is a non-university research and educational institute founded in autumn 2020 that is committed to the promotion and implementation of democratic principles, the rule of law and human rights at national, European and international level.

The task of the Vienna Forum is to conduct practice-oriented legal research and teaching with the involvement of its “neighbouring sciences” (© Dieter Grimm). Based on their findings, ideas and recommendations for the safeguarding and further development of democracy, the rule of law and human rights are to be put up for discussion at a political level, proposed for implementation and communicated in educational work. A particular concern of the Vienna Forum is the promotion of young scientists and students through “academic start-ups” and their honoured participation in projects.

Current research projects (funded by the Hermann and Marianne Straniak Foundation)

  • In 2023, the study “Legal participation of civil society through application rights before the Constitutional Court” was completed and is due to be published with proposals for a reform of Articles 139 and 140 of the Federal Constitution.
  • Studies on “Political Participation of Civil Society in Austria” and “The Istanbul Convention on Violence against Women” are about to be finalised.
  • The study “An alternative to ‘Fortress Europe'” on the reception and training of refugees in camps in countries bordering the EU (a variant of the EU’s planned “New Pact”) is to be completed by summer 2024.
  • The interdisciplinary study “Clean Mediterranean Sea! – CMS!” on the “ticking bomb of plastic waste in the Mediterranean” will – following a successful final conference in September 2023 with European and international participation in Slovenia – be supplemented by mid-2024 with a comparative legal analysis of 14 reports from countries bordering the Mediterranean and recommendations on measures to be taken to the UN, OSCE, EU and all Mediterranean states. It will comprise around 1,200 pages and contain a “model law” addressed to the Mediterranean states as a recommendation for implementing their international and European obligations.

Project on serious international crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine

A report on serious international crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine within the meaning of international criminal law is to be submitted to the EU’s International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA), the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Inquiry Commission in spring 2024. The project will be carried out as part of an Exile Fellowship at the EU Global Campus in Venice and will be supplemented by accompanying analyses.

polis – The Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools

One of the core tasks of Zentrum polis is to respond to current social developments in a depolarising and democracy-strengthening way and to support teachers in dealing with crisis situations quickly, comprehensively and with relief, thereby also strengthening the culture of discourse.

Political education on democracy and human rights was therefore very much in demand in 2023, a year that was heavily characterised by crises. A lot of work for Zentrum polis:

  • 2023 was the hottest year since records began. Climate change has led to heatwaves, forest fires, floods, droughts and much suffering. With a polis aktuell on “International Climate Policy”, polis has produced a new booklet for the classroom.
  • With the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in October 2023, the conflict in the Gaza Strip and increasing anti-Semitism, “War and Peace” has become a topic for lessons.

European projects complement the activities of polis:

  • The “Lifelong Learning Week” in Brussels saw the successful conclusion of the CITIZED project, which focussed on democratic school development and teacher training.
  • The “EU Democracy Rally” project developed a training programme and a toolkit to support young people in shaping political campaigns.
  • “My Resistance, My Democracy” combines remembrance learning with political education.
  • “Linking Citizenship and Employability Perspectives in Adult Learning (LICEAL)” examines the added value of promoting democratic competences in adult education.

Project planning 2024 (funded by the Hermann and Marianne Straniak Foundation)

  • Emergency Democracy – How contentious/defensive should and may a democracy be in order not to be abolished?
    A variety of threat scenarios influence and complicate democratic decision-making processes today, such as
    • Wars and the associated political and military tensions
    • climate change and environmental problems
    • the economic effects of globalisation
    • the dominance of internet companies
    • the effects of a new “migration of peoples”
    • the loss of rational civil society dialogue due to the negative influence of social media (fake news and hate speech), authoritarianism and populism.

What can be done about this?

  • Religiously and culturally determined violence against women in the Eastern and Western world from a human rights perspective and what can and must be done about it
  • Political correctness, cancel culture and wokeness – or empowerment? What helps discriminated or underprivileged people more?