Online excursion to the stars over Fulda 2021

A one-day online event prepared by Dr. Roswitha Kirsch-Stracke and M.Sc. student Julian Gick on May 5, 2021, addressed the topic of light pollution and its effects on human perception and health, on wildlife, and on trees in the city.

The originally planned excursion destinations, the star city Fulda and the star park Rhön, were digitally visited. Sabine Frank from the district of Fulda gave a practical lecture on the topic, showed successful examples of how to reduce light immission, addressed the legal basis and provided comprehensive information material.

In a work phase, the 20 participants then researched guidelines, categories and examples of the International Dark-Sky-Association and presented their results to each other.

In the afternoon, Charis Wuthenow from the Environmental Center Fulda presented the first results of the research project "Species Protection through Environmentally Compatible Lighting (AuBe)"("Artenschutz durch umweltverträgliche Beleuchtung (AuBe)").

"Light pollution" is an integral part of the Master's elective module "Landscape perception, recreation and tourism", but for many students who have not taken the module (so far), the online event was their first contact with this subject area. The positive feedback showed that the dedicated speakers succeeded in sensitizing the students to the problem of light immission and motivating them to continue working on the topic.