The board of trustees, chaired by President of the ÖK.-Council Franz Titschenbacher, has taken up this important topic again, especially to bring “Europe” closer to our young people. This year the Europe Days could be held in person from November 18th to 19th, 2022.
A quick review
After the welcome from Director Dr. Johann Gasteiner, State Councilor Werner Amon and President of the ÖK.-Council Franz Titschenbacher were followed by greetings from Federal Minister Mag. Norbert Totschnig, as well as the keynote speech by “Her Excellency the President of the European Parliament Ms Roberta Metsola”. Students from HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein, with moderator Bettina Zajac, gave an overview of the first day and led to DI's lecture. Christoph Pfemeter, managing director of the Austrian Biomass Association. Dr. Erich Wiesner, owner and board member of WIEHAG AG, as well as the member of the European Parliament Simone Schmiedtbauer and section head Johannes Fankhauser emphasized the importance of a united Europe, especially for the areas of agriculture, forestry and the wood industry. The topic of the climate crisis was addressed by Dr. Kurt Weinberger as CEO of the Austrian Hagelversicherung. The conference participants had the opportunity to ask the speakers questions about current topics in fireside chats.
“Europe – Neutrality and Security Policy” – a focus of the Europe Days, highlighted by a touching lecture by Dr. Vasyl Khymynets, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Austria will probably be remembered for a long time. Brigadier Mag. Heinz Zöllner and DI Reinhard Wolf (General Director of RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria Aktiengesellschaft) added facts on the important topic of security of supply and the mayors of the partner municipalities of Irdning-Donnersbachtal Martin Finzel, MSc. (Municipality of Ahorn) and Sven Gregor (Municipality of Eisfeld) referred to the importance of the communities in Europe.
The current topic “Europe and the energy transition” was discussed by the speakers: Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler, Mag. Josef Landschützen (Managing Director, Energie Steiermarkkunden GmbH.) and the largest pellet manufacturer in the world – Thomas Meth, MSc., MBA (Head of Enviva Biomass Washington ) – addressed and discussed.
“Europe in retrospect” – how Europe came into being and how it has changed. Professor Dr. Michael John (historian and cultural scientist, Linz) spoke on this topic and addressed the changes that Europe has experienced in recent years. Mag. Gunter Deuber (Head of Raiffeisen Research, Raiffeisen Bank International) opened up the perspective on international and sustainable financing.
“Ecology, economy and social issues in the triad of our social order” - Univ.-Prof. GDR. Michael Lehofer (doctor, university lecturer in psychiatry) addressed the social aspect of crises and their impact on humanity. Dr. Hannelore Veit and Dr. Peter Fritz (both journalists and commentators, ORF foreign policy) looked into the future of Europe and thus formed a bridge between the past and the future.
“Europe and the eco-social market economy” - DI Dr. hc Josef Riegler, former Vice Chancellor, enriched the European Days with his interesting lecture and led to Diocesan Bishop Dr. Alois Schwarz and Superintendent Mag. Wolfgang Rehner, who rounded off this excellent event with their thoughts on Europe with an ecumenical devotion.
organization
In order to make such a conference a successful event, you need a team that contributes to its success together. President of the ÖK. Council Franz Titschenbacher, Dr. Elke Rüscher, DI Othmar Breitenbaumer, Christian Obenaus (chairman of the Raumberg-Seefeld Alumni Association) and moderator Bettina Zajac MA, as the organizational team, would like to thank everyone who took part in the Europe Days, especially director Dr. Gasteiner. To ensure that participation was also possible online, the technical team around Ing. Kurt Krimberger and Ing. Michael Kogler worked. On site, in the school building and Grimming Hall, our building technicians and the cleaning team as well as Bernadette Titschenbacher did a great job with the students. Culinary enjoyment was not to be neglected - Reinhard Stieber, Franz Lassacher prepared "welcome plates" with the "RaumberGenuss" and the team around Christina Mayer spoiled the conference participants with regional and self-produced delicacies. Thanks also to Ulrike Titschenbacher and the Altirdninger farmers' wives for the sweet break meals. The Raumberg brass band under the direction of Dr. Many thanks to Helmut Kalss for the atmospheric opening and a big THANK YOU to all students and colleagues for their collaboration.
After this great success, many other topics addressed and the positive atmosphere, Christian Obenaus described the success of this conference as follows: “... Raumberg-Gumpenstein has never experienced anything like this before” - with this in mind, we are looking forward to the European Days 2023!
Online links and photos of the event can be found here!
This event is supported by:
