Report 2021

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Letter to you Dear Sponsor, In September we had the pleasure to complete yet another experience at the European Forum Alpbach (EFA). Thanks to your support, Club Alpbach Senza Confini could secure 15 scholarships for EFA 2021, which were awarded to talented students and young professionals from the Alpe Adria region. With your support, our scholarship holders' wish to attend the European Forum Alpbach became reality.

This year, the Forum gathered 520 international students and more than 4.000 participants overall. For all the parties involved, the organization of EFA 2021 was not a walk in the park.

Covid-19 pandemic has presented us with unprecedented challenges, forcing us to adapt and come up with alternative solutions. This past edition of the Forum was held in a hybrid format: most of the programme took place physically in Alpbach, with much of it also broadcast digitally. In addition, in-person attendance was reduced to the numbers allowed by the regulations in place. As a result, we decide to provide all our scholarship holders with the opportunity to attend the on-site Forum for at least five days, so that they could fully take advantage of the unique environment at EFA. For the remaining part, they attended online.

In order to thank you once more, in the next pages we would like to share with you our experience and some impressions from the European Forum Alpbach 2021!

European Forum Alpbach 2021 “What solutions does Europe need and how could we contribute to it?” This is the question in mind behind this year’s European Forum Alpbach. The purpose of the 2021 edition was to reflect on what needs to be transformed to make Europe stronger and more resilient after a period of crisis.

For the celebration of its 76th anniversary, the Forum had to take place under strict Covid-19 prevention measures. From 18 August to 3 September, more than 4.000 participants from 62 countries attended this year’s Forum on-site and digitally. Even in a hybrid setting, the Forum was more inspiring and intellectually stimulating than ever.

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To keep pace with the dynamism of the international environment, the Forum focused on three main themes: ● The Climate Opportunity ● Securing Our Future ● The Financing of Europeʼs Future The three themes shaped the Seminar Week, as well as the discussions on economic, political and scientific topics in the Symposia. However, individual disciplines were not strictly separated: the interdisciplinary approach was the fil rouge among all the discussions. In this manner, different disciplines could

interact

closely,

and

speakers

with

different

backgrounds had the chance to confront each other on the same topic.

Some participants worked on these topics since March 2021, developing ideas and solution-oriented projects in the context of the “Alpbach Challenges”: on 2 September, they were honoured by a jury in Alpbach.

The fireside chat with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen turns into a rainside chat.

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Our Scholarship Holders Our Scholarship holders for 2021 are:

Name

Studies

Region

BRUSAPORCO Francesco

International Affairs

Italy

DI GIORGIO Irene

Communication and Journalism

Italy

HABERLE David

Economics and Business

Austria

HAMPEL Philipp

Business and International Management

Austria

HIMLER Lukas

Engineering

Austria

KARNIČAR Carina

Sinology and Political Science

Slovenia

LEHNERT Sara

Business Management

Austria

LEMUT Timotej

Physics

Slovenia

LIPPITZ Sandra

Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Austria

PERNE Lucija

Business Administration

Slovenia

PETRUCCO Giacomo

Management and Business Administration

Italy

POLIN Barbara

Journalism

Italy

TACER Lucija

Law

VECCHIET Jadran

Local and global development

WORNIG Denise

International Affairs

Slovenia Italy Austria

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The Seminar Week In the first week of the Forum, participants attended two Seminars of their choice. Here, scholarship holders could directly engage with academics and professionals from different disciplines, get familiar with new topics and latest trends, and critically question these subjects.

This year, our SHs particularly enjoyed these three seminars.

Securing Health - How to Create Resilient and Healthy Communities?

With Claudia Zoller, Management Center Innsbruck The Seminar focused on how communities in Europe can tackle climate challenges to secure subsistence and ensure health.

Talk with Wolfgang Mückstein, Austrian Minister for Health

"I was impressed by the competence and kindness of the seminar chairs and the guest speakers: each day, they allowed us to engage with new theoretical topics and create our own "pitch" to deliver to policy-makers on a public health topic.” - Irene di Giorgio, CASC Scholarship Holder

Challenging Leadership With Julia Wenninger, Commanding Officer, Theresian Military Academy In this Seminar, participants experienced group outdoor challenges and discussed leadership models.

"Trying to walk across a slackline in the middle of a forest, planning a village-wide food raid, saving the world from a radiation spill, and completing a maze to save an injured fellow - it was challenging but in all the best ways. Leading is not to be understood as power but instead as responsibility and respect.” - Lucija Perne, CASC Scholarship Holder

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Urban Fundamentals: Reinventing the city Angelika Psenner, TU Vienna Seminar participants reinvented the city of the 21st century, taking into account the ecological, technological, and social pressures of our time.

