If a university where a course based on this website is taught is located far away from the Wadden Sea, it might not be feasible or even desirable to visit sites in the area, especially with regard to the environmental impact of travel. However, it can still be worthwhile to organise a field trip. The connecting physical field trip is meant to show how the concerns and issues relating to the Wadden Sea connect to those closer to home, and how people are connected to the Wadden Sea even when they are not located there.
Educators may opt for locations close to the university that have a physical connection to the Wadden Sea or speak to it in some other way. For example, they may visit a waterway that is part of a watershed that connects to the Wadden Sea, or a dyke or salt marsh in a different location, in which similar concerns to those in the Wadden Sea are relevant. The connecting physical field trip is an invitation to consider questions of scale: how do different scales impact and relate to one another?
Suggested secondary reading:
Howkins, Adrian. “‘Have You Been There?’ Some Thoughts on (Not) Visiting Antarctica.” Environmental History. 15.3 (2010): 514-519.
Literature and the Wadden Sea 