Besides the mainstream scientific work I am also interested/involved in the followings:
Paragliding
I am a paragliding pilot since 2004 and tandem pilot since 2009. I love flying, I love the freedom and the simplicity of paragliding, the possiblity to leave our 2D world and look at it from outside, from above. Paragliding took over almost all my previous outdoor hobbies, like rafting, mountaineering, rock climbing. It is a lifestyle, an addiction with all its advantages and drawbacks.
Besides flying I have also participated in the education of new pg instructors at Siresz for many years with a lecture entitled “paragliding and nature conservation”.
Critical Mass
I was involved in the Critical Mass movement in Hungary from the very beginning, took part in the organization, coordination and the creative process of many events and ideas. I believe that both large urban traffic and village traffic can only be sustainable with a very high ratio of cyclists, much higher than it is present today in Hungary. Currently I am an activist of the Dunakanyar Regional Divison of Magyar Kerékpárosklub. I also ride my bike every time I can and motivate my children to do so.
Singing
Singing is one of the most fundamental ways of expressing ones emotions and feelings. Singing connects us with our inner world, with other humans, with other life forms and even the spiritual realms. I sang in the following choirs in the past: Városminor, Soharóza, Halastó.
Local community-based civil activity
In 2012 we moved to the countryside with my family to be able to raise our children in a more natural and peaceful environment, where we have more freedom in bringing our life closer to self-sustainability and ecological thinking. However, it turned out that you cannot escape from the problems of civilization so easily… With a small group of enthusiastic local activists we have started to build up a local community (CivilVerőce) to have more self-control over our village life and to raise awarness in several important questions related to environmental protection, sustainability and ecological self-consciousness. We target and seek solution to local problems, like air pollution, bad heating habits or wasteful waste management through community-based civil events and knowledge-based bottom-up education. See more at our webpage: www.civilveroce.hu
Clean air
As part of the joyful civil activity unfortunately we also have to focus on the negative effects of human society on our environment. One major issue in my neighborhood is air pollution. I am seeking ways to target this very serious problem for many years, with contradictory success. More can be read on this on the CivilVerőce site. Latest news is that we participate with around 20 air dust sensors in the sensor.community project from our Village, and I created a Python library to visualize date collected throughout this project. Source code is available at the AQStat GitHub page.
Planting trees
My vision about my home town is to increase the green cover and biodiversity of playgrounds and roadsides with flowers, bushes and trees to an extent that becomes a local attraction, unique value and pride. In particular, I am keen on planting fruit trees along roads and berries as a fence around playgrounds with several joyful consequences: trees and plants are beautiful, they give shade, they give food, they preserve humidity, they clean the air, they provide oxigen for other living species, they smell wonderful, they serve as shelter and home for many other species including plants, animals, mushrooms or even humans, they teach us many things about humility, motivation, joy, peace, perseverance, vision, they give more than what they ask for, they serve our children. Overall, they provide diverse positive energy by existence. To express my respect for plants, I have organized several community-based planting events and spend substantial energy with taking care of the living matter created. See our local planting database for results, or come pick an apple any time you come by!