Demokratiewerkstätten
[Deutsche Version siehe unten]
About the project
The IDM is setting up new Democracy Workshops in cooperation with the Austrian Parliament and supported by ERSTE Foundation.
The Democracy Workshops in the Austrian Parliament offer workshops for children and young people. They were developed in 2007 by the Austrian parliamentary administration and quickly became a very successful political education project. Young students aged 8-15 deal with different topics under motivating guidance in six workshops: Parliament: The way of a law; Media: How do I get information?; Politicians: Who will represent me?; Participation: My opinion counts; Time Travel: Explore the Republic; Europe: Getting to know the European Union; To this date, around 120,000 children and young people have completed the democracy workshop in Vienna.
With the support of ERSTE Foundation, other parliamentary administrations were able to set up their own democracy workshop, each of which was coordinated with the Austrian Democracy Workshop in terms of format, didactics and standards. The Democracy Workshops in Montenegro (since 2014) and Kosovo (since 2018) have become an integral part of democracy education in their countries, with large numbers of participants. During the visit of National Council President Sobotka to Albania and North Macedonia in spring 2020, the parliaments in Tirana and Skopje reaffirmed their desire to set up their own democracy workshops in cooperation with Vienna. Cooperation in setting up a Democracy Workshops in Bratislava was also discussed during the visit of the Secretary General of the Chancellery of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Daniel Guspan, to Vienna in autumn 2020.
For the implementation of these plans, the IDM serves as implementing partner. In the course of implementation, the IDM will also intensify the further networking of the existing and new Democracy Workshops in order to continue to support the professional exchange and the high didactic level of the trainers from all countries in coordination with the Austrian Parliament.
Project coordinator:
Call for Expression of Interest for Non-Governmental Organizations to implement the Democracy Workshop Project in the Albanian Assembly
The Austrian Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) supported by ERSTE Foundation invites all interested non-governmental organisations (NGO) in Albania to apply for the implementation of the Democracy Workshops in the Albanian Assembly.
IDM supported by ERSTE Foundation together with the Albanian Assembly as the beneficiary, seeks to implement the Democracy Workshops in Albania with the goal of establishing them as one of the core civic education programmes of the Albanian Assembly.
The Democracy Workshop programme was originally established by the Austrian Parliament in 2007to familiarize young people with the basics of democracy, parliamentary life and media competence in all its aspects. Based on the Austrian model, the programme will be implemented in Albania. It is designed as four-hour workshops through which primary and secondary school children, with the help of selected expert trainers, can learn how parliamentary democracy works through interactive activities and the creation of a media feature.
The goal of the Democracy Workshop programme is to promote an interest in democratic and political processes as well as to contribute to a better understanding of the principles of democracy and to gain knowledge about the role of the parliament in the democratic structure of a state, the parliamentary processes, and the daily work of MPs. The workshops also strive to illustrate additional key elements for political participation: the willingness, the ability, and the courage to express an opinion and media literacy.
The selected NGO will recruit trainers who will receive the necessary trainings to deliver the workshops. The technical equipment required to conduct the workshops will be provided. In addition, the Administration of the Albanian Assembly will provide administrative support and expertise in conducting the workshops. During the initial implementation phase the project will be realized by the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe. This initial implementation phase will be completed by the end of May 2023. Following the completion of this phase, the Administration of the Albanian Assembly intends to continue the programme.
Eligible organisations must meet all the following criteria:
· registered according to Albanian law and in full compliance with all Albanian legal requirements;
· proven experience in recruitment and team management;
· proven experience in project management;
· have team members proficient in the English language for work on a day to day basis;
· previous experience in civic education and/or work with school children will be an asset;
· previous experience with projects in the field of democratisation, governance and human rights will be an asset.
Eligible organisations must submit the following documentation:
· letter of interest;
· CV of the person(s) representing the NGO and the working group in charge of implementing the project;
· CV of the NGO and a short description of working field of respective NGO;
· written report on a good practice (up to two pages);
· copy of the NGO registration (“Ekstrakti më i fundit nga Gjykata e Rrethit Gjyqësor Tiranë”);
· certification from the tax authorities that the NGO has no debts with Albanian fiscal authorities (Vërtetim nga organi tatimor që organizata nuk ka detyrime të pashlyera për sa i përket kontributeve për sigurimet shoqërore, sigurimet shëndetësore dhe tatimet);
· certification from the tax authorities that the NGO is active (Vërtetim nga organi tatimor mbi statusin aktiv të organizatës dhe kopje e dokumentit të regjistrimit në organin tatimor, NIPT);
· copy of the most recent approved statute (Kopje e statutit të organizatës që aplikon; varianti më i fundit);
· yearly budget of the organization and official financial disclosures of the last two years (Buxheti vjetor i organizatës, pasqyrat financiare të dy viteve të fundit me firmën dhe vulën e organizatës sipas formatit të deklaruar në organet tatimore);
· copy of any other documentation (e.g., performance report, certificates, awards, publications) that addresses the qualification requirements as listed above.
