This year's conference focused on interdisciplinary exchange on protected areas and networking with local actors from academia and civil society. A look back at two enriching days between the university and the nature park.

UNESCO established the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme more than 30 years ago to anchor its activities in universities and promote international cooperation in higher education. Since then, the Chairs have been important partners in implementing UNESCO's goals in all areas of the organisation's mandate – education, science, culture, and communication and information. Chairs identify new (research) topics and are involved, for example, in the development of UNESCO's standards and procedures. There are now around 1,000 active Chairs worldwide, 13 of which are in Austria. Once per year, these 13 UNESCO Chairs meet to exchange ideas on their main areas of work and focus topics. In April 2025, this meeting took place in Carinthia.

Symposium ‘Protected areas from an interdisciplinary perspective’

Protected areas such as national parks, nature parks and UNESCO-designated sites including biosphere reserves and geoparks are established to protect ecosystems, biological diversity and cultural features. In order to capture the diversity of protected areas – as places of nature conservation and landscape management, as well as spaces for learning and experience – Austria's UNESCO Chairs explored the topics at their annual conference from a decidedly interdisciplinary perspective.

What are the links between protected areas and peace research, restoration sciences, future studies and digital humanism? What impacts do current political developments, climate change, (over)tourism and new technologies have in this context? What skills are needed to preserve protected areas in the face of far-reaching change processes and diverging interests in the future?

These and other questions were explored by the network of UNESCO Chairs during the symposium ‘Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Protected Areas’. Guests included representatives of the UNESCO Chair on Ecohydrology and Transboundary Water Management at Sokoine University (Tanzania) and research assistants from Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (CUAS). The symposium marked the start of this year's network conference at CUAS in Villach.

Panel discussion and continuation of the exchange

Selected aspects of the discussion on ‘protected areas’ were reflected upon and explored in greater depth in front of an audience in the university's main lecture hall that same evening. All panelists agreed that, in view of the challenges facing protected areas, interdisciplinary cooperation and the expansion of knowledge within all fields of study are absolutely essential. The panel discussion ‘Protected areas – material and imaginative spaces of preservation and change from an interdisciplinary perspective’ also provided an opportunity to take a closer look at the main areas of work of the chairs.

After introductory remarks by Peter Granig, Rector of CUAS, and Martin Fritz, Secretary-General of the Austrian UNESCO Commission, the following panelists took part in the discussion: Antje Bierwisch (UNESCO Chair in Futures Capability for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, MCI Innsbruck), Michael Jungmeier (UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Management of Protected Areas, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences), Gabriela Krist (UNESCO Chair on Conservation and Preservation of Tangible Cultural Heritage, University of Applied Arts Vienna), Kurt Luger (UNESCO Chair in Cultural Heritage and Tourism, University of Salzburg) and Carmen Sippl (UNESCO Chair in Learning and Teaching Futures Literacy in the Anthropocene, University College of Teacher Education Lower Austria).

The event was moderated by Ö1 journalist Renata Schmidtkunz. Afterwards, the more than 40 participants gathered for a get-together in the foyer of the university.

Excursion to Dobratsch Nature Park

In keeping with the focus of the conference, the second day took participants to Dobratsch: from the Rote Wand (“Red Wall“), the route led to the Gams and Gipfelblick viewpoints via the Rosstratte. The scenic hike was enriched by informative stops at several points along the way. The experts Birgit Pichorner (Dobratsch Nature Park), Hannes Slamanig (Carinthian Provincial Government until 2023) and Tit Potočnik (Director of Triglav National Park, Slovenia) provided insights into conflicts of use, particularly in the area of nature conservation and tourism, into the founding phase of the former Nockberge National Park and into the cross-border UNESCO Julian Alps Biosphere Park (Slovenia and Italy). The conference concluded with a stop at the Restaurant Rosstratte.

This year's meeting of the UNESCO Chairs in Austria was rich in fruitful discussions and marked the beginning of an intensification of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary exchange within the network. The Chairs will meet again in 2026.

The conference was organised by the Austrian UNESCO Commission in cooperation with the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Management of Protected Areas, which is based at CUAS in Villach. The Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research provided financial support for the event.