News

This page will keep you up to date with the project. We share and publish related content, our findings and news in relation to our research.

On October 17, 2024, the photo exhibition at BORG Eisenerz opened with a festive ceremony. The following day, it relocated to the Eisenerz Old Town, where it will be on display until November 15. Visitors can also explore the exhibition virtually on the Snow2School website.

Participants in the event included students from the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, some of whom were accompanied by their families. The principal, Petra Nömayer, and several teachers were also present, with Markus Maier as the host. Additionally, representatives from the local government and the avalanche commission in Eisenerz joined the gathering, along with the entire Snow2School team: Peter Schweitzer, Sophie Elixhauser, and Theresa Gusenleitner from the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology in Vienna, as well as Wolfgang Schöner and Kerstin Rasmussen from the Department of Geography in Graz.

This exhibition showcases an impressive variety of works. In addition to photographs collected by the students from their families, which capture the snow history of Eisenerz and nearby communities from the 1950s to the present, there are also historical images of Greenland from the Arktisk Institut in Copenhagen, and of Eisenerz from the local museum archive. These are complemented by photos and infographics that highlight the scientific context and offer deeper insights into the topic.

A highlight of the event was the presentation of selected student photos, during which three students received awards for “Best Old Photo,” “Photo with Best Story,” and “Best Photo for Analysis.” A heartfelt thank you goes out to all who participated and contributed!

August 2024

Snow2School Workshop at the World Conference of Environmental History in Oulu, Finland

As part of the Snow2School project, Sophie Elixhauser attended the Fourth World Congress of Environmental History (WCEH) in Oulu, Finland from 19 to 23 August. Together with Anna-Maria Walter from the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich, she organised a workshop entitled “Engaging with snow and ice: multidisciplinary perspectives on the changing cryosphere”. This multidisciplinary workshop explored how people around the world make sense of and engage with the melting snow and ice that characterize our world today. Speakers came from a range of disciplines including environmental history, philosophy of science, anthropology, art history, and technical physics. The workshop was well attended and led to lively discussions about what we can learn about the interaction with our frozen environment, and climatic entanglements more broadly.

April 2024

Snow2School in Uummannaq!

The Snow2School team (Sophie Elixhauser, Jakob Abermann, Andreas Trügler) visited the Uummannaq region this April for a period of two weeks. The researchers worked with students from Edvard Kruse Atuarfik, Uummannaq, from both grade 8 and grade 9 during their stay, developing together both social science and natural science snow research. The students employed research methods, which included semi-structured interviews with community members about past and present snow conditions and respective activities and memories and learned about the value of using old and current photographs in this process. They also met online with the partner school in Eisenerz, Austria. A second focus was placed on the physical features of snow, how to measure it, and how to use computer programs to analyze the data. The students went out with the researchers and explored different measurement methods and techniques: They installed a timelapse camera, put up snow sensors and analyzed snow pits. The installed measurement devices continue to collect data and the Greenlandic students will investigate the data together with the Snow2School research team during the next visit in 2025. The Snow2School stay in Uummannaq further included a brief visit to Ukkusissat, where the researchers pursued similar activities with younger pupils aged between 7 and 10 years. The Snow2School team is looking forward to deepening the established connections and to continue the interdisciplinary and collaborative project approach.

First online exchange

26/02/24

On the first day after the winter semester break in the Austrian school, students from Uummannaq and Eisenerz came together for their inaugural online exchange. Despite encountering some initial technical difficulties and navigating the time difference between the two countries, the event marked a significant step towards building meaningful connections. In Eisenerz, 11th-grade students, along with their teacher Lisa Abraham, provided insightful introductions to Austria, their hometown, and school life. On the other side of the screen, in Uummannaq, approximately eight students accompanied by school director Tim Arnoldi and a teacher, actively participated in the virtual gathering. Stay tuned for the next online exchange, scheduled soon after Easter!

Workshop II - “Collecting Stories”

11/12/23

Just before Christmas break, the second workshop took place in snowy Eisenerz. Theresa showed the students of the 10th and 11th grade of the BORG Eisenerz important differences between quantitative and qualitative research, and the basics of conducting qualitative interviews. Soon, on the 'Junior Researchers' page, you will find our jointly developed guideline for interviews with the students’ grandparents and parents.

Workshop I - “The Photo-Method”

06/11/23

Last November we had a very successful first workshop in beautifully sunny Eisenerz. Students of the local high school BORG Eisenerz (10th and 11th grade) participated actively in finding out more about Snow2School and, above all, about collecting photos for the project. We shared our ideas and expectations towards a successful project, and together learned about different ways to study snow and snow changes. In the picture you can see junior researchers from Eisenerz discussing with each other what they thought they would be able to learn from participating in the project. Some of them already had collected photos and brought them to class. Sharing the stories behind these photographs and talking over the distinctive markers for determining snow heights was very insightful for everybody including us workshop instructors, Theresa and Jorrit. In the second part of the two-hour workshop, Jorrit also took us on a small journey to Greenland showing videos, pictures, and maps – but: everybody is very excited to meet the junior researchers in Uummannaq very soon through our first online exchange in 2024.