IDEAL Empowers Austria's Citizens

In the first half of 2025, two of the IDEAL project partners, WU Vienna University of Economics & Business and Caritas Vienna, collaborated for hosting group discussions with beneficiaries from diverse backgrounds in Vienna and Lower Austria. The meetings formed an important part of the project’s groundwork to explore what people living in Austria need to participate more in democratic life.

As part of Caritas Vienna “Zusammenreden 2.0” (“Talking together 2.0) meetup series and another initiative called “Mutfluencers”, researchers from WU’s Institute of Public Management and Governance, engaged with 33 participants across three separate groups. Two of these were formed by women of different ages, 60+ as well as younger ones meeting to exchange with each other, whereas the Mutfluencers focused on young participants with social- and community projects.

The women groups meetups took place in Wolkersdorf (8 May 2025) and in Wiener Neustadt (13 May 2025) – both final meetings of a longer series where women living nearby meet weekly to discuss diverse topics. The first group brought together mostly older Austrian local women, while the second one focused on a mix group of age and cultural backgrounds. These sessions created safe, open spaces for the participants and gave the opportunity to exchange views on language, culture, technology, and democratic participation and broader participation in society.

The third discussion took place on 31^st of May, 2025 with the new cohort of the “Mutfluencers” initiative, gathering young people between the ages of 16 and 29, who work on social impact projects with Caritas’ support. They also shared their perspectives on activism, voice, and engagement in public life.

Across these diverse groups, some common themes emerged. Participants shared a belief in the value of dialogue with local community, appreciating “listening to one another” and respecting different opinions. Both older and younger participants mentioned how important they find the courage to speak up, raise a voice – especially when it challenges mainstream views.

Any such debate, however, needs respectful, safe spaces that encourage dialogue, learning and more eye-level contact for inclusive democratic engagement – free from hate speech and polarization. Across all groups, participants converged on the opinion that everyone’s experience is unique and generalizations can be intimidating, such as for example, assumptions that older people “don’t understand technology.”

Language and culture also appeared as potential unifying and connecting factors across different backgrounds. Not only Austrian but also non-Austrian women underlined that they need to feel and stay connected with the Austrian culture. Gaining familiarity with the Austrian culture and finding spaces for cultural exchange was appreciated by particularly some newcomers to Austria, who expressed their willingness to learn from Austrian peers and how this drives their participation in such intercultural gatherings. At the same time, various Austrian women mentioned how they see local dialects as part of the Austrian culture, and dialects create familiarity and trust, and dialects as part of culture need to be preserved.

On the other hand, different participants, both Austrian and non-Austrians, raised concerns about complexity of some bureaucratic processes and public information, and that this may keep people at bay due to inaccessibility. This implied even larger language barriers for non-native German speakers or people with low levels of German proficiency. The need to access simplified public communication was a key takeaway for the development of the IDEAL project solution.

A remarkable highlight came from one of the Mutfluencers participants, who commented: “one cannot stay unpolitical anymore – everything is political”. The younger group also voiced their interest in thematizing important social issues and their need for spaces that facilitate both peer-to-peer dialogue as well as conversations with experts, and role models.