When asked to think about and provide a topic for the research project, I was a little stumped. At first, it seemed intimidating to research an international topic that I would not likely know anything about, with me being a person that doesn’t frequent the news channel. Randomly, I remembered that I had seen an article on Instagram talking about how Germany was going to get rid of all their coal plants. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but I began to search for things related to Germany and environmental change. I soon came across the news that not only would Germany, be making efforts to rid coal from their country, but that it was part of a larger plan. I then had my topic.
It interested me because I think global warming is an important and relevant issue to today and I strive to take care of my surroundings, because the irreversible side effects are already showing. I also liked how the topic specifically focused on Germany, which I had visited in the summer of 2018. I visited cities all around Germany, as well as other European cities, but I spent the majority of my time in that country. I did not know which aspect of the plan I would explore, and I initially hypothesized about the extent to which Germany’s economy would be affected. After reading articles and searching databases, I found that most sites discussed the effects regarding German citizens and that Germany would likely be fine after spending heaps of money. I was most surprised by this finding in my research by far. This lead me to change my thesis a couple of times because I could not figure out the right wording to fit what I wanted to say in it. I eventually settled on a thesis that includes how the plan will help slow climate change, politics, the economy and even people’s health. I fully expected my essay to solely focus on economics. The initial difficulties I faced included not being able to find many sources on this specific subject. I concluded that maybe it was because of it not being that noteworthy or mainstream compared to what else is put on the news. Regardless, I still wanted to pursue this topic and found articles that could support the different parts of the thesis instead of just the news topic as a whole. After hours of hard work, I was finally able to complete my research and the essay accompanying it. I recently tried to locate any news on how the plan was coming along, and there wasn’t much to be found other than the same sources I used for my essay. I will continue to try and seek updates on my topic, though I have a feeling it will take a lot more time in order to get the desired updates.
A collection of pictures from my time in Germany for reference: