Students for Rivers Camp

The Ötztaler Ache is unique in the eastern alps. It is one of the last remaining rivers with an unaffected glacial flow, as its main headwaters, the Venter and Gurgler Ache, remain mainly free-flowing. These three rivers attract not only white water sports but also scientists who come to explore their glacial flow regime and ecosystems. Local residents enjoy the river for recreation and hikes, and the tourism industry, an important branch in the Ötztal valley, profits from the beauty of the spectacular river, attracting tourists and nature lovers from all around the globe. The Ötztaler Ache River flows 60 kilometers from the glaciers north until it reaches the Inn river. On its way it forms the lifeline of the Ötztal valley, an inner-alpine valley that is facing increasing drought due to the climate crisis. The future of the river and the people depending on it is under threat. Plans to expand a nearby hydropower plant foresee the diversion of up to 80% of the Venter and Gurgler Ache, affecting the whole river length of the Ötz. With more than 5200 (small and large) hydropower plants in Austria already built, this would heavily affect one of the last rivers of Austria that are characterized by the flow of the glaciers. Losing natural rivers means losing the ability to show our future generations what wild and free rivers look like. While most larger alpine rivers suffer from massive human alteration, preserving rivers like the Ötztaler Ache and its headwaters can help maintain the understanding and connection of people with riverine nature.

The Students for Rivers Camp is open for Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD students from ALL disciplines. If you are not currently enrolled in a university, you are still welcome to participate – just send us an email regarding your situation. If you live in Austria and are interested in participating as a non-student, we are also happy to hear from you! (If in doubt, feel free to send us a quick message.) We hope to welcome 15 students from Austria, and 15 students from the rest of Europe. We specifically invite students from the Balkan area as well as Ukraine to apply, and have some scholarships available for them. 

Also it is worth noting that you do not need any kayak or raft experience to join the camp!

Applications are now closed! We are excited about the amount of motivated students that applied and are looking forward to welcoming the selected participants in September!

To apply, please fill out the questions in this application form. Take your time to answer the questions as this will allow us to make the difficult selection of SRC participants! The following questions will be asked within the form.

1. Why do you want to participate in the camp? (max. 400 characters)
2. What do you imagine learning from this experience and where would you like to apply this? (max. 400 characters)
3. How would you engage in the protection of rivers? (max. 400 characters)

Note: Since the SRC will take place in English, participants need to be able to communicate in English – which is why we also ask you to apply in English. We will not take the level of your grammar into account in the selection procedure. 

Apply now!

Selection procedure We believe that everyone has their own, personal story. For this reason, we cannot define strict criteria to evaluate the applications. Therefore, the complete SRC organizational team will assign an overall score for every application. It should be noted that we do aim for a balanced mix between nationalities, gender, and study disciplines, which can give priority to certain applicants.

Selection announcement: July 1st, 2022

The program of the camp is aimed to give space for discussions. Just like there are endless ways to describe a river, there are endless thoughts on why and how to protect rivers. Throughout the days, we will address several questions together with you and with the experts. The talks and workshops provide different perspectives that help you get closer to an understanding of what river protection means to you, and what your role can be. Find a description of each day below:

Welcome After your arrival to the Ötztal Valley, you will pitch up your tent and be welcomed with a good meal. We have some activities prepared to get to know each other and the organizing team. 

Experiencing the Ötztal Often, the best way to learn about a new environment is to just dive into it head-first. In groups, we will go out to explore different sites in the Ötztal Valley and get our bodies down to the geography of the place. How does the river interact with its surrounding landscapes and how does human activity interact with nature?

All experiences will be shared during a participatory mapping session. We then learn about both the history of the valley, as well as the possible futures including the plans for the Kaunertal hydropower expansion. 

What is a river? Some see a river as a water body that flows from the mountains to the ocean, some see it as a playground and others prefer asking the question ‘Who is a river?’ and answer it with ‘our ancestor’. Today we will experience the river from a raft. During a descent of the Inn river, we stop at several places to learn about the functioning of a river with diverse interactions between species and habitats. 

Later this day, we reflect on what a natural river looks like. What do we take from it and how do we live with it. Or is a river more than just an object?

Why protect a river? The Ötztaler Ache has seen many impacts of anthropogenic pressures throughout history. Due to e.g. flood protection measures, it has in some sections lost its wild character. What makes the Ötztaler Ache worth protecting? Should we focus our time on places that are still highly natural, like the Vjosa in Albania? Or is there a reason to protect all rivers, even if only stretches are near natural? 

We discuss the context of river protection in relation to climate change. Hydropower is often profiled as renewable, green energy and a solution against climate change. Which ideas lie behind this narrative? And which ideas still make sense today? What is the story we want to tell and how could this align with climate activists, rather than oppose them? 

How to protect a river? Worldwide, people celebrate and defend the places they love. Today we seek inspiration from river projects around the world, as well as from a successful campaign to protect the glaciers in the Ötztal. 

However, you don’t have to call yourself an activist to turn your knowledge into action. We talk to both scientists and legal experts that, through their careers, contribute to healthy and free-flowing rivers. 

Get to action This last full day of the camp, we turn all we learned into action. In the morning, we go through a process from data collection towards instastory, learning about the power of good science communication. In the afternoon, we brainstorm together on what actions could be taken for rivers, and how you would like to contribute.

