Awareness work in Austria:
Foundations, networks and standards
Awareness work has many tasks:
Prevention of extremism and violence, support for people experiencing discrimination and violence, as well as prevention of queerphobia, transphobia, interphobia, racism and misogyny, which in their worst manifestations extend to psychological and physical violence.
Awareness work involves, on one hand, working with Awareness teams at events or in public spaces and ongoing contact point work within organisations. On the other hand, it is about preventing and countering specific ideological forms of violence against people and groups through educational and networking work.
Project Overview
Funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs (BMSGPK)
(Project duration: 01.02.2024–31.01.2026)
1. Promoting and expanding educational work on Awareness work in Austria
Together with other organisations doing educational work in Austria, we developed materials and Awareness concepts for events of all kinds, offered workshops, and supported contact point concepts within organisations.
2. Networking and collaboration between Awareness organisations in Austria and the German-speaking region
Exchange with Awareness organisations such as awaGraz, AwA_salz and Verein Arche* Awareness Innsbruck as well as the umbrella organisation of the Awareness Institut served to ensure quality and evaluate Awareness work, and to further develop Awareness concepts. As part of the project, the founding and establishment of the structures in Graz and Salzburg were supported.
3. Further development of standards for Awareness work
Before this project began, there were no unified standards for Awareness Work. Together with other Awareness organisations, unified standards for Awareness work and related violence protection standards were developed and further refined. People now have a clear understanding of what they can expect from Awareness Work in order to make use of it and receive genuinely high-quality support.
The Awareness Standards were developed with the help of awaGraz, Crucible Wien, the Awareness Institut, LAWA Kiel, Ann Wiesental and further supporters. They were presented on 13.11.2024 at a press conference at the 4lthangrund Café, which could be followed online and in person. Information about the presentation of the standards can be found HERE. A website with the Awareness Standards, contact details, usage options and further information has been created. To the english version
Sign up via: mitmachen@awareness-standards.info
4. Writing & Publishing an Awareness Brochure
As part of the project, resources in the form of a brochure on the basics of Awareness Work and contact point structures were created.
It serves as a reference work on Awareness Work as it can currently be carried out according to the Awareness Standards (www.awareness-standards.info). It also provides an overview of the current state and recent developments in Awareness Work from various perspectives.
The texts in the brochure consist of contributions from AwA* – Collective for Awareness Work and various guest authors.
5. Awareness Conference Autumn 2025 Vienna
In October 2025 we organised a three-day conference on minimum standards in Awareness work, based on the content of awareness-standards.info. The conference took place at the Kulturzentrum 4lthangrund in Vienna and was aimed at all those who want to engage with, network around, and further develop Awareness structures.
The programme included in-depth workshops for experienced Awareness practitioners, short inputs, a panel, open-space formats and space for networking.
