Donau-Universität Krems
Donau-Universität Krems
03/22/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 03/22/2024 09:48
Conference on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region
22/03/2024
On March 18 and 19, 2024, Austria hosted the 9th EU Strategy for the Danube Region Speakers Conference (EUSDR). This year, the focus was on democracy building and the Danube region as a cultural, natural and scientific area. Friedrich Faulhammer, Rector of the University for Continuing Education Krems and President of the Danube Rectors' Conference, gave a keynote speech on the topic of transnational cooperation in the Danube region to high-ranking parliamentary representatives of the Danube region states.
The entire Danube region is tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Especially in the field of science, which is a key factor for Europe, the Danube region has a lot to offer, said President of the National CouncilWolfgang Sobotka in his introductory remarks.
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Parlamentsdirektion/Johannes Zinner
Friedrich Faulhammer, Rector of the University for Continuing Education Krems, during his keynote speech "The Danube Region as a cultural, natural and scientific area" at the 9th EU Strategy for the Danube Region Speakers Conference (EUSDR) at the Parliament in Vienna
Friedrich Faulhammer, Rector of the University for Continuing Education Krems, Chairman of the Danube Rectors' Conference and Chairman of the Board of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), delivered a keynote speech on the topic of "The Danube Region as a cultural, natural and scientific area". In his speech, he referred to the strong network of universities along the Danube, which creates synergies and promotes cooperation in order to advance important topics. Faulhammer also emphasized that the Danube region is a natural area with a high level of biodiversity that is worth protecting. Numerous initiatives are working to preserve and restore this biodiversity.
Participation in EU strategy
The Danube Rectors' Conference (DRC) network, consisting of 65 universities in the Danube region, was founded to promote university education in teaching and research, Faulhammer continued. As a contribution to the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), the DRC actively participates in the working groups of the priority areas and organizes the annual Danube Rectors' Conference with the presentation of the Danubius Awards. The award helps to increase the visibility of multidisciplinary research by recognizing outstanding achievements of young talents.
About the EU Strategy for the Danube Region
The EU Strategy for the Danube Region is the largest and most comprehensive of the European Union's four macro-regional strategies. It stretches along Europe's second longest river across Central Europe and the Western Balkans to the Black Sea. The EUSDR covers more than 115 million people in 14 countries through which the Danube flows or in whose territory tributaries to the Danube are located. These include nine EU Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) and five EU candidate countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine). The EUSDR was founded in 2011 on an initiative by Austria and Romania. In 2013, it was expanded to include a parliamentary dimension. This year, Austria, which will hold the presidency from November 2023 to the end of 2024, is organizing the ninth conference of the member states' Presidents of Parliament.