Austria IFYE exchange 2026 – Solar Power and Community in Austria
Julie Milne – President Peterborough County – Junior Farmers Exchange Delegate 2026
Welcome to Austria! I have been having a great time in the Austrian countryside, enjoying traditional food, trying local beers, but mostly learning about the country! I have two interesting observations to share with you in this post. One related to Junior farmers and one related to electricity. For daily updates on my adventures follow me on Polarsteps (https://www.polarsteps.com/JulieMilne/26960685-iyfe-austria?s=836c2b83-d08d-4627-8b9c-57b266eb8140)
- Landjugen Österreich (rough translation: Country Youth of Austria) – the organization Junior Farmers dreams of being.
- Landjugen Austria was formed after World War 2 by the American forces to foster positive community amongst rural youth in Austria. It was modelled after 4-H and FFA to make an organization that presently has 1600 members between the ages of 15-30 across the country. Landjugen organizes competitions, parties, events, skills seminars and so much more. Every community has there own club with 30-80 members, and in the summer there are landjugen events almost every weekend.
- I think the biggest difference that enables Landjugen to be so productive is the support of the Austrian government. Landjugen has an office in the Ministry of Agriculture building and 4 full time administrative staff supporting the organization. During the summer each region even has a part-time administrator who supports multiple local clubs. Overall the structure is very similar, with the board of each club, district and national level all elected by the members to 2 year terms, (however after the first year you can choose to keep your position or resign).
- Solar power!
- Austria is taking the switch to Renewable energy sources SERIOUSLY. Most homes have solar panels on their roofs – I have seen gas stations and Mcdonalds with solar panels. I even got to visit a 20 cow dairy farm with a A3 lely robot – who has batteries set up so during the summer the whole farm and house is powered by solar!
- When I asked people about this, they say in the past 3 years there has been a lot of government funding made available to significantly cover the cost of installation. These new funds were developed mostly in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which saw fuel prices reach unattainable levels
- Austrian government has set to goal of being 100% run by renewable energy sources by 2030 and they are well on their way, with 11.2% of their total electricity coming from solar (as compared to 1% in Canada)
I am looking forward to my final week in Austria, and learning what I can, enjoying excellent public transit and eating as many Knödel as possible 😊
