, the daily program ended, and we could use the remaining day to spent time with our study colleagues and students from other summer schools. After one and a half year of not seeing fellow students because of the pandemic, this spare time to get to know people and make new friends made the summer school truly remarkable. Because the university provided international students with the opportunity to live in the student accommodations, you really got the feeling of studying at a university and could forget COVID-19 for some time. The free time was used to discover Aarhus and its vicinity: We went swimming in the harbor, had a campfire at the beach and enjoyed live music in a jazz bar, to name only a few activities.

I very much appreciate the opportunity to have participated in such an exciting and memorable course, especially after such a long time of social distancing and not meeting new people. I want to give a special thank you to the coordinator of the course, Bo Holm Jacobsen, as well as to all guest lecturers who provided their expertise and opinions and to the coordination of the University of Aarhus, that made this summer school possible in a time when the majority of other summer schools were still only in an online format.

This blog post does only scratch the surface of the time I had in Aarhus, and it would take way too much space to tell it in detail. But the best way to retrace this experience is to try it by yourself. So if you are interested in joining the summer school and visit Aarhus, the website of the course provides a lot of information and the registration form. And, in case you have some more time, you could also combine this journey with a trip to other beautiful Scandinavian cities like Copenhagen, Stockholm or Oslo!

The post Aarhus Summer School 2021: Climate Change – Cross-disciplinary challenges and solutions appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

            This summer, I took part in the Potsdam Summer School (PSS). This science school was cooperatively organized by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), the Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and the University of Potsdam in partnership with Geo.X and the City of Potsdam. With the Hydrosphere at its core, the eight day long programme covered climate change, the role of the cryosphere, water as a hazard, the interaction between water, land and humans, hydrological modelling, and oceans, as well as economy, management, governance, and stakeholder engagement.

            Virtually united

            This year was the first time that the PSS occurred in an online format due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, I have to say that the PSS was a wonderful experience. One could tell that the whole structure of the summer school was carefully planned to provide all the participants with the best experience possible. And they surely succeeded!

            Personally, I was impressed when I logged in for the first on the SCOOCS platform. There, we had the lectures (already available for us two weeks prior to the event!), the weekly schedule, networking tables, participants profile, and study cases. We had to prepare ourselves beforehand by watching the lectures, reading suggested materials, and making our questions for the discussion sessions. The 2021 edition of the school occurred from August 9^th to August 20^th.

            The eight day event kicked-off with a warm welcome from Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn, scientific director of the IASS. This was followed by an interactive session with Dr. Thomas Bruhn, where we were put in break-out rooms and met our fellow colleagues to talk about ourselves, our backgrounds, and motivations. The afternoon brought a talk by Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström regarding water within planetary boundaries in light of the most recent released IPCC report. We got to have the first meeting of our working groups, to which we were assigned prior to the event.

            I was assigned to the working group about modelling hydrology. Within our working group, we had small lectures which nurtured the discussions in break-out rooms and in the plenary. We also had the opportunity to present our own work related to the study case that we submitted as part of our preparation for the school. This allowed us a place to share our projects, ideas, and different realities, as well as to receive valuable feedback, insights, and suggestions that we could try to implement to further improve our research. At the working groups, we also had the chance to get to know our colleagues further and develop a presentation to be given in the plenary in the last of the school.

            I always was looking forward to the beginning of another day of the summer school. The first moment would always be the welcome and 15-minute interactive session, as well as a moment of reflection within ourselves. After connecting to the others, we began a discussion of the talks. Finally, we joined our working groups. I particularly liked how they structured the programme, the topics covered and how they were presented in light of current research and new technologies. This included bringing awareness to climate change, natural hazards, food-water-energy-ecosystem nexus, international cooperation, and water governance. Another highlight was the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals, how they interact and how they are grounded in four SDGs that are particularly important: SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate action), SDG 14 (Life below water), and SDG 15 (Life on land).

