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Not just a City of Waltzes

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By Sheena Keller


For four weeks each year, in the hot summer months of July and August, Vienna comes alive as the center of the contemporary dance world while the city hosts the ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival. What began in 1984 as a project between cultural manager Karl Regensburger and choreographer Ismael Ivo has now grown into Europe’s largest contemporary dance festival.

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Blog action day: „My city my river“: Rediscovering the Danube












By Daniel Spichtinger

Austrians have always had a special relationship with the Danube. Some look nostalgically at it, remembering the time when many of the countries on the Danube were under Austrian rule – providing the Austro-Hungarian Empire with the alias “the Danube Monarchy” and its unofficial anthem, the Blue Danuebe Waltz.

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"EU Crisis on the Ground - REPORTAGE VIDEO"

This post is also available in: Polish

Please visit the following link to see the reportage video of the "EU Crisis on the Ground" project in Vienna:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXsvDkkfrow

May 9, 2010: Towards More Solidarity in Europe?

Europe Day was held on May 9 in Vienna under the banner of human rights.

By Audrey Plaza and Perrine Recours.
Translation by Perrine Recours. Editing by Alexandra Skwara
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It was almost impossible to miss: the giant blue and yellow balloons representing fundamental rights caught the eye of any tourist lost on Schwarzenbergplatz. For the first time in Vienna, the Europe Day was organized jointly by three organizations: the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the Office of the European Parliament in Austria and the Delegation of the European Commission in Vienna. Thus, the Europe Day was set in the context of the struggle for human rights and was a good opportunity to raise people's awareness and inform the public about these rights.

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From Idea to Reality: Organising the Crisis on the Ground Debate in Vienna

Putting up the banner

By Saana Tykkä

It’s 17.March 2010 six o’clock in the evening. There is a nervous anticipation in the air. Nearby, a group of people are arranging catering and confirming that the last details are taken care of. From the range of my vision I see some of the guests already drifting in, slowly filling the conference room. My colleagues are practising words they are supposed to say in front of an audience in a few moments. I am franticly trying to reach one of the speakers who is yet to arrive. Almost unnoticed, doors swing around and around, and more people step in. Finally, to my relief, I see the last speaker to enter the entry hall and quickly lead him to the moderator, letting them to discuss about the final details. I wait for the last of the people to take their seats before closing the conference doors, and the debate “No job? No Perspective? – Austrian Youth in the Crisis”, organised together by House of European Union in Austria and Café Babel Wien, can commence.

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Challenges and opportunities for the European youth : a review of the first Babel Wien debate

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By Thomas Bichler

Babel Wien called, and about 100 people came! - The first event, jointly organized by the Information Office of the European Parliament in Austria, the representation of the European Commission and the local team of Café Babel in Vienna, was a great success. On March 17th the event hall of the "Haus der Europäischen Union" in Vienna's first district was the venue for a panel discussion on the topic "Kein Job, keine Perpektive? - Europäische Jugend in der Krise" (“No Job, No Perspectives? – European Youth in the Crisis”) and it couldn't have been more suitable.

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No job, no perspective" - 1st impressions from the BabelWien conference: "

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“Obama and the Europeans” at the Burgtheater

By Alexandra Skwara

The latest instalment in the Debating Europe series presented an array of Atlanticist viewpoints, but not enough real debate.

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Global Warming: Talking Hot Air in Copenhagen and Vienna

By Daniel Speich

On 18th December 2009, the Bella Center – Copenhagen’s largest conference center just 10 minutes drive away from the airport of Denmark’s capital – finally closed its doors as the discussions on solutions for global warming concluded, and the last representatives of the 192 participating countries of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP), colloquially known as the United Nations Climate Change Conference, departed.

The disappointed facial expressions, however, say more than the final declaration of the world leaders: Europe, China, India and America, the major polluters, didn’t achieve a worldwide roadmap for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly those of CO2 and methane gas. Clearly, national interests won. However, the Guardian highlights some positive aspects as well: while no binding commitments to cut emissions were made, at least the delegates agreed to establish a fund to help poor countries adapt to the threat of climate change. This fund will initially contain 30 billion dollars per year, a sum which will rise to 100 billion dollars by 2020.

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Safeguarding the food we eat

foodmix2.jpg The EU and food safety

By [Daniel Spichtinger|http://www.cafebabel.de/profile/display/4d7e9a6a-fc10-102c-9b39-e5384fe1717a/]

Nearly every day the media inform us about healthy and not so healthy eating habits (such as the worrying rise of obesity in Europe) and about real or perceived food scares. The EU is now the biggest global importer and exporter of food and the global trade in food has very real implications for all of us. As an example, contaminated milk in China has a potential impact on the safety of cookies sold in the Netherlands. At the same time we are asked to consider the environmental cost of shipping food over large distances and NGOs urge us to grow locally produced food. Many of these issues have led to low “trust” and “confidence” in food in some countries.

