This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2022) |
Formation | 1945 | (as International Summer Seminars)
---|---|
Founder | Otto Molden, Simon Moser |
Type | Nonprofit organisation and Foundation |
Headquarters | Vienna, Austria |
Official language | English, German |
President | Andreas Treichl |
Secretary General | Feri Thierry |
Key people |
|
Website | https://www.alpbach.org/ |
The European Forum Alpbach (EFA) is an Austrian nonprofit organisation and foundation based in Vienna, Austria. It is best known for hosting the event of the same name in the village of Alpbach. It is an interdisciplinary platform for science, politics, business and culture with its mission cited as "connecting international decision-makers from all sectors of society with an interested audience and committed young people".
The forum was founded in 1945 as "International College Weeks" by Otto Molden, who had been active in the Austrian resistance movement, and Simon Moser. [1] Nowadays, more than 4,000 people from over 70 countries accept the invitation to participate in the European Forum Alpbach each year. Participation is open to all interested parties. The events are held in the small village of Alpbach.
The event in August is divided into several main parts. As of 2024 the programme is centred around the following four thematic tracks:
The programme is structured in different modules. [4] The Alpbach Seminars (formerly called Seminar Week) constitutes the core programme for scholarship holders. [5] Alpbach in Motion is a three-days summit, being held also within the framework of the European Forum Alpbach. The event offers different formats – from seminars to workshop, hikes, discussion etc.
Accompanying the programme of the European Forum Alpbach throughout is a comprehensive schedule of arts and culture. In exhibitions, concerts and lectures, young artists in particular are offered the opportunity to present their work to the public. There are also the spontaneously organised fireside chats in which sensitive issues can be openly discussed with well-known personalities.
In past years, the programme also included other formats like symposia, a seminar week, Alpbach summer school courses or an Alpbach media academy.
Former scholarship holders of the European Forum Alpbach founded initiative groups and clubs in more than 30 countries around the world (mostly in Central and Eastern Europe) in order to work together for the constant advancement of the forum. These groups and clubs promote the spirit of Alpbach in their home countries and universities and organise interdisciplinary events and lectures. They are considered to be sister organisations of the forum and most of them are giving out annual scholarships for students to attend the European Forum Alpbach.
Among others, there are initiative groups in Armenia (Yerevan), Albania (Tirana), Austria (Graz, Linz and Vienna), Belgium (Brussels), Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo), Bulgaria (Sofia), France (Paris), Germany (Berlin and Cologne), Hungary (Budapest), Kosovo (Pristina), Macedonia (Skopje), Moldova (Chişinău), Montenegro (Podgorica), Poland (Warsaw), Serbia (Belgrade), Romania (Bucharest) and Ukraine (Kyiv, Lviv). Clubs exist in Austria (Burgenland, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Upper Austria, Vienna and Vorarlberg), Austria (Klagenfurt) / Italy / Slovenia (Senza Confini), Bulgaria, Croatia (Zagreb), Czech Republic, Greece, Italy (South Tyrol and Trentino), Liechtenstein, Middle East, Russia (Moscow), Serbia (Belgrade) and UK (London).
The African Alpbach Network was founded in 2019 and consists of more than 70 members from more than ten African countries.
Alpbach in Motion (AIM) is a three-day summit taking place during the European Forum Alpbach. The AIM programme connects up to 40 emerging leaders from various business backgrounds. It aims to encourage its participants to strengthen Europe by bringing change and new ways of acting into their industries and networks. Former participants of the programme founded an alumni club that exchanges and organises events on a regular basis.
Youth For Understanding (YFU) is an international educational exchange organization. A network of over 50 independent national organizations worldwide, YFU representatives work together to advance learning across cultures.
Franz Fischler is an Austrian politician from the Christian-conservative People's Party (ÖVP). He was the European Union's Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries (1995–2004). He also was President of the European Forum Alpbach.
Erhard Busek was an Austrian politician from the Christian-conservative People's Party (ÖVP). Throughout his political career, he was widely regarded as one of the leaders of the party's liberal wing. He was coordinator of the South-Eastern Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and chairman of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe.
The term Lederhosen is used in English to refer specifically to the traditional leather breeches worn by men in Austria, Bavaria, South Tyrol and Slovenia. The term Trachten Lederhose is often used in German to avoid confusion with other types of leather pants.
