Staff Writer- Amelia Dewberry

In July, I returned from the most dynamic few months of my life. Instead of experiencing the constant energy of a bustling, tourist-filled city like Barcelona, my study abroad brought me somewhere smaller and tightly-knit. Nestled in the heart of the Black Forest, I lived in the medieval university town of Freiburg, Germany.
Freiburg is globally recognized as one of the most sustainable cities in the world! Environmental, social, and economic sustainability is truly central to the daily lives of Freiburg students and residents.
The most vibrant part of Freiburg’s culture is people’s propensity to be outdoors. Nature is accessible to residents: the municipal forest covers over 40% of the city’s area. It’s easy to hop on a hiking trail up the mountains flanking the city or take a short train ride to the Black Forest’s endless trails. People flock to the Dreisam river to cool off on the rocks with a beer. Winter, spring, and summer, I was amazed by the popularity of outdoor spaces as gathering places for festivals, markets, lunch breaks, naps, picnics, and parties. Even when the weather wasn’t perfect, people weren’t deterred from using the outdoors for leisure, recreation, and connection.
When I arrived in February, the old town restaurant and bars lined the streets with lively patio tables. People were wrapped up in blankets, embracing the cold winter evenings with warm meals and mulled wine outside. Unlike most Minnesotans who dash from building to building to stay warm, despite priding themselves on “toughing out” winter, Germans commuted by bike, took long walks, and hiked through blustery cold and rain. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions in both cultures, but it was inspiring to see that Germans don’t let winter hinder their outdoor lifestyle.
Community is fundamental to student life in Freiburg. Most German university students live in shared apartments, always with randomly assigned roommates. While this arrangement is new with potential for discomfort, my German roommates were all excited to forge new friendships. We cooked group dinners, bouldered, biked, and visited flea markets and festivals together. Breakfasts and parties on our shared rooftop terrace with people from other units helped build neighborly relationships.
This sense of community cooperation stretched throughout our housing village. Over 1000 students are part of a group chat where people can request or offer items, help with tasks like bike repairs, and even warn each other of tram ticket controllers. This enormous community of strangers was so eager to do whatever it could for whoever needed it.
Beyond just students, strong communities are evident across the city. Walking through Freiburg, it was common to see small boxes of assorted unwanted items and food placed outside houses, apartments, and businesses– an easy, everyday sustainable practice that reduces consumption and promotes neighborliness. I was thankful to score a new water bottle the same day I had lost mine.
Environmental consciousness is such a cultural expectation that carbon dioxide emissions and water consumption is listed for every menu item at the university cafeteria. Students sit by the dish return to retrieve and eat from plates with leftover food to ensure that nothing goes to waste. There’s even a German verb for it: “bändern.” Freiburg is a vegan’s paradise. Plant-based dishes outnumber meat ones on restaurant menus.
Naturally, my time abroad was filled with the expected personal growth that comes from navigating a new culture and lifestyle alone! But more than that, I left feeling inspired and hopeful, having experienced a culture that embodies the values of sustainability and community more strongly than we do here. Sustainable progress rests in the hands of the politically and economically powerful, but it’s also in people who can only activate change when they are united in a community built day by day.