UWC Austria Short Courses
Short Courses in Austria
(RE)Defining Equality
In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023, the UWC short course "(RE)Defining Equality" took place in Austria. Around 40 young people between the ages of 15 and 17 came to Imst, Tyrol, to take a critical look at the topic of equality.
These courses were organised jointly with Erasmus+ as a youth exchange between eight Erasmus+ countries. These courses thus represent an interface between the values and objectives of UWC and Erasmus+. The participants also came from countries all over the world and were dedicated to the idea of learning about equality and equal treatment in all its facets, experiencing it together and taking their experiences back to their home countries. Initially, the participants were able to learn important terminology and concepts relating to equality, which they then built on and designed their own projects to address current problems and grievances in their home countries and communities.
More information can be found here.
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Acting for Peace – The Art of Conflict Transformation (2014)
The first UWC short course in Austria took place in 2014 as a collaboration between UWC Austria, the Imst Mitte cultural initiative and the UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies at the University of Innsbruck on the topic of “Acting for Peace - The Art of Conflict Transformation” and aimed to convey peace to the participants in three ways:
Firstly, participants from a wide range of social, cultural and religious backgrounds were selected. The 32 young people came from 19 countries in Europe and the Middle Eastern and Northern Africa (MENA) region. What they had in common was a willingness to engage in mutual exchange and an interest in getting to know and understand different points of view.
Under these conditions, living together and learning with and from each other became an opportunity to gain positive experiences of peaceful coexistence in diversity.
Activities in which the participants dealt with peace and conflict transformation filled the content of the two weeks. Accordingly, the theoretical part of the short course included the second form of engagement with peace. Prof. DDr. Wolfgang Dietrich from the UNESCO Chair for Peace Research at the University of Innsbruck outlined an overview of the discipline of peace research and various approaches to it.
In the final part, the young people dealt with active peace work, the third form of peace that the UWC short course wanted to convey.
More information on UWC short course opportunities in Austria can be found here.
"I came with 20 kg of luggage - I leave with the world in my hands."
- Joud from Lebanon, Participant in "Acting for Peace - The Art of Conflict Transformation"