The Europaeum is a network of 18 universities in Europe. It was conceived of in 1990–1991 by Lord Weidenfeld and Sir Ronnie Grierson and they persuaded Roy Jenkins, who had just become Chancellor of the University of Oxford, to push this initiative in conjunction with the universities of Leiden, and Bologna. It has subsequently been supporting the "advancement of education through the encouragement of European studies in the University of Oxford and other European institutions of higher education having links with Oxford."
The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience, commonly referred to as IAESTE, is an international organization exchanging students for technical work experience abroad. Students gain relevant technical training lasting from 4 weeks to 52 weeks. IAESTE includes committees representing more than 80 countries, with the potential of accepting new countries into the organization every year. At the general conference 2005 held in Cartagena, Colombia, the statute and by-laws of IAESTE a.s.b.l. were established, making IAESTE a registered "associacion sans but lucratif", with the centre in Luxembourg. The current president is Thomas Faltner from Austria. IAESTE's motto is "Work, Experience, Discover". IAESTE's aims are to connect students with employers in foreign countries, provide university students with technical experience and culturally enrich students and their host communities.
The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), in support of the United Nations Program on Space Applications, is a non-governmental organization and professional network, whose goal is to convey the perspectives of students and young space professionals to the United Nations (UN), space industry, space agencies, and academia.
The European Geography Association (EGEA) is an association encouraging European students to engage with geography through hands-on learning experiences. EGEA provides exchange programs and excursions to facilitate connection between European students and others from across the globe.
Hans Köchler is a retired professor of philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and president of the International Progress Organization, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations. In his general philosophical outlook he is influenced by Husserl and Heidegger, his legal thinking has been shaped by the approach of Kelsen. Köchler has made contributions to phenomenology and philosophical anthropology and has developed a hermeneutics of trans-cultural understanding that has influenced the discourse on the relations between Islam and the West.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non-profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. The organization aims to create a bridge between international media activities and the media developments in the region. It has headquarters and national committees in several countries. In total 33 member states or territories are included in SEEMO: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The Institute for International Political Studies, founded in 1934, is the oldest Italian think tank specialised in international affairs. ISPI approaches international affairs in a sound pragmatic manner, monitoring geopolitical areas as well as major global trends. Comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis is ensured by close collaboration with specialists, academic and non-academic, in political, economic, legal, historical and strategic studies and an ever-growing network of think tanks, research centers and universities in Europe and abroad. Its headquarters are in Palazzo Clerici, a splendid example of 18th-century Milanese patrician building which boasts among its treasures the famous room with a Tiepolo fresco.
The Balassi Institute is a worldwide non-profit cultural organization funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Külügyminisztérium) of Hungary. The institute spreads and promotes Hungarian language and culture abroad, and plays a key role in developing and attaining Hungary's objectives in the area of cultural diplomacy. As an organizational hub, it coordinates and directs all activities provided by Hungarian institutes abroad.
It is named after the Hungarian Renaissance lyric poet Bálint Balassi.
Prof. Otto Molden was an Austrian publicist, federalist and author of various books about European identity and history. He founded the European Forum Alpbach in 1945.
European University Sports Association (EUSA) is an umbrella non-governmental (NGO) non-profit organisation, working in the field of university sport in Europe.
Ruth Brinkmann was the founder of Vienna's English Theatre.
The Initiative Pro Mitteleuropa - Middleeuropean Initiative is an international think tank, based in Vienna. President of IPM is Philipp Depisch from Austria.
The ASEAN European Academic University Network (ASEA-UNINET) is a network of universities, consisting of European and south-east Asian universities. It was founded in 1994 by universities from Austria, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam with the goal of promoting the continuous internationalisation of education and research. Today ASEA-UNINET consists of 83 universities from 17 different countries.
The 2015 Western Balkans Summit was the second annual summit of heads of states and governments of Western Balkans. It took place in the Vienna, Austria, following the 2014 Conference of Western Balkan States that took place in Berlin, Germany. This summit forms part of the Berlin Process, a five-year process marked by yearly summits in order to underline the commitment to Future enlargement of the European Union towards the Western Balkans region. Official date of summit is 27 of August 2015. After 2014 conference Günther Oettinger confirmed that the event will be organised annually with Vienna as a host city in 2015 and Paris in 2016.
Marion Diederichs-Lafite is an Austrian music journalist.
Barbara N. Moser is an Austrian concert pianist.
Media related to European Forum Alpbach at Wikimedia Commons