Before the workshops, panel discussions, and big ideas, however, a long journey awaited us. We traveled by train, of course! No cramped seats. No endless security lines. No long hours of monotonous sky-gazing. Instead, we watched the landscape change in real time—forests giving way to open fields, and small towns popping up around every bend.
It takes time to travel to Southern Germany. But as students, there’s always something to do, and the train became our library for the day. In an otherwise hectic daily life, the journey gave us space to slow down. Slower—yes, but also a way of traveling that respects the planet. Traveling this way felt like the right way to arrive at a sustainability summit.
From March 18–20, the summit in Konstanz brought together academics and student representatives from Europe, Africa, and Latin America. We participated in workshops, panel discussions, and social gatherings, where we exchanged experiences regarding both challenges and opportunities related to sustainability work in higher education. We also contributed by helping to organize a workshop, where we shared some of the initiatives and experiences from the Green Office at UiO.
What we took home with us was not only inspiration but also new perspectives. At the same time, we gained a renewed sense of belonging to an international network working toward the same goals.
A big thank you to SOS International for bringing us together and for reminding us that the journey is sometimes just as important as the destination.