Climate Walk by Wanderers of Changing Worlds

The Climate Walk is an open movement across Europe to experience and visualize Climate Change in landscapes, practices and ways of life.
A research-, art-, and education project by the Wanderers of Changing Worlds.

Climate Walk is a research project, education project, media project and above all: adventure. We, the Wanderers of Changing Worlds, want to explore local effects of climate change across Europe by walking from the North Cape to the most western point of Europe in Portugal – about 12.000 km! – by foot.

In the course of this walk, we collect human perceptions, experiences and practices in dealing with Climate Change, and promote cooperation between individuals, local communities, and national and international organizations: In collaboration with schools, universities, NGOs and political actors, we organize workshops along the way, tailored to local problems and perspectives, thus creating the necessary space for exchange within local populations.

Through a comprehensive media presence and in cooperation with artists from all over Europe, we make the diverse local experiences tangible, and bring them to a broad, Europe-wide audience. In order to guarantee the greatest possible diversity of perspectives and voices, we encourage open participation: A map on our website allows the position of the hikers to be viewed at any time. In this way, all those interested can join us on the trail, make new friends, gain new experiences and hear new perspectives.

The end of the hike is not the end of the project, because after the hike, the experiences gained must be reviewed in several ways. Thus, not only scientific papers will be published, but – this is the vision – a documentary, a touring exhibition, a hiking guide, and much more.

Our goal is to make the experiences with the aspects of Climate Change in the here and now tangible, and thus provide the impetus for a socio-ecological transformation across society.

Our project presents us with enormous challenges, not only in terms of planning and implementing the hike itself, but also in terms of financing it. That’s why our approach involves many different financial footholds, and EcoCrowd is one of them. In addition to public funding, and financing through partnerships with relevant organizations and socio-ecologically sustainable businesses, crowdfunding is one of the options we are looking for.

The money collected is used to finance our traveling expenses and part of our organizational work behind the hike – symbolized by the distance we can travel to achieve our respective goals. We are a small team of eight motivated people, but we could not do it all on a voluntary basis. The Climate Walk is about so much more than our small team, and it’s potential for change could be limitless, so this might be only a small investment.

The target sum is made up of essentials like hiking equipment (tents, good shoes, clothing; Second Hand wherever possible), as well as traveling expenses (accommodation, provisioning, public transport). We approximate 60€ for accommodation per night and person (with 2 Wanderers being en route at all times), which for a year adds up to 43.800€. Additionally provisioning will be approximated for 20€ per day and person, adding up to 14.600€ for 2 Wanderers.

The target sum may seem very high at first. In reality, however, it only covers a small part of what we will need for the organization and implementation of the project in its current form. Because the Climate Walk project does not end with the completion of the hike, our experiences and results have to be analysed, and will be published extensively in various ways.

12.000 kilometers over 18 months, through 15 countries, workshops, exhibitions, vlogs, research. All this and much more we want to achieve during the hike – and beyond.

Don’t worry: none of us wants to become rich. We would never be able to finance the Climate Walk to this extent out of our own pockets, and will therefore use the collected money exclusively for activities to plan and carry out the project.
Travel expenses, accommodation, food, personnel costs and much more have to be paid – and as you can probably imagine, this will add up to a lot.

Our campaign on EcoCrowd is one of several financial pillars. At the moment it is still open how much money we can raise through sponsorship and public funding. Therefore our financial goals on EcoCrowd are not set in stone. But you can be sure that every collected Euro is a huge help and is well invested.

What happens if we do not reach our goal?

We have prepared ourselves with several scenarios for the possibility that we will not reach our financial goals. In this case the collected money will be used for a “Climate Walk light”, where we can do less of the planned actions, but the basic idea remains the same. However it may come, we are determined to carry out the Climate Walk in one way or another.

In the public debate, Climate Change is often treated as an abstract problem that could affect us all sometime in the future, if we have not achieved certain temperature or emission targets by a certain point in time. But the experience of climate change is as varied as the lives of the people who experience it and the places that are already affected by it. We are convinced that an effective strategy of combating the climate crisis must acknowledge the very diversity of effects it entails. That is why we will learn first-hand how these effects unfold over a distance of 12,000 kilometers, and learn from and with the local people how to deal with them. For this we need your help!

