VIENNA, AUSTRIA, JAN 09 – A long-term training at the Universitat fur Bodenkultur Wien or University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) is underway. This training is carried out at the Institute of Geomatics, Department of Landscape, Spatial and Science Infrastructure. This research was carried out with a group of researchers namely Prof. Clement Atzberger as Director and Dr. Markus Immitzer as Deputy Director of this institute. This program is organized by OEAD, and the office was visited during the 2nd day of being here. Each participant must register as soon as they arrive in Vienna to start the scholarship payment process.

Figure 1.0: The picture is taken in front of the main building of the university and the picture next to it is the building of the program sponsor, which is the OEAD office, in the town of Vienna (Photo by: Sheriza, M. R. 2024). 

Among the other researchers who are conducting the training here is also Herbert Chamwada from Maseno University, School of Arts and Social Sciences who is working at the university in the field of land use change mapping in the area around Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria. The assignment he is currently carrying out is part of his Doctoral project which is titled "Land Use and Water Quality Assessment for Maritime Spatial Planning of Winam Gulf, Lake Victoria Kenya". Throughout its existence until now, no field work has been carried out because of the winter in which the nursery trees do not live. Only seminars are held throughout the month of January, which is on January 31, a seminar was held in the Seminar Room related to "Low-cost drone mapping" in Brazil. The following day Herbert Chamwada delivered his seminar which was attended by fellow researchers, PhD and Master students. In February, the 13th, a student from one of the universities in France and who has a collaboration with CiRAD, namely Victoria Barbosa Ferreira, presented her research findings.

Also, around the institute there are various research and publication information displayed such as related to COALA which is of concern because it is a platform to produce low impact agriculture on the Australian environment. COALA uses Sentinel satellite imagery and the QGIS platform, as well as several other platforms in communicating sustainable agriculture systems. The university also has a laboratory with all the complete mapping equipment. During this training exercise, a visit was also made to the Institute of Wood Technology, in Tulln an der Donau, Austria. Here there are many machines and equipment like those found in INTROP, UPM. Pictures related to the laboratories visited are provided as below.

Figure 2.0: Laboratories at the Institute of Wood Technology, in Tulln an der Donau, Austria located 45-kilometers from the main campus (Photo by: Sheriza, M. R. 2024).

Figure 3.0: Other laboratories in Tulln an der Donou, as found in INTROP, UPM (Photo by: Sheriza, M. R. 2024).

In general, what is implemented by the Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP) is very much in line with the needs of nature such as prioritizing competitive products that are sustainable in their production methods. It can be seen with bamboo products that have also become items labeled as environmentally friendly. However, it is only sold in large supermarkets and sold together with shops that serve plant-based food (vegetarian food).

Figure 4.0: Bamboo is used to make water containers sold in supermarkets in Vienna, Austria. The second photo shows bamboo used to make napkins (Photo by: Sheriza, M. R. 2024).

This university also has an attractive design and uses an environmentally friendly building concept. In between, the walls use glass to allow light in and can reduce electricity consumption. This technique is suitable in cold countries like Austria. Both use boards for the building structure and it looks very beautiful. Not only in the university, but in the residential area of ​​various forms of sustainable modern houses are being developed in new urban areas such as in the town of Seestadt.

Figure 5.0: Eco-friendly buildings at the university and the rightmost picture is a modern urban area in the city of Seestadt, Vienna (Photo by: Sheriza, M. R. 2024).

The environment at the university and in Vienna allows for healthy learning and processing of research ideas. However, a relatively long time is needed to adapt to the system in the university and in the municipality. The transportation system is also very efficient, but it takes time to get used to using it. Training like this should be taken as an opportunity to be implemented by many researchers to help add more experience and exploration of more advanced and mature research sources.

Date of Input: 09/07/2024 | Updated: 09/07/2024 | amallina.osman