            I feel very grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Potsdam Summer School, for the new knowledge, exchange of information and experience, as well as new insights on current research and even self-discovery. I would like to show my appreciation for everyone that made this summer school possible, and particularly for the organisation team that was always very present, friendly, and helpful. A special shout out to Angela Borowski (IASS) who has always been kind and welcoming to all of us! Thank you!

            There is so much to share about the PSS that a short blog post cannot cover. But you can visit their website (https://potsdam-summer-school.org/ ) and get to know more about the program, the wonderful speakers, and participants of this 2021 PSS Edition. It was a pity that we could not meet in Potsdam for this amazing event, but I myself cannot wait to visit this incredible city! Finally, if you are looking to expand your horizons, have access to current research and networking, I can only recommend this summer school. So, be attentive for the application process that should start in the beginning of next year, good luck, and maybe I will even see you there in 2022(?)!

The post Potsdam Summer School 2021: Water Our Global Common Good appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

“No photos!”, the older man shouts, walking from the bow to the stern of the rusty cutter-like ship. Luckily, I had already stopped taking photos before as it was announced earlier that it is forbidden to take photos on that particular sector of our trip on two beautiful lakes. Both lakes are located within the Valdaysky National Park which lies between the Russian capital Moscow and Saint Petersburg in the Novgorod Oblast region.

The exploration of the national park is part of a summer school I participated in. Valdaysky National Park is characterised by picturesque lakes and forests of the Southern Taiga vegetation type. Besides lakes, conifers, mosses, ferns and bilberries are dominating the scenery. Many animal species like moose, beavers, wolves, brown bears and lynxes and a high diversity of bird species can be found in the national park. From 1936 to 1941, the area was under protection as a natural reserve but lost the status because its timber was used and roads were constructed after the Second World War. In 1992, the Valdaysky National Park was founded. Today, the national park is divided into three zones: The first zone is a natural reserve with the strictest protection of nature, the second zone is designed for ecotourism and the third, biggest zone for recreation.

Hydrologic Monitoring

During our excursions in Valdaysky National Park, staff members of the government-funded “Valday Hydrology Institute” showed us their hydrologic measuring stations and instruments.
Earlier the same day when we had to stop taking photos, we follow two scientists of the institute and the captain on the cutter-like ship. It is a partly cloudy day, the sun is sparkling on the water surface most of the time. During the next hours, the ship will travel to three fixed sample areas on Uzhin Lake and Lake Valdayskoye. The sample areas are differing in size of the respective lake (which affects the influence of the wind speed) and proximity to the next city (which affects the influence of human activities). In every sample area, the transparency of water, photosynthesis, the amounts of nitrogen and phosphor and the temperature are measured every ten days. By taking samples, one of the scientists is telling us that they have to manage their research with a small amount of money. For instance, they are still using some older instruments and had to stop to measure the pH value of the water since the instrument has broken.
However, during another excursion we noticed that imported modern technologies do not need to be helpful if they are not adapted to the local conditions. One middle-aged scientist on that place demonstrated how he is measures the flow velocity of a river. To do so, he has a modern equipment now: A machine made in Germany which is driving a modern Russian instrument into the stream water with the help of a power generator. While the previous non-electrical equipment also worked during floods, the new one can only be used during normal water levels. Another example was given by a young scientist on an excursion through the forest: She is measuring the amount of rainwater by an automatic pluviometer as well as a non-automatic pluviometer. This is necessary because sometimes there is no electricity in the forest and then the automatic pluviometer does not work anymore. That means, every ten days, a scientist has to come into the forest and measure the collected water in the tank of the pluviometer to make sure that no gap in the records occurs.

Back on the ship, the old scientist is not talking about challenges only but also about the success of the water monitoring: Because of the measurements the waste water is not directly introduced in the lakes anymore, our accompanying professor is translating from Russian into English.

Attraction of humans

During the shipping, I see coniferous forests surrounding the lakes most of the time. Therefore, it is very striking when suddenly something golden is glaring: The Cathedral of the Russian-Orthodox Valday Iversky Monastery. The monastery, founded in 1653, actually is standing on an island but a street mainly brings tourists and pilgrims from onshore to the historic place nowadays. Disregarding the cars and visitors, one still can feel the wind of former times blowing from the monastery.

