The European Energy award was an insight worth the trip alone. The town of Virgen in Austria won it (see earlier blog) It looks for communal thinking on energy supply + distribution with a focus on sustainable renewables. Then there was Bad Aiblingen - i wish i had the wherewithal to have scheduled a meeting with contracting firm B+O and with the town's chamber of commerce... maybe next year.
But the overall success of this european trip for me was to experience the warmth of the community here, the unversity staff and faculty and most importantly the students. I did get some feedback that both of my presentations went over very well and caused some students to come up to me with comments.
One of the comments I really enjoyed was the student who indicated that his father is a farmer up the hill from here, and that my comment about 'Austrian farmers in the mountains would barely notice when the trucks stop (post peak oil)'... was not true. That the Austrian farms are now so dependent on the trucks and cars for supplies that they too would suffer. I did get the student to agree that it wouldn't take much for his father's farm to operate without external supplies.
I wonder how far European family farms have gone toward the fossil fuel driven economy without realizing it? From my first hand observations, I think not very far. At least the ones away from the large urban centers. Most small towns still have family butchers and bakers that have been in their families for hundreds of years.
Whenever I look at Europe, I have to realize that this culture is over 2500 years old. Our American culture is barely 400 years old.
There's something familiarly comfortable (gemuetlich) with an old culture that's integrated into modern technology. It works at tying communities together, yet on the other hand also creates age-old nationalistic tendencies.
We decimated our own very old culture - the native americans - and i know that i will be spending much more time in the next few years, trying to learn some of their knowledge of the land.
Two years ago, I came here with a unique concept called 'energy commons' and got absolutely no traction. This year, a matured concept of community microgrid got a bit more traction, but again many townships are already doing this. What's unique is the concept of not tying to the grid - what i've termed 'lazy renewable systems' which include solar PV and a grid tie-in.
Differences?
There are so many subtle differences between the European and American cultures, it is difficult to compare. There are probably way more similarities.
The one that always strikes me though is the subtle difference in Customer Service. Business here is different than in the USA daaaaa..... I had my baptism by fire with the regular business world almost a decade ago with a GMBH, and gave up trying to understand all the unique aspects after a couple years. Let's just say that the cat + mouse game between business + government is a bit more pronounced here and totally different than in the USA. Case law vs. Common Law: I was told by a high priced US lawyer that the Treaty of Geneva has several unique aspects. Government is not embedded here with business - there's no overwhelming lobbying like in the US. Labor is THE big difference here - as they actually have a saying and some control over business decisions.
It will be interesting next year, when the Winter student project deals with hotel (a service industry) and I'll be curious to see how much priority the customer gets behind the scenes in strategic planning from tomorrow's business leaders.
On the retail side of things: stores have their own little quirks - the one that always pisses me off is that any advertising (including posted prices) can be trumped by a computer and the computer is always right... no make that the customer is always wrong if they complain.
Trains are getting later than usual. German trains use to be a favorite punching bag for foreigners in that you could set your watch by their punctuality (as if that was a bad thing). Well, guess what? More and more trains have delays. I experienced on 94 minutes and one 25 minute late train this year... twice the normal! Last year I experienced my first german railway strike - set me back 9 hours.
Sports are so cool over here. I love watching world class soccer anytime... I'm watching Arsenal vs. Ashton V right now... and with the ski World Cup last weekend at 'Kitz' there were over 56,000 people there. TV sports usually has skiing, x-country skiing, ski jumping, soccer, handball or something like that on all the time. There are minimal commercials (they still tend to pack them together once an hour or so).
A personal note:
After a while, Europe always closes in on me. There is something tightening (engt) about the congestion, busyness, closeness, and general pace of life. Whenever i experience of long ques or traffic gridlock in the US - I just think about how much MORE there is of that here... imagine common freeway gridlock lasting over 10 miles: commonplace here. I saw it yesterday on the way back from Kitzbuhl. While I can find many, many wonderful walkways and peaceful hide-outs, mass humanity is never far away.
I yearn for the peace and quiet of Beserkeley... and of course my sanctuary in the mountains. And I also look forward to coming back. Is that contradictory? no - it just is.
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