{"id":159,"date":"2023-03-27T22:48:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T22:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/?p=159"},"modified":"2023-03-27T22:48:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T22:48:19","slug":"germany-trip-and-survey-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/2023\/03\/27\/germany-trip-and-survey-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany Trip and Survey Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey everyone,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here is another blog post!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This blog post will be about summarizing our class trip to Germany where we conducted surveys. Also, I will be reflecting on German and American views and ideas regarding the environment and sustainability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For my research and surveys I focused on individuals and their motivations for using public transportation compared to alternative forms. When I first arrived in Germany I was completely amazed by the public transportation system. When I conducted my surveys, I asked individuals \u201cDo you believe your city\/town or neighborhood needs to improve their public transportation system?\u201d. Everyone in the surveys responded \u201cyes\u201d except one person. Before conducting the surveys I believed majority of people were going to say no because the public transportation is Germany is very advanced compared to the public transportation I have experienced in America. One person during the surveys explained their mindset being that \u201cthere is always room for improvement\u201d, which I agree with. Germany from my perspective was very advanced and I felt safe as a tourist and thought this system worked very well for Germany. But, after listening to people in my surveys and reading literature on recent strikes in Germany regarding public transportation, it is clear that there is room for improvement. For example, currently in Germany strikes are occurring on behalf of public transport workers who are demanding an increase in salary. According to the New York Times, \u201cDeutschmark Bahn, Germany\u2019s main rail operating system, has already offered a potential increase\u201d but the union will discuss the salary increase in further meetings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During our trip, we were able to visit places to gain insight on culture around sustainability in Germany. One of my favorite activities during our time traveling was looking outside the windows of our train. It was beautiful, I loved seeing the different landscapes and all of the wind turbines! Germany has so many green spaces, I was very impressed with the many small houses and gardens that were located everywhere. Our Professor explained to us, that people didn\u2019t use these \u00a0houses as \u201chomes\u201d \u00a0but instead used them as a place to garden, raise chickens, etc. I found this very different than American culture. I am from the city and grew up with minimal green spaces. So, seeing these spaces strictly used for gardening in the city was an aspect of German culture I wish I grew up with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our time in Germany was very busy with a variety of different learning experiences. We had the opportunity to meet a lot of special people. We met Thomas Schulz, who is lawyer in Germany, and Head of Energy in Berlin. He told us his views and thoughts regarding renewable energy in Germany and I found it very interesting because I had never met anyone specialized in sustainability from a law perspective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another wonderful opportunity we had was visiting and receiving a tour of the Volkswagen electric vehicle manufacturing factory. The factory was super interesting because we got insight on the mechanics behind building an electric vehicle and specific statistics regarding Volkswagen and their vision of sustainability. I thought that the interactive experience was very insightful and gained a lot of knowledge regarding the electric vehicle industry. Another activity we participated in was a hike in Saxony Switzerland! It was such a fun day, luckily the weather was good that day and we went to the mountain and saw one of the greatest views I\u2019ve ever seen. It was amazing to experience German forests\/wilderness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, from my experience I can confirm that there is a difference between German and American culture regarding sustainability. Many people genuinely care about the environment and want to do there part. Based on my surveys, many people picked public transportation or other alternative forms of transportation such as walking or biking than driving. There isn\u2019t a negative connotation surrounding public transportation like there is in Am<\/span>erica.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed the trip so much! I learned and experienced the culture and definitely gained a deeper appreciation for German culture. I hope to use the knowledge and insights I gained from this experience regarding sustainability and use them in my own life here in the US!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey everyone,   Here is another blog post!   This blog post will be about summarizing our class trip to Germany where we conducted surveys. Also, I will be reflecting on German and American views and ideas regarding the environment and sustainability.\u00a0   For my research and surveys I focused on individuals and their motivations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5079,"featured_media":160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5079"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/advancedenvironmentalresearchandtransformativesustainabilityexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}