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German students swoop down on Austrian universities

Author: Mélanie Sueur

Translator: Darren Thompson

In some border university towns, the student population is as high as 12%, as German students escape the various clauses in their own universities and enrol ‘abroad’ for subjects like medicine and psychology. A common tongue and the abolition of tuition fees are the fundamental attractions.

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The EU's new home in Vienna

By Daniel Spichtinger

Don’t panic (or celebrate) – the EU institutions are not leaving Belgium. But Austria has a new home for the European Commission and the European Parliament Representation in Vienna. 

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Snapshot Europe

by Stefan Fersterer

Translation: Alexandra Skwara

photo_competition_verena

To discover Europe in one’s everyday life was the subject of a PES photography competition which ran from February to June 2009. In it, BabelWien member Verena snapped her way to 2nd place.''

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Vienna, City of Alternative Balls

By Perrine Recours
Translation: Alexandra Skwara

Who hasn´t heard tell of those famous balls where one can find Vienna´s high society? The Opera Ball, the Rudolfina Redoute, the Emperor´s Ball - there is a wide choice of where you can waltz on “the blue Danube”. Nevertheless, one facet of Vienna which remains unknown is the alternative balls, which, through their eccentricity, thumb their nose at tradition.

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The Unknown Ally: Bulgaria in World War I

By Perrine Recours
Translation:
Alexandra Skwara


Discover an “unknown ally” in World War I – this is the objective of a special exhibition which runs until February 21, 2010 at the Museum of Military History (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum) in Vienna. The temporary exhibit shines a light on the role of Bulgaria, and its largely unknown alliance with the Central Powers Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. It is an eclectic and enriching exhibition, despite a lack of explanations which can leave a visitor hungry for more information.

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EU election campaign – Tyrolean style

Interview: Daniel Spichtinger
Translation: Verena Schiefer

Within Austria and abroad the region of Tyrol is well known for tourism and winter sports. From time to time one hears the Tyroleans’ voices in far away Vienna and even more distant Brussels complaining about being a transit country. But how does an EU election campaign actually work in Western Austria? Babel Wien talked to the Tyrolean MEP Richard Seeber (People’s Party/ÖVP)about the campaign, the ÖVP strategy and his experience in the European Parliament.

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'Daily Europeans' – Avantgarde or dreamers?

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by Stefan Fersterer

We consider ourselves Europeans and strongly believe that there is some kind of European identity. Ole did an Erasmus year in Spain; Jorge went to Norway to work via a Leonardo-da-Vinci internship and Marija started her career in Brussels. We know where and how to apply for financially subsidised European conferences and seminars, and enjoy the pleasant side effect of travelling abroad cheaply.

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Old Warhorses and newcomers: assessing the Austrian EU candidates

By Daniel Spichtinger

What kind of people are courting our votes in the upcoming European parliamentary elections? Are they old or young? Running for the first time or already established? Men and Women? How have they previously voted in the European Parliament? Are they more loyal to their political group or to other MEPs from Austria? These are the questions we are trying to answer in our assessment.


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Follow the German 'work and travel' slogan summer

Work and Travel in New Zealand (Image: ©ghewgill/ Flickr)

Work and Travel in New Zealand (Image: ©ghewgill/ Flickr)

By Verena Schiefer and Stefan Fersterer. Translation from Aatish Pattni.

The Germans use the term to emphasise an 'alternative kind of trip'. Getting to know the people and country whilst picking strawberries, lying on the beach, going to concerts and getting work experience all at the same time? The summer seems too just short to carry out all our plans. So how else is it possible to combine work and travel?

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Mucha in Vienna

A comprehensive exhibition at the Belvedere reveals the many facets of this Czech artist

By Daniel Spichtinger.

Born in Moravia (today part of the Czech Republic) the Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939) is best known for his posters immortalizing the performances of the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt, which were created during his Paris period. These works, including the ads for Gismonda and Medea are on prominent display in the exhibition of Mucha’s work in Vienna’s Belvedere. However, the exhibition goes far beyond these iconographic posters and displays exhibits that are less known but equally beautiful. They range from the very small – like jewellery designed according to his specifications – to the monumental, like the pavilion for Bosnia-Herzegovina which he decorated for the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris.

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