Alpine farming workshop for students took place in 24th to 27th of October in Lizlhof-Kärtner, Austria. Students from Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia and Slovakia took part in the amazing workshop.
We visited several Alpine farms and tourist places in Kärtner, Austria. Farms in Kärtner are very different compared to nowadays farms in Estonia. As the landscape is mountainous, there is not much land for farming. Instead of big enterprises, there are small family farms which don’t concentrate only on agriculture and animal husbandry. Alpine farmers need to have a very wide range of skills, from farming to production.
The community in the area has a big, big heart which is functioning as a united family regardless of the high mountains and deep valleys that surround them.
Surprisingly, these small family companies have quite similar problems as we have in Estonia. The biggest problem is urbanization – youngsters leave the countryside and go to live in towns and cities. Although, there are problems with tourism. The main question is how to connect agriculture with tourism? How to flatter customers to visit these places and perhaps bringing back the youth?
During my short stay in Austria at the end of October 2018 I got a powerful lasting experience which makes me want to visit Austria again.
Thanks to EUROPEA Austria for organizing this great workshop. I learned and experienced a lot!
Big thanks to everyone we met for a warm stay and especially Josef Huber, the principle of Litzlhof Agriculture School for taking care and keeping an eye on us.
