transforming conversations
Launched in December 2023, this initiative is founded and supported by professionals and individuals who have recently settled in Austria. These volunteers bring diverse expertise in fields such as science, business, entrepreneurship, and project/program management. They are dedicated to leveraging their skills and knowledge for the benefit of both their new and original communities. Our goal is to establish a dialogue platform that deals with current social issues and challenges and brings together different scientific perspectives and disciplines through a participatory approach.
– To promote diversity in the intellectual and cultural life of the city by raising the profile of scholars from diverse groups.
– To promote interaction and exchange in a transnational community with each other and with an intellectually engaged audience in Vienna that uses its intellectual skills to enrich the society in which it lives.
– To promoting continuous learning and intellectual development to enrich society.
It offers recommendations on relevant social issues, striving to create a community that encourages different viewpoints and collaborative problem-solving.
Join us in this initiative to harness intellectual potential and address social challenges, contributing to a more informed and enriched society.
transforming conversations #8
An Economy in Service of Life: Supporting Human Flourishing on a Healthy planet?
- By Dr. Katherine (Katy) Shields
15.05.2025 - 18:30 / 19:30
Katherine (Katy) Shields is an economist, educator and advocate for sustainable economic systems. With two decades of experience in economic research, policy analysis and management consulting, she has worked for The Economist, Newsweek and the Financial Times. Today she focuses on education and storytelling to drive systemic change. As founder of the Regenerative Economy Lab, Katy develops workshops on economic transformation. She is also co-founder of RE-PLOT Media and co-author and narrator of the podcast Tipping Point: The True Story of the Limits to Growth. She is chair of GLOBAL 2000, Austria’s largest environmental NGO, and co-initiator of Doughnut Vienna, an initiative to promote sustainable urban development. Katy is fluent in English and German and has an MSc in Economic Management and Policy from the University of Strathclyde.
transforming conversation #7
Promoting Health and Well-being through Urban Planning: Vienna and Beyond - By Dr. Anna Kajosaari
24.04.2025 - 18:30 / 19:30
Dr. Anna Kajosaari is an urban geographer and postdoctoral researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, specializing in urban health and environmental planning. She uses digital participatory mapping to analyze the impact of urban spaces on health and well-being. She holds a PhD in spatial planning and transport engineering from Aalto University in Finland and has participated in major research projects on urban green spaces, mobility and participatory planning. As an active researcher and lecturer, she presents her work internationally and supervises students at various institutions. Fluent in Finnish, English, German, Swedish and Italian, she is involved in cross-border projects for sustainable and inclusive urban development.
transforming conversation #6
Cultivating Futures, Sowing Pasts: On the Sustainability of our Agrifood Systems - By Dr. Atakan Büke
13.03.2025 - 18:30 / 19:30
Dr. Atakan Büke is a sociologist specializing in agricultural studies, food systems and political economy. He received his doctorate from the Middle East Technical University with a thesis on the capitalist food regime and the agrarian/farmer question. He worked as a researcher at the University of Leipzig and completed a research stay at Cornell University. His research critically examines food sovereignty, rural change and the socio-political dimensions of agriculture. He has worked with the International Labor Organization (ILO) on projects on labor market integration and has published extensively on food systems and agrarian transformation processes. Dr. Büke is also actively involved in scientific-activist networks and is on the editorial board of specialist journals on agricultural and food sociology.
transforming conversations #5
Cinema and Belonging: Turkish Gastarbeiters in Movies - By Dr. Ece Cihan Ertem
05.12.2024 - 18:30 / 19:30
Cinema and migration intersect in profound ways, offering a rich medium for storytelling that delves into the experiences of those who leave their homelands in search of better life trajectories. Films about migration often explore themes of identity, displacement, and the quest for belonging, providing a lens through which audiences can understand the complexities of the immigrant experience. These narratives can highlight the challenges migrants face, such as discrimination, language barriers, and xenophobia, while also celebrating their resilience, hope, and the vibrant diversity they bring to their new communities. By portraying the personal and collective journeys of migrants, cinema not only raises awareness but also fosters empathy and understanding toward “the migrant”. This talk titled “Cinema and Belonging: Turkish Gastarbeiters in Movies” particularly addresses several examples of the art of cinema and the Turkish migrant community as Gastarbeiters. The talk will first focus on the relationship between cinema as a genre and the theme of belonging and then it will scrutinize the theme of Gastarbeiter via several exemplary movies.