NGOs may send their application documents as PDF-files, in English, via e-mail to the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, Robin Gosejohann, r.gosejohann@idm.at by 30 September, 2022 (COB).
A certified translation of official documents is not necessary. Please note: any costs incurred for the application will not be covered.
The applications will be reviewed by a screening committee against the listed requirements. Organisations meeting these requirements will be contacted and notified of further steps.
Call for Expression of Interest (as a PDF-document)
Further information:
Information about Democracy Workshops of the Austrian Parliament (German)
Virtual Democracy Workshop (German)
Relevant publications:
IDM Policy Paper Series 1/2021
Home schooling, hybrid-learning and class room teaching: is Covid-19 changing things for good?
Robin Gosejohann
Following the COVID-19 outbreak one year ago, all countries and their education systems in the Danube Region began adopting to the new reality. Hopes were high in spring 2020 that things would look rosier after the long summer break, badly awaited by stressed-out students, teachers and parents alike. In retrospect not surprisingly, things took longer than anticipated. And whilst an end to the pandemic might be far ahead, it is anywhere but near, and education in these circumstances remains under stress.
Über das Projekt
Das IDM errichtet in Zusammenarbeit mit dem österreichischen Parlament und unterstützt von der ERSTE Stiftung neue Demokratiewerkstätten.
Die Demokratiewerkstatt im österreichischen Parlament bietet Workshops für Kinder und Jugendliche an. Sie wurde 2007 von der österreichischen Parlamentsverwaltung entwickelt und schnell zu einem sehr erfolgreichen politischen Bildungsprojekt. Junge Schülerinnen und Schüler im Alter von 8-15 Jahren setzen sich unter motivierender Anleitung in sechs unterschiedlichen Werkstätten mit wesentlichen Themen auseinander: Parlament: Der Weg eines Gesetzes; Medien: Wie informiere ich mich?; PolitikerInnen: Wer vertritt mich?; Partizipation: Meine Meinung zählt; Zeitreise: Die Republik erforschen; Europa: Die Europäische Union kennenlernen; Bis dato haben schon rund 120.000 Kinder und Jugendliche die Demokratiewerkstatt in Wien absolviert.
Mit Unterstützung der ERSTE Stiftung konnten weitere Parlamentsverwaltungen eine eigene Demokratiewerkstatt aufbauen, jeweils in Format, Didaktik und Anspruch eng abgestimmt mit der österreichischen Demokratiewerkstatt. Die Demokratiewerkstätten in Montenegro (seit 2014) und Kosovo (seit 2018) sind feste Bestandteile der Demokratievermittlung in ihren Ländern geworden, mit hohen Teilnehmerzahlen. Beim Besuch von Nationalratspräsident Sobotka in Albanien und Nordmazedonien im Frühjahr 2020 bekräftigten die Parlamente in Tirana und Skopje ihren Wunsch, in Kooperation mit Wien eigene Demokratiewerkstätten zu errichten. Auch beim Wien-Besuch des Generalsekretärs der Kanzlei des Nationalrates der Slowakischen Republik Daniel Guspan im Herbst 2020 wurde eine Zusammenarbeit beim Aufbau einer Demokratiewerkstatt in Bratislava besprochen.
Für die Umsetzung dieser Pläne rings um weitere Demokratiewerkstätten zeichnet das IDM im Einvernehmen mit der österreichischen Parlamentsverwaltung und gefördert von der ERSTE Stiftung verantwortlich. Das IDM wird im Zuge der Implementierung auch die weitere Vernetzung der bestehenden und neuen Demokratiewerkstätten intensivieren, um in Abstimmung mit dem österreichischen Parlament den fachlichen Austausch und das hohe didaktische Niveau der Trainerinnen und Trainer aller Länder weiter zu begleiten.