"The seminar I attended was my first choice, and I ranked it as high as I did due to my scientific interest in cities. The debates between differing visions of future cities certainly have given me food for thought that I want to continue exploring.” - Jadran Vecchiet, CASC Scholarship Holder

The Conferences As per tradition in Alpbach, the Symposia followed the Seminar Week. This year, the Symposia focused on four main topics: Health, Technology, Economy, and Politics. The Symposia are organized in a frontal, conference-like fashion, and they also foresee the possibility for the audience to ask questions and put forwards comments. Notably, the speakers and guests attending the Symposia are high-level experts in their fields and representatives from major stakeholders in these domains, ranging from politics to businesses, to academia and NGOs. Once again, our scholarship holders could listen to and interact with top-notch speakers, politicians, civil servants, business people, and entrepreneurs. Among those, for instance, were Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, EU Commissioner for Financial Stability Mairead McGuinness, Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Arancha Gonzales, Austrian Ministers Leonore Gewessler and Elisabeth Köstinger, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, CEO of Roche Severin Schwan, Google Country Director for Austria Christine Antlanger-Winter, and many other.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that, for this year’s program, the European Forum Alpbach closely cooperated with the Clubs, all of which organized numerous online sessions. We are also very happy to count Club Alpbach Senza Confini among these!

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More than a simple conference What makes the European Forum Alpbach so special to us?

Fireside talks, in the first place. On the side of the official programme at Alpbahc, we organize small-scale conversations with one or more exciting personalities on a specific topic. We typically conduct these discussions in an informal setting, which allows participants to ask questions, express their opinions, and engage in exchanges with the speakers in a casual atmosphere. This year, we organized talks on-site, as well as online.

We started off with a talk on social entrepreneurship Ringler.

Ms.

with

Ringler

Marie is

Vice-

President of the European Forum Alpbach and a member of the Global Leadership Group of Ashoka, the most extensive network for Social Entrepreneurs Worldwide. In 2011, she founded Ashoka's Austrian office, and in 2018 she was appointed European Leader of Ashoka. Besides, she has over ten years of experience working for Die Grünen (the Austrian Green Party) in Vienna. In our fireside talk, Ms. Ringler explained how social entrepreneurship works, how we can measure it, and how it can be financed and supported.

The second topic we tackled was green

entrepreneurship.

cooperation

with

the

In

Kärnten

Wirtschaftsförderung Fonds (KWF), we organised a Breakfast about Green Entrepreneurship, perfectly

in

which the

fitted

Technology

Symposium. After a short hike to a cozy alpine hut, we engaged in a live chat with Jürgen Kopeinig (KWF), entrepreneurs Michael Nöst (CEO of A3PS), Michael Stibi (CEO and Founder of startup Purency), and Julian Jank (CEO and Founder of Aeroficial Intelligence GmbH). Among our guests we also had Andreas Starzacher and Michael

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Liebminger, managing directors of the Silicon Alps Cluster, a multistakeholder organization supporting the sector of high-end electronics and microelectronics. Our speakers highlighted the numerous opportunities that green transformation can bring for young entrepreneurs and pointed out the main challenges that such ventures pose. The chat was followed by a delicious breakfast, and our guests and scholarship holders could leave with both their stomachs and minds well filled!

The EU Green Deal and other key EU policy issues were the subject of our talk

with

Martin

Selmayr.

Mr.

Selmayr is head of the Representation of the European Commission in Austria and was Secretary-General of the European Commission under President Jean-Claude Juncker. With us, he shared his views on the Conference of the Future of Europe and on the EU policies that will most likely undergo further integration.

In addition to on-site events, we also organized academic-oriented online panels.

Our scholarship holder Francesco Brusaporco moderated a debate on China’s influence on the international human rights regime. Together with Mareike Ohlberg, Senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and Mike Hayes, Program Director and Chair of the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University (Thailand), we discussed the emergence of new norms in the future.

Our alumnus Nikolaus Kandolf organized with the USA Alpbach Network a fireside chat with Jeffrey Sachs, Professor at Columbia University and contributed to drafting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. During the talk “How on earth do you find time for all that, Mr. Sachs?” we discussed how to balance our work and research interests in order to have a well-balanced and impactful career.

Our scholarship holder Denise Wornig moderated a debate with Dr. Valerie Hudson, Professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service. In “The First Political Order: How

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Sex Shapes National Security”, Professor Hudson explored the links between security policy and gender policy, and presented her most recent findings on the unbalanced representation within institutions and the likelihood of conflict onset.

Outdoor activities are the second ingredient that makes the Forum an extraordinary experience. In order to keep fit and healthy not only our minds but also our bodies, we went on several hikes, which allowed us to reap the benefits of the Alpine nature in Alpbach. Once more, we participated in the famous “sunrise hike” to the Gratlspitz

mountain.

Trekking

on

unknown paths was very rewarding, just as talking to people from any age and background: both activities help us push our limits and broaden our horizons. In addition to hiking, we continued the tradition of the dawn swim in the Reithersee. Nothing wakes us up better than fresh Alpine water in the early morning!

