Digital Annual Report 2025

International workshop in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Defence
Curator: Viola Raheb

In cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Defense, the Bruno Kreisky Forum implemented and hosted this workshop that brought together 35 international participants from the public, private, and civil society sectors and international organisations. Experts discussed the achievements and the persistent gaps in implementing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, while also exploring how the agenda could remain responsive to today's increasingly complex global security landscape. The Bruno Kreisky Forum facilitated the dialogue and exchange of views that aimed at further advancing the global implementation of the WPS agenda. The experts’ recommendations were communicated to and further discussed by representatives from the Austrian Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs. The discussions centred around key themes within the global security agenda, including civil society perspectives on WPS, institutional approaches to gender mainstreaming, and the importance of intersectionality. Participants underlined the urgency of strengthening accountability mechanisms and expanding strategic partnerships with women peacebuilders, highlighting that sustainable peace cannot be achieved without their participation in political and institutional processes. The workshop also showed the need to shift public and institutional approaches toward recognizing women's leadership in conflict prevention and peace processes, especially in light of rising geopolitical tensions and shrinking civic space. Key outcomes and recommendations of the Bruno Kreisky Forum Workshop were channeled into the succeeding High-Level-Conference of the Ministry of Defense on December 4.

FOCUS 2025: RESOURCES OF DEMOCRACIES

Curator: Radka Šustrová, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Fellow, University of Vienna
A roundtable organized jointly by the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue and the MSCA research project WORK-AGE-JUST and the University of Vienna

Social justice is a key term in political struggle, a core concept of labour movements, and a reference point for activism. The International Labour Organisation established the Global Coalition for Social Justice in 2023, placing inequalities, discrimination, and exclusion at the centre of a global initiative aimed at advancing social justice and decent work through multilateral cooperation. At the same time, history shows that social justice has often been fought for at national and local levels by grassroots movements. How do these transnational and national levels interact? How can people's ideals and policymaking be linked in an era of global capitalism and migration? Do labour rights ensure socially just workplaces? Can they be understood as human rights? And what impact do illiberal movements and economic policies have on social justice today? The roundtable invites scholars, experts, and policymakers to reflect on the practical dimensions of advancing social justice. It will begin with a keynote by Steven L. B. Jensen (The Danish Institute of Human Rights), examining the relationship between social justice, labour rights, and social movements from a historical perspective. The discussion, structured in two parts-(I) social partnership and institutions, and (II) workers and labour rights-will address challenges facing trade unions, representation, and social dialogue. Overall, the roundtable aims to critically assess current challenges, limits, and strategies for promoting equality and fair treatment in the world of labour.

FOCUS 2025: RESOURCES OF DEMOCRACIES

Curator: Jutta Bichl, Bruno Kreisky Forum
Moderation: Petra Klose

Objectives:
Facilitate dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian peace advocates and local civil society representatives; Explore the impact of the Middle East conflict on local communities in Vienna; Identify actionable strategies for NGOs to promote peace and understanding

Participants:
Israeli and Palestinian peace advocates (part of EPICON project)
Local NGO representatives and civil society members engaged in peace initiatives
Representatives from Vienna's Israeli and Palestinian communities

Rationale:
The workshop aimed to foster an increased understanding between local Austrian peace advocates and their counterparts from Israel and Palestine. This cross-cultural dialogue was conceptualized to break down barriers, dispel misconceptions, and create a foundation for collaboration. Furthermore, the workshop strengthened the network of peace-focused organisations in Vienna, Austria. By bringing together diverse stakeholders, including local NGOs, community leaders, and international peace advocates, the workshop catalysed new partnerships and reinforced existing ones. The discussions around the local impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict increases awareness and empathy among participants and offered more nuanced and effective approaches to community engagement and conflict resolution. This network can serve as a platform for future collaborative efforts, information sharing, and coordinated actions towards peace. This workshop concept aligns with the EPICON project's goals insofar as it aims at fostering dialogue and promoting sustainable peace solutions in the Middle East, while also engaging local communities and decision-makers in EU member states.

FOCUS 2025: RESOURCES OF DEMOCRACIES

Amani Abuzahra, philosopher, author, public speaker
Asja Ahmetovic, photographer and social media manager
Ishraga Mustafa Hamid, writer, political scientist, translator and publicist
Michael Podgorac, artist, filmmaker and producer (Initiative Erinnern in Zukunft/ Brunnenpassage Wien)
Anne Wiederhold-Daryanavard, actress, organisational psychologist, curator, Initiative Erinnern in Zukunft / Brunnenpassage Vienna
Moderation Vatan Ukaj

The aim of this diverse discussion was to gain a civil society perspective on a democratic culture of remembrance, as many people come from different backgrounds and have had different experiences. Democracy must be learnt and remembering, according to Vatan Ukaj, refers not only to the past, but also to how memories can be shaped in order to design and shape the future and thus also to remember the future. According to Ukaj, these are always only approximations and attempts, as there is no single path. Rather, there must be spaces in which democracy can be learnt and lived. Michael Podgorac referred to the book „Erinnern in Zukunft“ (Remembering in the Future): our culture of remembrance is facing new challenges and it is necessary to make society visible in all its plurality and diversity. After all, power and inequality are closely linked to questions of remembrance, said Podgorac. Ishraga Mustafa Hamid also reminded the audience that we should always question why and what we remember and from what perspective. Memory is never neutral, but is always characterised by power relations, experiences and social positions. For Amani Abuzahra, there must therefore be spaces in which everyone is allowed to remember what they want to remember. Asja Ahmetovic believes that remembering is closely linked to coming to terms with the past and that this coming to terms should not be selective.

Workshop under Chatham House Rule
Curators: Bashir Bashir, Gertraud Auer Borea d'Olmo
In cooperation with and the support of the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation

The workshop was devoted to the memory and enduring intellectual, literary, and political legacy of Elias Khoury. The renowned Lebanese novelist and public intellectual was a core member of the Arab-Jewish Engagements project, whose conceptual frameworks were deeply shaped by his work on history, memory, and political responsibility. Central to Khoury's writing were themes such as memory and counter-memory, the ongoing Nakba, narration and testimony, the relationship between the Holocaust and the Nakba, silence, political violence, and the ethics of witnessing in Palestine/Israel and beyond. His work persistently engaged with silenced histories and marginalised voices, foregrounding the challenges of narrating trauma and dispossession. In honouring Khoury's legacy, the workshop revisited these questions in light of the genocide in Gaza, reflecting on how memory cultures and forms of testimony must be reconsidered under conditions of ongoing violence. The presented papers approached these issues from multiple perspectives, including analyses of songs and poems from Gaza, discussions of the Holocaust's presence in Khoury's prose on the Nakba, and reflections on silence in Children of the Ghetto: My Name is Adam. Together, they explored how literature negotiates memory and testimony when language itself is under strain. Overall, the workshop functioned not only as an academic gathering but also as an ethical and political intervention, continuing Khoury's intellectual project in the present.

Workshop under Chatham House Rule
Curators: Bashir Bashir, Gertraud Auer Borea d'Olmo

In cooperation with and the support of the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation
The tragic events of October 7, 2023, the subsequent war on Gaza, and the genocide that followed have generated an unprecedented crisis within the Jewish world. These developments have raised urgent questions about Jewish identity, ethics, political responsibility, and collective self-understanding. The workshop Gaza and the Unprecedented Crisis in the Jewish World addressed these pressing issues. Central was the question of what it means to be Jewish at a time when the Jewish state has perpetrated mass atrocities in Gaza, deemed plausibly genocidal by the International Court of Justice. The workshop examined the contested conflation of Jewish identity with Zionist nationalism, asking how this link can be challenged or reimagined. While Zionism has shaped Jewish life since the Second World War, it has also marginalised anti- and non-Zionist traditions. In recent decades, more Jewish leaders, scholars, and organisations have spoken out against Israeli violence, rejecting the claim that it is carried out in their name. The workshop situated these dissenting voices within broader historical, theological, and political debates, highlighting the diversity of Jewish responses. Bringing together scholars, rabbis, and public intellectuals, the workshop created a space for critical reflection and ethical reckoning. It addressed themes such as Jewish identity after Gaza, challenges for Jewish Studies, debates on antisemitism, and the polarisation within Jewish communities. Overall, the workshop functioned as both an intellectual forum and a moral intervention, confronting the current crisis while opening space for alternative ethical and political imaginaries beyond Zionist nationalism