Goals

By means of its foreign cultural policy and in collaboration with its embassies, consulates, cultural fora, Austrian libraries and Austrian institutes, the Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs is aiming at the following goals:

1. Internationally presenting Austria as an innovative and creative nation that is historically diverse, and culturally as well as scientifically rich

2. Actively promoting the European integration by adhering to the principle of „united and yet diverse”

3. Offering sustainable contributions to building worldwide trust and peace by launching initiatives to promote the intercultural as well as inter-religious dialog.

Regarding Goal 1 (“Internationally presenting Austria as an innovative and creative nation that is historically diverse and culturally as well as scientifically rich“): Internationally, Austrian culture is often associated with culturally as well as historically important figures, such as Mozart, Klimt and Freud. When looking at their contributions in a historic context, it appears that these musicians, artists, and scientists were particularly progressive for their time and introduced new ways of artistically expressing themselves. In the sense of Gustav Mahler’s quote, which reads “Tradition is not the preservation of ash, but rather the transmission of fire” („Tradition ist die Weitergabe des Feuers und nicht die Anbetung der Asche”), the display of traditional culture in the context of foreign cultural policy is justified if the innovative and creative element is emphasized. However, we must not neglect to focus on contemporary Austria in the context of our foreign cultural policy. That is the only way of promoting Austria’s image as being future-oriented rather than stuck in the past. While doing this, however, we must never seize to reflect on the dark episodes in Austria’s history, such as the period of National Socialism.  

Regarding Goal 2 (“Actively promoting the European integration“): In the EU, the promotion of culture is designed to kill two birds with one stone; firstly, the EU member states are supposed to get to know each other better and get closer by learning more about each others’ cultures. Secondly, cultural initiatives within the EU may actually permanently coin the image that non-EU states have of us. Austria has a significant interest in positively developing the process of European integration. Therefore, Austrian foreign cultural policy is supposed to participate in cultural initiatives launched by the EU and develop projects with other partners to strengthen our shared EU identity, for instance by promoting the EU’s multilingualism and the preservation of the Austrian German dialect and its European links.

Regarding Goal 3 (“Offering sustainable contributions to building worldwide trust and peace by launching initiatives in the area of intercultural as well as inter-religious dialog“): Austria has aimed at and will be aiming at launching initiatives to  promote the intercultural as well as interreligious dialog in order to combat the spread of stereotypes, thus supporting peace and security. The intercultural and inter-religious dialog is designed to promote democracy and the universal respect for human rights and basic human freedoms, including the freedom of religion and of conscience. Dialog is an important instrument to foster inter-cultural and inter-religious co-habitation and integration in Austria and Europe.