Day 53 was great. I met Katrin in Zeillern and we did some hiking which was totally relaxing. Katrin has a big plan herself, she is going to travel from Austria to east Africa per bike!
Vollpension
The Vollpension is a unique lunchroom in the center of Vienna, Austria. The employees are all elderly people (65+) who otherwise have no chance on the labour market.
The idea started in 2012 after an idea by the Stitch brothers. The brothers came from the countryside of Austria to Vienna for studies. They saw two things: young and older people don’t go together in Vienna and good cake’s are not available in the city, you get that at your grandma’s place. I don’t know what the topic of their research was but finding out that there are no decent cake in the city is an important finding. The answer to this is the Vollpension.
The start
It started as a try-out tour in a foodtruck through Austria. Grandma’s used to sell their best cake’s at festivals, meetings etc. It was a huge succes and people wanted more. So they started a pop-up restaurant in Vienna. Again the succes was overwhelming but the contract for their temporary location ended. Fans started Facebook groups and petitions to ask for a permanent location. And so it happened.
Lunchroom
Right in the middel of the center they found a location which suited their needs. The Vollpension feels and looks like your grandmothers house, it’s warm, antique, spacey and cosey. The decoration consists of photo frames, puzzle paintings and medicine boxes. The cake’s are delicious. They come in many sizes and varieties and are freshly baked by the grandma’s.
Sustainability
So what has this lunchroom to do with sustainability? A lot. Sustainability is not only about saving energy of recycling waste but the social side (or human sustainability as they call it) is also a huge aspect. The Vollpension brings people back to the labour market where normally they wouldn’t have a chance anymore. Most of the employees have low pensions or no employeer wants to take them. Some of them just feel like they still want to do something. At the Vollpension they give those people a chance to get an income or do something they really like.
I visited four interesting company who are active on the social side of sustainability. Wohnwagon, Younited Cultures, Vollpension and Shades Tours.
Later I went to Krems an der Donau where I met Gregor, an EV enthusiast who has been following me for a long time.
The Magdas Hotel is a business like any other but there social and sustainable approach is quite unique. The employees are (former) refugees and they collected their furniture through crowdsourcing.
I met Ira who is the founder of Die Mutmacherei, an initiative that promotes sustainable projects in Austria.
In the evening I went to the Erdgesprache (Earthtalks), the biggest sustainable event in Austria this year, probably no coincidence that I was here just at this time. There were talks from Celine Cousteau, the granddaughter of Jacques and a journalist of The Guardian.
Vienna! What a city. Arrived early morning after a short night and then went to a ‘secret’ place where dreams are coming true.
On my way from Feldkirchen to Vienna I had some trouble. Because of the bad weather and hills I couldn’t make it to the chargepoint and needed to find creative ways to get around.
I spend another day in Feldkirchen, Corinthia province. Kate has been living there for a few years and told me about the area.
On my way to Austria unexpected I met a very interesting guy. The way to Austria was gorgeous and upon my arrival they locked me inside of a carpark.
