The Voluntary Environmental Year (FUJ)

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Since 2020, the Competence Centre for Climate Neutrality has acted as an assignment centre as part of the Voluntary Environmental Year (FUJ). Thanks to the FUJ, we have been lucky enough to welcome a new, enthusiastic and eager person into our circle for a few months on several occasions. In fact, the cooperation with our previous FUJ interns was so good that all three decided to stay in the team as student employees after their FUJ. Our current FUJ intern Jakob Gibitz wanted to find out what experiences they had with the FUJ and therefore spoke to the three of them.

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Jakob Gibitz: Welcome! Please introduce yourselves briefly and let us know when you did your FUJ at the Competence Centre.

Vivienne Pirker: My name is Vivi and I did my FUJ from October 2020 to June 2021.

Sigrid Karl: I'm Sigrid and my FUJ was 2021/22, also from autumn to summer.

Maximilian Auer: My name is Maxi and I did my FUJ from September 2022 to June 2023.

Perfect, let's get started. Why did you decide in favour of the FUJ and the competence centre?

Vivi: I didn't want to start studying straight after school, so I started looking for alternatives. I then came across the FUJ and the competence centre immediately sounded very interesting. At the interview, it was a perfect fit.

Sigrid: I was already at the end of my bachelor's degree, so this was not the typical time to do a voluntary environmental year. But as I didn't have much time left before I finished my degree and I wanted to gain more practical experience, I decided to do the FUJ. The positions at BOKU were exciting for me because of the subject matter and the proximity to science. That's why I applied there and luckily it worked out!

Maxi: I wanted to spend my civilian service doing something cool and scientifically challenging and then came across the FUJ. It just clicked during my interview.

And what tasks did you spend most of your time on during your FUJ?

Vivi: I spent most of my FUJ time working on the project making A change [Project that dealt with the greenhouse gas balancing of schools] spent there. I was able to take on a lot of responsibility there; I organised it and also ran the associated workshops.

Sigrid: In the first semester of my FUJ, it was mainly public relations and support: I looked after the website, advised customers and so on. At the beginning of the second semester, our project with the Federal Museums [Balancing the greenhouse gas emissions of the eight federal museums] started. I was able to immerse myself in a larger project.

Maxi: I think that will have been the support for me too. I estimate that I spent about a third of my FUJ on it.

What did you like the most?

Vivi: It was particularly great for me that it wasn't just the typical intern job with making coffee and photocopying. And if there was something I wanted to do but couldn't quite do, I wasn't told ‘That's not in your area of responsibility, it's not possible’, but ‘Ok cool, write to me if you need help’. Being able to take the initiative like that was great.

Sigrid: The flexibility in terms of time and location at work was very helpful for me. I always enjoyed the team meetings and tinkering with the Excel tool for greenhouse gas accounting for the federal museums.

Maxi: No two weeks were the same. Sometimes you were writing, then researching, then programming, writing the minutes for meetings and then doing the media project. I really enjoyed the variety.

What were your media projects as part of the FUJ programme and how did you feel about them?

Vivi: In 2020/2021, we didn't actually have a media project in the current sense, but a free project with other people from our FUJ year. I teamed up with two friends and created the Instagram account @climeetpoint we then posted information on climate change and climate protection there.

Sigrid: My media project wasn't too complicated: I realised that we didn't have any photos of ourselves on our website, so I took my camera, got my colleagues together and solved this problem straight away.

Maxi: Well, I went a bit overboard with the media project (laughs). As a passionate filmmaker, I have a short movie in which the fight against climate change is portrayed as an underground struggle. In the end, I think I put about 140 hours into my media project, but now I have something to be really proud of. Sarah and Joachim, who lead our team, also gave me a lot of creative freedom and this month, in which I was allowed to be a director with almost no restrictions, was an extremely cool experience.

What do you think of the working environment?

Vivi: The flat hierarchies at gW/N [Centre for Global Change and Sustainability] are extremely pleasant. You can really get involved and ask a lot of questions without having to worry that someone will be annoyed. In addition, everyone is generally friendly and I enjoy working here!

Sigrid: The team at the Competence Centre for Climate Neutrality and the whole centre in general are very cool. The ‘climate scene’ in Austria is relatively small, and here you are at an important interface. It was great to get to know so many people in this field. As a BOKU student, the location was of course also a big advantage, even though I was often working from home due to coronavirus.

Maxi: I can only agree, I think it works really well in such a young team with motivated people. We take the work very seriously, but we always have fun doing it. The only thing missing is a supermarket nearby (laughs).

What did you take away from the FUJ and who is this position suitable for?

Vivi: I was able to gain a great insight into the world of work and also learnt to take on responsibility. In general, being on an equal footing with the rest of the team has really improved my self-confidence.

This FUJ position is for people who have a strong interest and are willing to learn and actually want to do something. So it's not for time-wasters who just want to kill 10 months.

Sigrid: I agree with you, I don't have much to add.

Maxi: Absolutely, I can endorse that too. What's more, all three of us took a job as student assistants with us!

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You are at least 18 years old and passionate about climate protection? Does the Competence Centre for Climate Neutrality sound like a place that suits you? Then apply from November 2024 with this link for the position. We look forward to receiving your application!

This media project was developed by the Competence Centre for Climate Neutrality and Jakob Gibitz as part of the FUJ course (www.fuj.at) implemented together. The project was created in the period January-February 2024 and the interview took place on 20 February 2024. The content of the interview was shortened.