Future Impact Days 2026

The ESG Talk hosted by the Real Estate Management Study Programs will focus on the topic “Vienna Is Built. Now What? – Perspectives for Residential Construction in Vienna.”

Following opening remarks by the study program, Leon Kronawetter* and Elia Stefan* will present their Master’s theses. This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Mag. Peter Engert (Managing Director of ÖGNI), Mag. Isabella Stickler* (Chairwoman & CEO of Alpenland Gemeinnützige Bau-, Wohn- & Siedlungsgenossenschaft), Arch. DI Kerstin Robausch-Löffelmann* (Board Member of BWSG), DI Gerald Beck, MRICS* (Managing Director of BIG Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft mbH), and a Q&A session.

*The students and panel discussion participants were asked to participate.

There is broad scientific consensus that the climate crisis and biodiversity loss are among the most pressing global challenges of our time. But how can the media report on these issues without fostering fatalism or resignation?

The workshop organized by the Journalism & Media Management Study Programs provides participants with a foundation in the relevant natural sciences as well as explanatory approaches from psychology and communication studies, and explores why the topic often clashes with established media logics. Using examples of constructive reporting, participants will then analyse how they can sharpen and improve their own journalistic work in this regard.

How can tourism contribute to safer environments for children? In this open lecture, tourism students from Austria and Uganda come together to exchange perspectives on tourism attractions in their countries, discuss potential risks of child exploitation in tourism, and explore practical approaches to child protection within tourism facilities and services.

The lecture is organized and facilitated by Mag.ª Kerstin Dohnal, MA (Head of Department Child Protection in Tourism at ECPAT Austria) and Dr.ⁱⁿ Mariya Katelieva, MA (Academic Expert & Lecturer Destination Management & Sustainability at the Tourism & Hospitality Management Study Programs).

How can tourism contribute to safer environments for children? In this open lecture, tourism students from Austria and Uganda come together to exchange perspectives on tourism attractions in their countries, discuss potential risks of child exploitation in tourism, and explore practical approaches to child protection within tourism facilities and services.

The lecture is organized and facilitated by Mag.ª Kerstin Dohnal, MA (Head of Department Child Protection in Tourism at ECPAT Austria) and Dr.ⁱⁿ Mariya Katelieva, MA (Academic Expert & Lecturer Destination Management & Sustainability at the Tourism & Hospitality Management Study Programs).

Dr. Stephan Gasser, CEO of FHWien der WKW, will deliver the opening remarks for the Future Impact Days.

Following that, our Competence Center for Sustainability will present awards for the best Bachelor’s and Master’s theses of 2026 on the topics of “sustainability” and “corporate responsibility”.

Democratic freedoms are coming under increasing pressure worldwide. Journalists, human rights organizations and civil society organizations are increasingly facing intimidation, funding cuts and political marginalisation. At the same time, conditions for independent journalism and press freedom are deteriorating. These developments are no longer confined to authoritarian states but are also affecting European democracies.

The Journalism & Media Management Study Programs organize an online keynote by Baia Pataraia (Women Rights Organization Sapari) and a panel discussion with Wolfgang Jamann (CARE Germany), Eva Linsinger (ORF Magazine „Report“), Krisztina Rozgonyi (University of Klagenfurt) and Martin Wassermair (Reporters without Borders Austria).

Who decides what we believe to be true? What happens when journalism and PR collide and conflicting interests, tight deadlines and public perception come into play?

At the Future Impact Days, Hager and Thier take the audience behind the scenes of today’s media world, drawing on their media thriller “Deadline – Who Determines the Truth?”. The talk organized by the Communication Management Study Programs brings theory and professional practice together, explores the forces shaping the stories we see and hear every day, and raises questions about media, responsibility, credibility and truth. Get ready to question what happens behind the headlines.

This open lecture takes learning into the city. Join us for an Urban Tourism Walk through Vienna’s first district and explore how urbanization, tourism and city transformation shape the urban environment.

The session is part of the course “Current Topics in Tourism” within the Bachelor’s program in Tourism & Hospitality Management and is organized and led by FH-Prof. Dr. Cornelia Dlabaja (Endowed Chair for Sustainable Urban Tourism).

Millions of tonnes of discarded clothing are disposed of or incinerated every year, or exported from Europe to countries such as Ghana. Mike Anane, an independent environmental journalist and recipient of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global 500 Award, examines the environmental and social impacts of the global fashion industry, with a particular focus on fast fashion and textile waste, in the talk organized by the Journalism & Media Management Study Programs. Drawing on his own research, he illustrates the devastating effects of our consumption patterns on local communities and the environment. The talk also explores potential solutions and what is needed to tackle the global textile waste crisis.

The “Responsible Management Lectures: Ideas for Better Business” are a lecture series by the Competence Center for Sustainability open to FHWien’s students as well as the interested public. Since 2012, leading international experts from academia and practice have presented their perspectives on a topic in the field of business ethics and corporate responsibility and discussed them with the audience. This winter semester, the lecture motto is “Complexity and Resilience“.

Austrian physicist and complexity researcher Peter Klimek will give a lecture on “Resilient Systems and Supply Chains”.

As part of the “Organizational Communication & Ethics” course, students from the Bachelor’s program in Corporate Communication analyse corporate campaigns with a focus on authenticity and transparency and present their findings in a poster walk. Their critical analysis goes beyond greenwashing, also examining corporate claims related to the social dimension of sustainability.

Every 15 minutes, someone is diagnosed with blood cancer. For these people, a stem cell donation is their only chance at a cure.

That’s why the ÖH FHWien is organizing a stem cell typing event. A cheek swab is taken in just 10 minutes. The sample is sent to a lab, analyzed, and then added anonymously to a global donor database to find a potential match in case of an emergency. If a match is actually found, you’ll be contacted again to confirm whether you’d like to donate.

Each participant will receive a drink voucher for the ÖH FHWien afterparty.

Once again this year, the Academic Board of FHWien der WKW is presenting the award for outstanding teaching — which takes into account developments in society and technology — to dedicated lecturers.

The Management & Entrepreneurship Study Programs organize a presentation about “Care Shift”.

The ÖH FHWien organizes a afterpary for the Future Impact Days.

This transdisciplinary course is open to all students at FHWien der WKW (elective course). It introduces participants to four core competencies that will empower them to co-create and support sustainability solution processes at the individual, organizational and systemic levels.