Review 2024 International Days

More than 100 students and lecturers participated in the International Days in Social Work at the FH Upper Austria Linz Campus in June: 76 international students and lecturers from the field of social work and 30 students from the in-house master's degree program Social Work. The lecturers and students came from Armenia, Canada, Czechia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, The Netherlands, Sweden and the USA.

20 lectures and workshops took place, covering a wide range of different areas of social work. The World Café was especially well received on the first day with a presentation of all universities and countries including regional specialties.

The visitors also showed great interest in site visits to and presentations from different organisations:

• SOS Human rights (social work with asylum seekers)
• "Neustart" (Social Work with Offenders)
• Center for Family Therapy and Men'S Counselling Center
• "Exit Sozial" (forensic residential facility)
• "Notschlafstelle B37" (emergency sleeping center)
• "Verein ISI" (Outreach Work)

The cultural and social program also included a visit to the salt mines in Hallein, a boat trip across lake Wolfgangsee and the visit of the picturesque village of St. Wolfgang.  For those participants interested in the Mauthausen Memorial - the former concentration camp - a guided tour in English was organized. 

For our guests from Canada and the United States, an add-on week took place from 10 - 14 June 2024. 26 students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of the Fraser Valley and Nova Scotia Community College got the chance to visit "Verein Substanz" (Substance Abuse & Harm Reduction Counselling Center), Prevention Center (Counselling for Female Victims) and the Lebenshilfe in Steyr (a living and work place for people with intellectual disabilities). A highlight was the visit to Garsten prison. One day was reserved for social activities where we visited "Mayer Schokoladen", one of the best chocolatiers in Austria and an alpaca farm.