Excursion to the former Textilana factory in Liberec

Learning outside the university: an international excursion day for geography students on the topic of extracurricular learning locations in Liberec. In-depth content from the degree programme: soil science, biogeography, geography didactics, hydrology, spatial planning, urban and settlement geography.

On Monday, 27 May 2024, our excursion to Liberec began with the train at 7.30 am. We, a small group of lecturers and students, arrived in the Czech Republic after a two-hour journey. There we met the other participants, most of whom were Czech teachers. After a short walk through the city, we reached the derelict site of the former ‘Textilana’ factory. This textile company was founded in the 19th century by Johann Liebig and became the largest in the region. The numerous industrial buildings were demolished in 2003/2004. Only one has remained unused on the large brownfield site since then. During the five-hour workshop, we were introduced to activities that can be used to explore such sites with pupils and students. Firstly, we explored the surrounding area on the research walk and learnt more about the flora and fauna of the site, where I was able to expand on the content from the biogeography lecture. We also looked at Liberec's spatial utilisation plan and collected ideas for possible uses. Depending on their own area of interest, all participants assigned themselves to one of the five thematic groups (e.g. investors for housing construction, athletes, historians ...). We then went to various stations to find out about the situation from the different perspectives. An expert was available at each of the stations to answer all our questions. For example, we looked at various soil samples from different locations and used them to deduce which future use would or would not be suitable for the area. We also measured the flow of a watercourse and discussed why its largely underground course is problematic. Finally, each interest group presented their ideas in plenary, where their feasibility was discussed and the future use of the area was debated. Numerous methods were used during the excursion and thanks to a translator we were able to successfully carry out the project together with Czech teachers. This excursion was planned by several parties in co-operation and was very successful. Super tasty baguettes, wraps and muffins were available during the lunch break. All culinary wishes were catered for. The workshop ended at 3 pm. On the way back, we took a walk through the beautiful old town before travelling back to Dresden by train.

I really enjoyed the excursion and would recommend future projects of this kind to all students.

Sophie Kunoth