Together with active, interested and affected people from all over Europe, we would like to find out how Climate Change is already having an impact and what we can learn from it for a multifaceted strategy to combat it. We attach great importance to the open participation of as many people as possible, so be part of this adventure and walk with us! And no, don’t worry. You don’t have to walk the whole distance with us.

If you notice changes in your environment and suspect or know that Climate Change has something to do with it, why not join us in the Walk! We need your knowledge, your experiences, your stories to perceive the variety of nuances of climate change in different environments.

We need not only your financial support but also your company! Take a look at our route and be part of it as we move through Europe together!

The Climate Walk is a project of the Wanderers of Changing Worlds, a dedicated team of academics, activists and friends. Although the project was originally the idea of one of our members, it quickly developed into a group project that reflects the different interests and passions of the individual members. Based in Vienna, the following people are working on the realization of our adventure:

The Team

Timo Bühler studied business informatics and sociology. Currently he is finishing his Master in Science-Technology-Society at the University of Vienna. He is responsible for the IT infrastructure around the Climate Walk and its finances. In his spare time he enjoys writing stories and poetry. His inspiration for this are walks through busy city centers, but also quiet forests.

Gerald Hofbauer studies political science and loves to overthink questions of social life. He likes music, nature, history, literature, philosophy and of course: hiking. What he does not like: Too much talking about himself. He is fascinated by the challenge of working on complex topics in such a way that they become tangible and understandable. Among other things, he takes care of public relations.

Eva-Maria Holzinger is a masseuse and studies cultural and social anthropology, and social and human ecology. Her research interest lies in the embodiment of nature and cultural relations in different societies. Her experiences of hiking in different landscapes have inspired her to broaden her perspectives and have seemingly utopian but practical ideas for the future.

Martina Perzl studied sociology and educational science at the University of Innsbruck. During her studies she specialized in agricultural and regional sociology and environmental education. She is currently completing her master’s degree in Social Ecology at the University of Klagenfurt. Since she grew up in the mountains, dwelling in nature has always been essential for her. She also enjoys exploring cultures and landscapes and expresses her creativity through music.

Julia Plattner is a certified social worker and has worked with refugees and children in recent years. Julia has been interested in socio-ecological topics for a long time, and is also training as an art therapist. In recent years, Julia has built up the St. Gabriel community gardens and organized art and sustainability events. She enjoys nature, art, travelling, languages and working with people from different backgrounds.

Martin Thalhammer is about to begin his doctorate in Environmental Sciences and -Policy at the Central European University and works as a lecturer at the University of Vienna. His research includes political ecology, critical political economy, multi-species ethnography and socio-ecological transformation processes. He is not only dedicated to critical interdisciplinary research, but is also a certified permaculture garden designer. He enjoys hiking, running and making music.

Anna Schreinlechner studied geography at the University of Vienna with a focus on geoecology. During and after her studies she worked for organizations with different approaches in the fields of environmental and nature conservation, sustainable urban development, ecological agriculture and cartography. She is currently completing her Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management and Ecological Engineering at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna. She also enjoys working in her garden, doing handicrafts, singing in a choir and enjoys being outdoors, riding her bike or hiking in the mountains.

Alexandra Stieger is currently completing her master’s degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Vienna and works in the field of educational and labor market research. Besides her work on the Climate Walk with regard to art and media, as well as volunteers, her passion is her garden and sustainable food production, which was also a central topic during her studies. Both inside and outside her little house, plants and her old cuddly cat give her the energy she needs for all her projects.

The Knowledge Association

In addition to our core team, a group of scientists, activists and experts help us to plan and carry out the Climate Walk. This Knowledge Association is an advisory board that gives us critical feedback and valuable inputs. An overview of the members can be found here: https://www.climatewalk.eu/who-we-are/

we move the present.