IDM Policy Paper Series 1/2021
Home schooling, hybrid-learning and class room teaching: is Covid-19 changing things for good?
von Robin Gosejohann
„Die COVID-19 Pandemie hat Schulen letztes Jahr auch in der Donauregion abrupt vor Herkulesaufgaben gestellt. Bildung im Regelbetrieb musste neu und oft anders organisiert werden. Glaubte man zunächst an eine Rückkehr zu business-as-usual müssen sich nun alle – Lehrpersonal, Schülerinnen und Schüler, und auch Eltern – auf bleibende Änderungen einstellen. Das Diskussionspapier greift den hohen gesellschaftlichen Druck auf, unter dem Lehrerinnen und Lehrer arbeiten müssen – und sucht dabei nach begrüßenswerten Entwicklungen, die in diesem Ausnahmezustand (neuen) Schwung bekommen haben. Recht schnell wurden z.B. IT-Fähigkeiten und die entsprechenden Ausstattungen als selbstverständlich angesehen – was die oft erstaunlich analoge Umsetzung in der Schulpraxis umso nüchterner wirken lässt. Die aktuelle öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit für Schulen und ihre Nöte, so das PPS, muss jedenfalls genutzt werden, um bleibende Verbesserungen im Bildungssystem zu sichern.“
Lesen Sie das Policy Paper hier.
Weiterführende Informationen finden Sie hier:
Information zur Demokratiewerkstatt des österreichischen Parlaments
- Projektkoordination: Mag. Robin Gosejohann, MA
Living Danube Limes

Projektziel:
Living Danube Limes is an EU funded Interreg Danube Transnational Programme project and focuses on connecting, enlivening, researching, preserving and highlighting the Roman Danube Limes as transnational cultural heritage of enormous significance, in order to create a sound foundation for a future European Cultural Route. Living Danube Limes stands for:
Valorising cultural heritage and fostering sustainable tourism by LIVING the common heritage on the DANUBE LIMES as basis for a cultural route.
Project objectives:
• Main objective of the project is the connection of the Danube region through its common Roman heritage. The project seeks to support its preservation through the creation of consciousness for the value of common heritage, while respecting local differences, particularities, and creating sensibility, that the Roman Danube Limes was not just a border fortification network, but also a vast trading zone with a lot of mobility.
• The project supports the UNESCO World Heritage nomination of the entire Danube Limes, specially focusing on the nomination process for Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.
• Another main objective of the project is laying the foundations for a future European Cultural Route traversing the entire Danube Region.
• The fostering of sustainable and eco-friendly tourism through tourism strategies specifically created for the Danube Limes region is another prime objective of Living Danube Limes. Outputs of the project:
• A Roman Danube ship of the 4th century AD will be reconstructed, using Roman tool replicas, over the course of the project and will cruise down the entire Danube in 2022, with an international living-history crew on board, in order to highlight the connecting character of the Roman Danube Limes. After the end of the project, the ship will be at the disposal of each project pilot-site for one year, in order to serve as attraction and motivation for further investment into the pilot-site.
• Through the application of modern non-invasive archaeological geo-prospection at chosen pilot-sites, various research gaps will be closed.
• A Living Danube Limes app will be created in order to host a comprehensive and easy to access archaeological and historic catalogue of the Danube region, which will merge data from predecessor initiatives with new data gained through the research activities carried out in Living Danube Limes.
• Virtual und augmented reality reconstructions of original Roman Limes infrastructure will be created from the data of the geophysical prospections at the project pilot-sites and will then be hosted on the Living Danube Limes app.
• The establishment of a transnational museum cluster will further the common presentation of Roman heritage in the Danube Region, in order to create better visibility and understanding of the vastness and importance of this connecting historic landscape. Reaching out to the people – making the common Roman past tangible:
• The project will establish eight national pilot-sites with regular public activities such as living-history events and workshops on historic crafting methods.
• Physical reconstructions at the pilot-sites will complement the virtual reality reconstructions and invite more interest and should lead to follow-up projects and investment at the site.
• Workshops for the dissemination of historic crafting techniques will be organised and documented.
• A living-history cruise from Germany to the Black Sea, with international living-history groups steering the reconstructed Roman ship of the 4th century AD, will be organised at the end of the project. The ship and its crew will be halting at each pilot-site in order to participate in a living-history festival there, which will further allow for a large array of interactions with the public.
The Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe is Associated Strategic Partner of the project
Duration: 01.06.2020 – 30.11.2022
Funding: EU
Principle investigator for the project (Danube University Krems): Mag. Dr. Anna Maria Kaiser
More information can be found on the website of Danube University Krems
- Projektzeitraum: 2019-2022
- Projektleitung: Mag. Dr. Anna Maria Kaiser (Danube University Krems)
RII Menschenhandel
ICU RERE – Knowledge triangle, innovation: Reinforcing of Education, Research and e-Health
Projektziel:
1) To establish and sustain effective Industry cooperating with University (ICU) Centres of e-health Innovations at some partner universities in LB and EG (LEG)
2) To develop a web platform based on Knowledge Triangle, innovation approach to develop and commercialize of e- Health innovative technologies and tools.
3) To develop a new integrated professional short term (6 months) and long term (one year) diploma program in e. Health and Medical informatics
4) To develop in-service lifelong learning training (LLT) program in the area of e-health innovative Medical/health/IT/ engineering.
Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education Project
EU Project Reference: 609506-EPP-1-2019-1-SE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP
Collaborative project of 20 EU and non-EU partner institutions
Coordinator & contractor: Linnéuniversitetet, Växjö, Sweden
Collaboration between universities and industries is critical for skills development, the generation, acquisition and adoption of knowledge and the promotion of entrepreneurship. Through collaborative interchange, the university becomes “a more vigorous partner in the search for answers” . The social and economic community provides a context for civic discourse and the reciprocal, interactional creation of knowledge. Community engaged education establishes the context for the exploration of pressing and complex problems, of which e-health and medical informatics is an example. Out of this reciprocal need comes the development of a model for interdisciplinary education that centers community as the context for learning. This model represents the theoretical and physical space where the university joins with others to address complex issues.
The consortium consists of 20 experienced partners, which have different levels of knowledge and skills in the fields of e- Health and Medical Informatics, as well as independent think tanks like the IDM, universities and NGO’s. The partnership has the necessary capacity to implement the project and achieve the expected outcomes. It will have an important impact on students, on the higher education institutions involved & on society at large such as increasing the number of MOU signed with health enterprises & increase the number of placements and job opportunities.
Official website of the project: https://www.icurere.com
- Projektzeitraum: 2019-2022
Interprofessional, student-run, primary Care clinics (I Care)
Interprofessional, student-run, primary Care clinics: A university-enterprise knowledge triangle cooperation approach (I Care)
Project manager
Mosad Zineldin
Other project members
Teachers/researchers from different departments within health sciences at Linnaeus University
Participating organizations
From the EU: Linnaeus University; Università degli studi di Genova, Italy; Polytechnio Kritis, Greece; Tallinna Tehnikaülikool, Estonia; Institut für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa, Austria
From Egypt: Alexandria University, Assiut University, Al-Azhar University, Helwan University, Badr University, The British University in Egypt, International For Applied Science And Technology
From Lebanon: Notre Dame University, Beirut Arab University, Modern University for Business & Science, LEAD Healthcare Consultancy
Financier
EU/EACEA Erasmus+ Capacity Building
Timetable
15 Jan 2021–14 Jan 2024
Subject
Medicine, health science (Department of Medicine and Optometry, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
More about the project
This I Care joint EU project contributes to strengthening the capacities of the higher education partner universities and institutions of the programme countries Sweden, Italy, Austria, Estonia and Greece in the partner countries Egypt and Lebanon. This is done by targeting the implementation of new tools and technologies, skills, innovative training and student internship, teaching methods for active and university-healthcare sector collaboration in primary health care. By choosing this theme, the project fits perfectly into the field of “bringing universities together, by strengthening health sciences curricula (medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and nursing, allied health services, psychology, etc) through the development of university-health sector I Care clinic centres.
This project will develop and establish I Care centres and clinics which provide education, training, research, primary health care patient treatment and community engagement. Some benefits of the inter-professional, student-led clinic (SLC) model are:
- For the medical and healthcare science students: an opportunity to develop clinical skills within a supervised environment.
- For patients: increased access for underserved and disadvantaged communities to free health care services.
The main objective of this project and the IPC/IPE model is to strengthen the university-enterprise (healthcare sittings) cooperation, and also to allow students to directly contribute to patient health and feel valued for what they can provide the society with during their training.