Another area is attracting my attention during the excursion on the two lakes: Safety fences, cameras and camouflage nets are safeguarding the lakeshore on one area which is a residence of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. We are told that also conferences with international politicians took place there. Our ship needed a special permit to pass that sector of the lake with the constraint of not taking photos of the area. For a few minutes, I forgot to be in a national park and felt the atmosphere of Russian policy. I can understand why the place of Valdaysky National Park has been attracting humans in the past to this day, no matter whether they are cleric, politicians, tourists or something else.
Before I came to the national park, I expected to learn more about the local flora and fauna, when I left it, in addition to that, I have learned something new about scientific work in Russia, about the (dis)advantages of new and old scientific instruments, about the Russian-Orthodox church, the Russian history as well as about Vladimir Putin.
Valdaysky National Park is full of surprises and full of stories whereof many still need to be told …

Note: The information in the text are originating from my notes I took during the excursions. Because of language barriers the accuracy of the information cannot be guaranteed.

The post Where you can find moose, bears, scientists, monks and sometimes even Putin: Valdaysky National Park appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

The airplane is making its landing approach around 10 am at the airport of Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek. Quite exhausted after the 10 hours flight through the night, I look up. Outside I can see dry grass, some bushes and a seemingly endless savannah. I am finally in Africa! A bright sun is gleaming in a cloudless blue sky and I am preparing myself for the heat. But when I step out of the plane, a strong gust of cold wind blows in my face. Shivering I draw my jacket closer around my shoulders. What a start for spending the next two weeks in Namibia!

We are spending the first two days of our excursion in Windhoek, a clean, and quite European looking city, trying to acclimatize to the windy and colder than expected conditions. On our very first day, we have the opportunity to meet John Kasaona, who is the head of the the IRDNC (Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation), one of two major nature conservation agencies in Namibia (the other one is NASCO (Namibian Association of Community-Based Natural Resource Management Support Organizations)). John Kasaona is a huge man with lively eyes, who greets us friendly and guides us into his office.

John tells us that Namibia experienced a severe drought in 1980 that endangered many wildlife species and threatened the life of the communities depending on the animals. Thus, the government decided to act and engage rangers to protect wildlife. But who knew the bush and the animals best? The answer was simple: Local poachers. So, John’s father, a former poacher, became a conservationist und John became one after him. In 1986, the number wildlife began to increase again and communities got the right to manage the nature surrounding them. To make nature conservation work, it is crucial that the locals can also benefit from nature. “Conserve and make sure that you benefit from the resources that you protect,” says John. Ten years later, the “Nature Conservation Amendment Act” finally passed, allowing communities to become so-called “conservancies”. This would prove to be a very successful concept throughout Namibia in terms of nature conservation.

Communities wanting to become a conservancy have to define their boundaries, give themselves a constitution, elect representatives of the community and submit management and financial plans. Thus, a conservancy resembles a national park, with the exception that people are still allowed to live on and use the land in defined areas. Nevertheless, the local communities have to respect certain restrictions e.g. in hunting and land use, to conserve nature. In turn, the conservancy gets the right to manage its own land. To generate income, conservancies can set up contracts with investors, who want to build lodges for tourists and trophy hunters. Part of the profit of the lodge goes then to the conservancy. The money is can be distributed evenly amongst the conservancy members or be used to build schools, health points or other projects that benefit the community. To make the foundation process even easier, the IRDNC provides assistance when communities choose to become a conservancy. John told us, he once camped under a large tree for many weeks, until the conservancy was finally running. Now, the conservancy office building is built under that tree. (Check out John’s TedTalk as well.) Today, in 2018, the number of conservancies has summed up to 82 conservancies in Namibia. And it is working: Wildlife numbers are increasing, poaching is becoming harder and harder and ecosystems find their balance again. Thus, Namibia, which is one of the few countries who specifically address habitat conservation and the protection of natural resources in their constitution, can set an example for us all.

The post Blog Journal: How nature conservation works in Namibia appeared first on Global Change Ecology.