transforming conversations #4
Educating Be-longing: Education, Migrant Integration and Belonging - By Dr. Filiz Keser Aschenberger
21.11.2024 - 18:30 / 19:30
This presentation explores the dual role of education in shaping the sense of belonging among migrant populations. Education is crucial for social integration, equipping migrants with the skills and resources needed to navigate new environments and fostering a sense of community. However, educational systems can also inadvertently perpetuate inequalities and exclusion, creating barriers that hinder migrant students’ experiences and sense of belonging.
We will examine how education can both support and undermine migrant integration. Key issues such as language barriers, culturally irrelevant curricula, and limited access to resources often exacerbate these challenges. Furthermore, discriminatory practices and policies within schools can marginalize migrant students, affecting their academic success and overall well-being.
This presentation will critically analyze the relationship between education and belonging, highlighting strategies for creating inclusive environments that promote cultural understanding, social cohesion, and a sense of community among migrant students. Conversely, we will also address how certain educational practices can perpetuate exclusion and inequalities, offering insights into how these issues might be addressed to foster a more inclusive educational experience.
transforming conversations #3
Belonging and Citizenship in a World of Movement - By Dr. Z. Umut Türem
In recent decades, people have begun to move in mass(ive) numbers for various reasons: A small minority move voluntarily for better jobs and living conditions; most are forced to move involuntarily, due to reasons ranging from civil wars to climate crisis. What does it mean to belong to a country or polity in such a world of movement? How can we think of citizenship in such an environment? What effect do such movements have in the countries of emigration and immigration? In this talk, I will offer a basic introduction to these and similar questions and hope to initiate an open conversation around issues that lie at the heart of belonging.
transforming conversations #2
Longing for community: belonging in the theater. - By Dr. Emine Fisek
Throughout its lengthy history, the theatre has often been thought of as a space of belonging, where individuals either come together to partake in a collective experience or to witness on stage the expression of a collective identity. Yet what might it mean to think of theatre as a space of belonging? Can theatre combat alienation, cultivate one’s sense of being bound to a place, and ultimately offer inclusion in a community? In this talk, we will consider key moments from theatre history, ranging from Ancient Greece to the German enlightenment, and from nineteenth-century Ottoman shadow puppetry to contemporary theatres of migration to think through theatre’s ability to cultivate belonging. Along the way, we will ask the basic questions: what does it mean to belong, and how might art participate in this elusive process?
Emine Fişek is a Research Associate in the Institute for Urban and Regional Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Her current research is on the relationship between theatre, cultural memory and urban transformation in contemporary Istanbul.
transforming conversations #1
The Invented other: of the "stranger-guest" noise and the city. - By Arch. Dr. Isben Önen
By inventing we introduce disorder. Like an intellectually distant yet temporally recent utopian thought, invention deforms the existent. This deformation, on the one hand, extends from the existing and, on the other, is the haunting reflection of the non-existent: unseen, but long awaited. It is an interruption of the pleasant flow of being and time, or as Derrida sets forth, it is “the breaking of an implicit contract.” Well, if invention is the noise of its time, then what, where or who is this noise?
I want to approach the concept of the “stranger-guest” within an extended understanding of the ancient Greek concept phílos or friend. Aristotle’s attempt to nest himself in his friend was nothing other than an effort to reinvent the self within the other. With Derrida, invention begins “by being susceptible to repetition, exploitation, reinscription.” Thus, the “stranger-guest” is always the invented. This inventedness reflects an ambiguous state of being invited yet not being taken into account as a friend. As the unseen-known becomes visible, the archaic Aristotelian friendship is interrupted and noise will echo throughout the ruins of temples. Since the “stranger-guest” arrives with precipitations of centuries-old reflections, transformed attributions to the concept of friend, the host or the polítis would never have the time to be prepared. Hence, this encounter generates static. Digging into Lambert’s reading of Benveniste’s multifaceted dictionary, I will scrutinize the confrontation of the stranger-guest and the host on a spatial basis and try to understand what does the space of the other look like?
