4CITIES Community day: Giving back something green
On March 6, 2024, the students from the 15th cohort of the 4CITIES Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters in Urban Studies, participated in a Community Day as part of the Welcome Week at the University of Vienna. The activity was designed as an opportunity for students to give something back to the community while getting to know the city better at the same time. For this reason, a cleanup activity was organized in the Lobau, which ended with a shared lunch at Café Schillwasser.
The group of 48 people met in the morning at the New Danube and, after a brief introduction to the Danube area, set off towards the Lobau National Park House. There, plastic bags, and gloves were distributed among the group, and the cleanup began. During the three hours of collecting trash, the students found more garbage than could fit into the provided garbage bags. Among other things, a tent, a watering can, a frying pan, and a lot of packaging waste were found.
Afterwards, the group walked together to Café Schillwasser which is part of Austria’s self-proclaimed largest urban farming project, “Die Kleine Stadtfarm“. The association consists of 20 organizations and cultural creators, totalling about 500 participants. The community day ended in this cozy environment with a vegan lunch made from vegetables and herbs grown on-site. We are grateful to all involved for their commitment.
Pictures by Yvonne Franz, 2024.
Text by Ruth Siebenaller, 2024.