Further information: https://lnu.se/en/research/searchresearch/research-projects/project-interprofessional-student-run-primary-care-clinics/
- Projektzeitraum: 2021 – 2024
70 Jahre IDM – ein Weg von Südtirol bis Moldau
Projektziel:
Projektziel ist die Erstellung einer möglichst umfassenden Darstellung der Geschichte des IDM. Dabei wird die Metamorphose, die das Institut durchlaufen hat, untersucht. Gegründet wurde es 1953 in Salzburg außerhalb der sowjetischen Besatzungszone, von Persönlichkeiten, deren Bild des europäischen Kontinents aus Zeiten vor und nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg geprägt war. Die Entwicklung des Instituts wird – vor allem – auf der Basis der institutseigenen, mit einer kurzen Unterbrechung, erschienen Zeitschrift untersucht. Schwerpunkte sind das weltgeschichtliche Geschehen vom Kalten Krieg, über die Wende in den ostmitteleuropäischen Staaten 1989 und die EU-Erweiterungen 1995 und 2004, die sich in den Aktivitäten des Instituts widerspiegeln. Diese Untersuchungen werden durch Zeitzeugengesprächen als zweitem wesentlichen Quellenfundus ergänzt. Damit wird insbesondere die Zeit ab 1995, dem Beginn der EU-Mitgliedschaft Österreichs, aber auch des Vorsitzes Erhard Buseks mit seinen weitreichenden Kontakten, umfassend erforscht.
Mag. Paul Mychalewicz
(unter Mitarbeit von Mag. Niklas Perzi)
70 Jahre IDM – ein Weg von Südtirol bis Moldau
Das heutige Institut für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa wurde am 5. Dezember 1953 in Salzburg gegründet. Ins Leben gerufen wurde das Institut von drei Persönlichkeiten: Theodor (von) Hornbostel, Carl (von) Karwinsky, ehemaliger Staatssekretär für das Sicherheitswesen, sowie Dr. Rudolf Lodgman von Auen, als Repräsentant der Sudetendeutschen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, zuvor Mitglied des österreichischen Reichsrats, 1918/19 Landeshauptmann von „Deutschböhmen“, danach als deutschnationaler Politiker in der Tschechoslowakei tätig. In diesem Zusammenhang erscheinen zwei Umstände bemerkenswert: Einerseits der Gründungsort, andererseits die Mitwirkung eines Vertreters der (vertriebenen) Sudentendeutschen. Der Gründungsort Salzburg erklärt sich aus der Tatsache, dass 1953 Österreich noch vierfach besetzt war und man bewusst einen Ort in der sowjetischen Besatzungszone vermeiden wollte. Salzburg, in der amerikanischen Zone gelegen, erschien dagegen sicher. Die Teilnahme eines Vertreters der Sudetendeutschen weist auf einen wesentlichen Tätigkeitsbereich des Instituts hin, nämlich die „deutschen Sprachinseln auf der anderen Seite des Eisernen Vorhangs“. Allerdings hielt der Vorstand des Instituts bereits im März 1955, also noch vor dem Staatsvertrag, fest, „dass die Versöhnung der Nationalitäten eine der Hauptaufgaben des Instituts sein solle“. 1957, somit nach dem Ende der Besatzungszeit, übersiedelte das Institut nach Wien. Geleitet wurde die Organisation von 1953 bis 1971 von Theodor Hornbostel (1889 bis 1973), wobei Peter Berger als Generalsekretär die laufenden Geschäfte führte.6 Hornbostel war in der Zwischenkriegszeit als Diplomat tätig. Dabei waren der Donauraum, Mitteleuropa sowie darüber hinaus Europa seine besonderen Interessensgebiete. Von Anfang an unterstützte er die Paneuropa-Union Richard Coudenhove-Kalergis und wurde auch Vorstandsmitglied dieser 1922/23 in Wien gegründeten Organisation.
- Projektzeitraum: Mai 2021 – Oktober 2022
- Projektleitung: Mag. Paul Mychalewicz
Mechanisms of Modernization and Nation State Institutionalization in Central and Eastern Europe, 19th-21st c.
The Project is dedicated to a comparative analysis, from historical and political sciences perspectives, of the matrixes of modernity countries selected from South-Eastern and Central Europe have incompletely followed from mid-XIXth century to nowadays. The targeted countries are Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Hungary. Local academic projects with similar scopes have been written in the past decades, and have grown into various theories of “applied”/”imported”/ “naturally grown” processes of modernization, but larger regional analysis has but barely touched upon the matter. The Project will involve large horizontal cooperation between clusters of academics and researchers from the above-mentioned countries, will sustain contacts and academic exchanges between scholars, public intellectuals, journalists, and policy-makers from the above-mentioned countries. The Project aims at publishing partial and definitive results of research, and may be relevant to the European present and future.
The Project is funded by IULIUS MALL CLUJ-NAPOCA S.R.L.
- Projektzeitraum: 2019-2020
- Projektleitung: Mihai Razvan Ungureanu
- Projektmitarbeiterinnen: Carmen Bendovski