The SDG Day took place at FHWien der WKW for the fifth time. In addition to the keynote speech by National Bank Governor Dr. Martin Kocher, the program included exciting topics such as responsible corporate governance, sustainability trends in tourism and sustainability communication vs. greenwashing.
Numerous students, lectureres and staff attended FHWien der WKW’s Sustainability Day on Thursday, January 22, 2026, and took part in the diverse supporting program.
Keynote speech by National Bank Governor Dr. Martin Kocher
After welcoming words from FH-Prof. Mag. Dr. Beate Huber, Head of Academic Affairs at FHWien der WKW, Dr. Martin Kocher, Governor of the Austrian National Bank, opened the SDG Day with an exciting keynote speech on “Economic Challenges and Monetary Policy in a Changing World.”
He provided exclusive insights into the tasks of the Austrian National Bank, the Eurosystem and the economic situation in Austria and the EU. He emphasized the importance of sustainability for the economy and discussed in detail how environmental degradation can affect economic activity and financial stability.
In the subsequent Q&A session, participants had the opportunity to ask questions.
Diverse student projects
The rest of the SDG Day was marked by exciting project and poster presentations by our students. While students in the Tourism & Hospitality Management Study Programs highlighted sustainable tourism trends in videos and podcasts, opening up new perspectives on current developments and challenges in the tourism industry, students in the Communication Management Study Programs explored the tension between sustainability communication and greenwashing. As part of the “Organizational Communication & Ethics” course, they analyzed companies’ advertising and communication measures in terms of authenticity and transparency and presented their findings in the form of posters.
Over the course of the semester, students in the Management & Entrepreneurship Study Programs developed in-depth project presentations on the topics of “Responsible Corporate Management”, “Strategic Change” and “Trends in Financing” and presented them on the SDG Day.
Educational workshops & simulation games
The presentations were supplemented by two interactive program items: a simulation game and a workshop. In the interactive simulation game SDG 2030, a card-based multiplayer game, participants were able to experience the implementation of the United Nations’ 17 sustainability goals firsthand by simulating the development of the “real world” until 2030.
In the climate journalism workshop with Falter editor Katharina Kropshofer, participants learned the skills needed to report on climate change without triggering fatalism or resignation.
SDG Awards: Award-winning theses
Once again this year, the best Bachelor’s and Master’s theses on the topic of “sustainability” were brought to the fore and honored. We warmly congratulate this year’s award winners on their achievement:
- Best Bachelor’s theses: Tamara Caamaño Caamaño, Laura Duchoslav, Magdalena Fuchs, Antonia Simona Kaltenleitner, Nadine Kılıç, Iris Linner, Dorothea Otto, Flora Szepesi
- Best Master’s theses: Samirah Hannah Foff, Charlotte Heß, Martin Huber, Silvia Pommer, Katharina Reiner, Elena Schmuth, Magdalena Veselcic, Anastasia Whitford
The abstracts of all award-winning Bachelor’s and Master’s theses on topics such as green rebranding, COVID-19 and social housing, inclusive leadership styles in multicultural teams, controlling in NGOs, diversity-oriented advertising, Airbnb and the sharing economy, journalistic responsibility and right-wing populist parties, European sustainability reporting standards and much more can be found on the event platform.
Afterparty ÖH FHWien
The evening culminated in the ÖH FHWien afterparty at the Irish Pub Na-nÒg, where participants reviewed the SDG Day together.
We would like to thank all participants for an exciting and inspiring sustainability day at FHWien der WKW!
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Did you miss our SDG Day? No problem! On our event platform, you can find interesting podcasts from our radio station Radio Radieschen to listen to, award-winning Bachelor’s and Master’s theses to read, and much more.