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Culture is a fundamental ingredient of the European Forum. Be it a cello concert at sunrise, an orchestra playing before a conference, or a dance performance outdoors, any artistic

expression

makes

EFA

memorable! Scholarship holders also have the chance to participate in the cultural program. This year, our

scholarship holder Barbara participated in the Speakers night, where contenders perform their speeches before a jury and are awarded a prize.

The Spirit of Alpbach comes to life during moments of social gatherings.

After a hasty day of seminars or conferences, scholarship holders come together to bounce ideas, exchange opinions and learn from each other. The Senza Confini mindset is at its peak: young people from different origins - Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, the US, Africa - gather around a table to share their curiosity and active interest in the world they live in.

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Thoughts on EFA “I have never experienced such a creative, inspiring, and thought-provoking environment like the one at EFA21. The opportunity to engage in direct conversation with international leaders of the private and public sectors was the most exciting part of my experience in Forum Alpbach.

I highly recommend the scholarship to anyone that wants to expand their horizons beyond their specific expertise.”

Lukas Himler, CASC Scholarship Holder 2021

“My favorite aspect of EFA21 was its interdisciplinary nature. EFA is a place where social and natural scientists, artists, and others can share opinions on essential issues for our world’s future. I believe this is a very productive format to develop innovative ideas and meet fascinating people.”

Lucija Tacer, CASC Scholarship Holder 2021

“Coming from a background of economics and finance, I appreciated the Forum’s 360°approach and the interplay between hard sciences and culture at EFA21. I especially enjoyed the concert Into the Silence, where music framed a reflection about interreligious dialogue.”

Giacomo Petrucco, CASC Scholarship Holder 2021

“This year’s track on security at EFA was of particular interest due to my academic background.

EFA allowed me to absorb new aspects of the current security environment Europe finds itself in, including the transatlantic perspective. Being part of CASC and connecting with wonderful scholarship holders from Carinthia, Slovenia, and Italy made this experience truly special.”

Denise Wornig, CASC Scholarship Holder 2021

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On the right: our Scholarship holders with Mairead McGuinness, current European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, and Elisabeth Köstinger, Austrian Minister for Tourism and Agriculture and former Member of the European Parliament.

Below: our scholarship holder Lucija Tacer, Sandra Lippitz, Sarah Lehnert and David Haberle in Alpbach.

Our Scholarship holders with Martin Selmayr, Head of the European Commission’s Representation in Austria and former Secretarygeneral of the European Commission.

Our scholarship holders with the participants to our "Green Entrepreneurship" Breakfast, which we co-organised with the Kärntner Wirtschaftsförderungsfonds (KWF) at the Schafalm.

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Our Communication Campaign Outreach was the top priority of our Communications Team, both before and during the Forum.

In particular, for the whole duration of the Forum we conducted a communication campaign across the main social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter), which yielded great results in terms of audience. The content of our campaign posts revolved around the impressions of our scholarship holders, the presentation of our sponsors, and the advertisement of our events and activities.

Published content: 44 Facebook posts, 93 Facebook stories

Facebook

Assessment: good performance in terms of reach, i.e. number of views.

The average page reach during EFA (18 August – 3 September 2021) was 493 viewers/day.

Highlights: the most popular post reached 1.300 persons, and obtained 56 reactions.

Published content: 44 Instagram posts, 93 Instagram stories

Instagram

Assessment: in terms of coverage, during EFA (18 August – 3 September 2021) our Instagram content totalled 18,953 impressions.

The page reached 974 users, of which 682 were not followers of the page. In total, our posts obtained 690 likes, with an average of 43 per day, and the page gained many new followers.

Highlights: the most popular post reached 333 viewers and earned 50 likes. The most popular story gained 170 views.

Published content: 41 tweets

Twitter

Assessment: in terms of coverage, the page performed well and earned a total of 6,800 impressions, with an average of 402 per day. The tweets obtained 85 likes (5 per day).

Published content: 25 posts

LinkedIn

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Assessment: the page performed very well, totalling 281 views (with a 2,178% increase), 107 unique visitors, and 48 new followers. Most views came from Austria (67.36%).

Our New Board

With this Booklet, we would like to thank you for supporting us during this year. Despite the adversities, our board has delivered a fully-fledged scholarship program and organized several events. The Board Team is about to change and integrate new members. Still, our work will continue to be as before - taking place voluntarily, in addition to everyone's full-time study or occupation. As a non-profit association, we spend more than 90 percent of the incoming money and funds on scholarships and events at the forum. We allocate the remaining sum to events in the Alpe-Adria region, such as our Info events at the University throughout the region. We hope you will continue to support us next year to strengthen multicultural relations in our region and enable motivated young people to go through an incredible shaping experience at the European Forum Alpbach.

With our best regards, The Communication Team, On behalf of the Board of the Club Alpbach Senza Confini

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Our Sponsors

Grazie! Hvala! Danke!

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