Like we do every fall - except last year -, we have welcomed our new students by hosting the annual retreat for the CEU department of Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management - and the first time to our new home, Austria!
This year we went to the village Raab an der Thaya and the National Park Thayatal.
The Thaya Valley National Park - marketed as Austria’s ‘Garden of Eden’ - is located on 13 m2 in the north of the Waldviertel region of Lower Austria and protects an area of woods, meadows and rocky outcrops along the Thaya river on the border with the Czech Republic. Although the national park on the Austrian side is small, it is connected to the slightly larger Podyjí National Park across in the Czech Republic with hiking trails to viewpoints and ruined forts linking the two protected areas. Created in 2000, the park is home to rare animals such as white-tailed eagles, cormorants, otters and beavers and the shy wild cats have also returned to the forests of the area.
As usual, the first day was dedicated to some activities to get to know each other, to do some team building work on environmental issues. The second day we had our guided tour to the National Park.
The retreat was attended by MESP, MESPOM, 1st year PhD students, faculty and staff.
Thayatal retreat pictures from mid-September of 2021:
