CUAS students are fully immersing themselves in the preparation of the first ACE²-EU Kaleidoscope Festival

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Twelve students from Carinthia University of Applied Sciences are preparing for one of the first major events organised by the ACE²-EU Alliance: the first Kaleidoscope Culture Festival, which will take place in our partner university Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI), in Germany, on 22-24 October 2025.

The Kaleidoscope Culture Festival

The Kaleidoscope Culture Festival is an annual event within the ACE²-EU Alliance, a gathering celebrating the cultural diversity of the Alliance’s nine universities from across Europe (Austria, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain). It is organised as part of the SPACE Centre’s Culture Hub (learn more about the SPACE Centre here and here).

In April 2025, an open call for proposals was published by the Alliance, inviting students to submit proposals aligned with this year’s festival's theme, “The Voices of Europe Today” under various creative formats. The proposals were then evaluated by university teams and twelve students from each partner universities were selected to participate in the inaugural Kaleidoscope Culture Festival, either as content creators or cultural experiencers, paving the way for these students to contribute to a vibrant, cross-cultural celebration scheduled to take place in Ingolstadt, Germany, from 22 to 24 October 2025.

The programme will feature various types of activities organised by and for the students, such as:

  • Interactive workshops, lectures, and panel discussions
  • Performances, openmic sessions, and showcases
  • Studentled exhibitions and creative projects
  • A multicultural evening with dinner and a DJ
  • Networking opportunities
  • Sightseeing, etc.

CUAS students, both locals and internationals, have been selected through the Alliance’s open call to participate with several artistic and cultural contributions, representing Austria from the perspectives of both Carinthia and our international student body. The key objective is to convey an engaging and vivid portrayal of Austrian and international cultures that intertwine at CUAS to an international audience. They will also be able to enjoy activities and performances of the other Alliance students, reflecting their own cultures and interpretation of said cultures.

CUAS contributions

Language Poster Exhibition: presenting 14 different languages from Europe, Asia and Africa, these posters were created by the Intercultural Management Bachelor student class of 2023 for their German and Italian classes

“Voices of Europe” Workshop: inspired by the poster exhibition, workshop participants will showcase their own languages through voice recordings, which will then be showcased as an interactive exhibit via QR-Codes and other digital tools.

Multilingual Slam: creative performance on stage by our students and professor, letting the audience discover a variety of languages from all over the world, including, of course, Austrian German

Map of Austria: an interactive digital map of the country illustrating the diversity of the population living in Austria (Austrians from every region/Land and international community), but also the things that unite them and can allow to build a common future

Interactive game “From Austria with… Confusion?”: a visual novel game created by our students, where the player can befriend humanized versions of several Austrian cities and towns (Linz, Salzburg, Klagenfurt, Bregenz, Villach, Telfs, Bad Bleiberg). Synopsis: City spirits are humanoid representatives of the people living in them. Their existence is a well-guarded secret, and the only time they don’t have to hide what they are, is during an exclusive City Spirits Christmas Party. You gladly accept the invitation, excited to celebrate coming of the new millennium with others. But city spirits hold grudges, and when a snow-in leads to every spirit being trapped in the hotel, tension rises. Now, it’s up to you to uncover centuries of shared history, mend broken bonds and taste delicious Austrian cuisine.

The Kaleidoscope Festival activities are coordinated at CUAS by Dr. Colin Heller, and alliance-wide by Dr. Ieva Zemite from the Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC). Our student team is managed by Mariia (Marsel) Osovska, an Intercultural Management Bachelor student.

Link to the ACE²-EU Call for Participation: Kaleidoscope Culture Festival 2025
Link to the ACE²-EU Instagram reel from CUAS participating students, as part of the first Pan-Alliance Mobility Promotion and Awareness Campaign