From Middle Ages to Instagram: Summer school taught sharing history and sustainable construction

International Summer School of Sustainability brought together Czech and German students for a week full of teamwork, history, and technology. At the Bärnau-Tachov History Park, they learned about medieval life, emphasizing the sustainability principles in construction, and created promo videos.

This year's edition, themed "Learning from the past – building technologies rediscovered", welcomed 36 participants from three partner universities that jointly organise the summer school – University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, OTH Amberg-Weiden, and Prague University of Economics and Business. This year's leading partner and expert supervisor of the event were representatives of the Bärnau-Tachov History Park – an archaeological park on the Czech-Bavarian border that presents everyday life in the Middle Ages, from the 8th to the 13th century. The programme occurred on the university campus in Weiden and directly in the Bärnau-Tachov History Park.

The task was to work on promotional videos showing how materials and techniques from the Middle Ages can contribute to sustainable construction in the present and future. After learning the principles of sustainability in construction and gaining a more detailed understanding of the significance and mission of the Bärnau-Tachov History Park, the participants began collecting audiovisual materials. During the all-day workshop, they learned how to edit this material, add music and subtitles, and insert voiceovers.

"We approached the video as an interview using five questions to explain the basics of sustainable construction. During the interview, we showed buildings from different centuries, the advantages of previously used construction techniques, and their contribution to the future," explained student Hana Sopčáková from the Faculty of Economics (FEK) at the University of West Bohemia. All the outputs created will be made available to the Bärnau-Tachov History Park, which can use them to support its marketing communication on social networks.

"What we take away from the whole event is that what worked in the past and has lasted for centuries can be a great inspiration for today's sustainable development. History still has a lot to offer us. In addition, we are taking away new contacts and friendships that not only cross national borders but also have a truly international dimension," summarised Dita Hommerová, mentor of the summer school from FEK.

The event was supported by funds from the Interreg Bayern-Tschechien 2021-2027 Kleinprojektefonds: „Grenzübergreifendes Bildungsangebot: Nachhaltigkeit“.