Evening Activities In the evenings, we will leave the space so stories can be told. We will also have a movie night and will have the option to join an information evening for the local inhabitants of the valley, that would be affected by the dam plans.

Gabriel Singer
Professor at Innsbruck University, Department of Ecology
Gabriel researches the biochemistry of rivers. He will host a workshop that gives insight into the complexity of fluvial ecosystems and how all organisms contribute to river health. 

Marianne Götsch
River Protection Expert, WWF Austria
Marianne is the voice in the river campaigns of WWF Austria and has brought together a wide range of parties to sign the Kaunertal Declaration. She will update us on what is happening in the Ötztal. 

Werner Schwarz
Geologist at Geocenter “Tiroler Oberland”
Werner is the head of the geocenter in the Ötztal and will take us on a little hike to Tirol’s highest waterfall, explaining to us the geology of the valley and what role the rivers have played throughout history. 

Marieke Vogt
Activist at WET (Wildwasser Erhalten Tirol)
Marieke has been involved in the protection of Tirol’s rivers since she is a kayak teacher in Innsbruck. First she filed complaints against hydropower in the Ruetz, now she focuses on protecting the Ötz river, running a campaign with WET. She will join us to share their latest efforts and discuss what else can be done. 

Anna Scaini
Hydrologist at the University of Stockholm
In her work, Anna bridges across disciplines to understand feedback between conflicts of values, climate and sustainability. Currently, she is developing on a benchmark questionnaire mapping cultural ecosystem services and risk perception, thereby combining natural science data to the social sciences. She will lead a session where we will map the values of the Ötztaler Ache. 

Janine Hofmann
Campaigner at Lebenswertes Kaunertal
Janine is part of the bürgerinitiative Lebenswertes Kaunertal, a citizen’s initiative that calls for a livable Kaunertal. She runs the social media channel and is a star in communicating hidden truths.

Jessica Droujko
PhD Candidate Environmental Engineering, ETH Zürich
For her PhD, Jessica develops a low-cost turbidity sensor for monitoring river sediment. She thereby aims to make such data collection accessible for e.g. environmentalists. At the same time, she is a star in science communication. With her own youtube channel she reaches a wide audience of a.o. STEM students and researchers, and she’s started to write her own science comedy. She will join us for the week and host a data-visualisation workshop. But be sure to ask her some science jokes over a beer.

Dan Yates
Founder of Save Our Rivers, Partnership Manager at POW (Protect Our Winters)
Dan is a passionate kayaker, snowboarder, mountain biker and climber. His sports emerge him in nature, both at home in Snowdonia as well as around the world, paddling rivers throughout Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. He simply loves nature, and has a desire to protect this nature. He has co-founded both Save Our Rivers and the Free Rivers Fund, and is now working for POW. He will be talking with us about the intersection between river conservation and climate action. What does it mean to protect rivers in a world where we need to halt the use of coal and oil? What is the common ground for river defenders and climate activists, and which challenges hold successful collaboration? 

Lukas Vogl
Illustrator and Concept Artists
You already know Lukas from the beautiful SRC poster, and most likely, he will be joining us during the SRC to live translate some of your river knowledge into graphics. He has recently collaborated on an illustrations book that teaches about all the science that found its inspiration in nature.

Bettina Urbanek
Freshwater expert, WWF Austria
More info follows

Calvin Frees
Researcher in Fish Passages
More info follows

Logistics The camp takes place in Umhausen in the Ötztal Valley. There are many public transport options, combining train and bus.  If you decide to come by car, we encourage you to travel together and we will help you connect with the other participants. If you need to fly, consider the option to fly into Munich, as flights into Innsbruck are generally expensive. 

We will be camping outdoors. No experience needed, but be ready to experience outdoor living! If you do not have camping equipment (tent, sleeping bag) we can help you arrange this. 

Contribution We ask participants to pay a contribution that helps us to cover expenses like food, logistics, camping, and the River Experience. The total amount requested is € 350,- for Bachelor and Master students and € 500,- for PhD students. If you, as a PhD student, cannot get the contribution funded through your institution, please notify us through the application form and you will pay the same amount as Bachelor and Master students. 

Scholarships We do not want your financial situation to be the reason why you cannot participate in the SRC. If you are not able to pay this contribution, please let us know in the application form. We have some scholarship options available, especially for students from the Balkan area and Ukraine. 

Dates to keep in mind Application deadline: June 19th, 2022 (extended deadline) Selection announcement: July 1st, 2022 Students for Rivers Camp: September 4th-11th, 2022

• Everyone who is allowed to travel to Austria is welcomed to the SRC! 
• All participants must follow the rules of their local and the Austrian government in terms of required proof of vaccination, and/or negative (PCR) tests.
• All participants have the responsibility to be informed and follow the rules of their local government as well as the Austrian government. We will keep you updated about the situation in Austria. 
• The SRC location is mostly outdoors with enough space for everyone to maintain their distance. 
• Participants are requested to bring enough masks. Extra masks will be available. 
• We will provide rapid antigen tests for all participants, lecturers, and organizers upon arrival. Mid-week, all participants and organizers are required to do an additional rapid antigen test.