The 1st International meeting of a working group to create wellbeing economies locally

based on arts and science, community and spirituality took place on the 18th of April 2023 in Vienna, WEST, Alte WU – organized by Friedrich Hinterberger, Barbara Bulc and Simona Koch.

The aim of this workshop was to think broadly and to discover creative, authentic and serious ideas about how we want to live in the region in the future and exchange our ideas and experiences in this field.

We exchanged ideas and experiences to get an even broader understanding what is possible and how we can spread what worked beyond specific projects. 

The goal was to create step by step a growing space/community where we can learn from each other and combine our activities in imagining future, reconciling the past and rethinking distribution of power through various practices, and codesigned experiments with cities and communities.

The workshop is documented here.

A 2nd Workshop will take place on the 11th of January 2024. Here‘s the invitation.

Organizers

Friedrich Hinterberger
Senior researcher at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and Paris Lodron University Salzburg. Vice President of the Austrian Chapter of the Club of Rome. http://fritz.hinterberger.com
Current Projects: Wellbeing for all Progress beyond growth and Palmen im Ausseerland.

Barbara Bulc
Founder of SDG Colab and Global Development. Ambassador at Reboot the Future. Primary steward of OurCluj values-based living lab.
See also Barbara’s recent article in the Financial Times.

Simona Koch
Visual Artist, designer and researcher based in Vienna, Austria and Bavaria.
www.simonakoch.de, tinyurl.com/yxql99le

Participants:

Peter Bachler
activist, scientists, artist (peer bach), storyteller/storywriter, flag designer, chef at the “zukunftsküche”. loves to breed an essential question to a better question in collaboration with others. personal life motto: “color & kindness”.

Milena Bister
Sociocultural anthropologist of science and technology, senior researcher in the anticipatory research project klimarechnungshof.jetzt

Daniel Gratzer
Climate activist (formerly LCOY and FFF), founder of the flourishing society, student of Tibetology and Psychology (focus environmental psychology), translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts.

Ronja Janu 
A trans- and interdisciplinary researcher on intersection of climate change, inequality, gender-based violence, human rights, and artistic strategies. Her current project explores a good life for all examining the Latin American concept, Buen Vivir, as an inspiration for transformation beyond capitalistic structures.

Marion Jaros
working at the „Vienna Ombuds-Office für Environmental Protection“ 
Initiator of the environmental education project VANESSA https://wua-wien.at/naturschutz-und-stadtoekologie/schmetterlinge-im-donaupark 
and of events around the concept of Sparkling Moments www.sparklingmoments.at 
children’s book author www.marionjaros.at

Marisa Mühlböck
Researcher and author in the fields of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Business Transformation and Sustainable Leadership (e.g. https://www.lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-643-50452-4); editor of a Springer book on Sustainable Business Transformation & Well-being (to be published in 2024). https://www.springer.com/series/11565;
Former CEO of social enterprise Discovering Hands in Austria. https://www.discovering-hands.at/startseite

Ulrike Payerhofer
curator, educator and Senior Artist at University of Applied Arts Vienna for UniNEtZ project (www.uninetz.at) and IPSD (https://ipsd.uni-ak.ac.at) and initiator and artistic director of Projektwerkstatt (www.doingtransformation.at) – a transversal incubator for transdisciplinary practices across art, science and society. 

Ursula Maria Probst
Cultural Worker, based in Vienna, arctic director for FLUCC, Center for Arts & Communieties, Kultur-Ankerzentrum focused 2023 on community based and collective projects. Realisation of projects at Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Cuba, Argentinia, Panama, Brazil, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Guatemala, Mexico, Marokko.

Valerie Schaller
artist who works with large-scale video projections and special stagings. She creates spaces of regeneration where one can immerse in deep contemplation and receive good energies. These spaces can be set up anywhere and are like oases in our restless and stressful civilization.  www.valerie-schaller.com

Fabian Schlag
Portfolio guide at SDG Colab. Codesigner at OurCluj living lab.

Eckart Schönbeck
actor, systemic coach, organizational developer and mediator. He works with theatre methods in change processes for the business theatre. www.artofchange.wien

Felix Zabel
Current engagement with the topics of creativity, exploration of desirable futures as well as their concrete implementation by means of innovation and entrepreneurship methods.
Background as designer, start-up founder in the field of architectural technologies, coach of start-up projects in the impact and creative field.
Additional engagement and training in Futures Literacy (developed by UNESCO).