CultHeRit Advocacy Event in Wien, Austria

CultHeRit – Career Opportunities in Cultural Heritage and the Call for New Work Models,

Advocacy Event Austria
Date: 10th October 2025
Location: Haus der Kultur „Walther von der Vogelweide”, Schlernstraße 1, Bolzano, I-39100 in cooperation with Museumsbund Austria, Austrian Museumsday 2025

The CultHeRit advocacy event Career Opportunities in Cultural Heritage and the Call for New Work Models brought together around 160 professionals and stakeholders from across the Austrian museum and cultural heritage sectors to address pressing questions around working conditions and the future of employment in the field.

Peter Fritz opened the event with a thematic introduction, followed by Senka Gavranov, who highlighted the need to create visibility for labor issues and open space for critical discussion within the sector in her keynote Why and how to talk about work in museums and the cultural heritage sector: a brief introduction.

The central panel discussion, moderated by Peter Fritz, focused on the diversity of institutional contexts and explored how structure and funding influence employment conditions. The conversation addressed project-based work, lack of long-term security, workload, inclusion, and the need for early-career support. It also emphasized the role of higher education in shaping professional expectations and opportunities.

Panel Participants and their Focus Areas:

• Monika Holzer-Kernbichler (Kunsthaus Graz / Austrian Association of Art Educators): Perspective from museum practice on art education and cultural mediation.

• Beatrice Jaschke (University of Applied Arts Vienna / schnittpunkt / purpurkultur): Perspective from academia and universities on cultural work and exhibition practice.

• Thomas Philipp (KUPF Upper Austria): Project partner CultHeRit

• Friedrun Schwanzer (Museum der Moderne Salzburg): Structured career entry through Austria’s first museum traineeship program.

• Jenny Unterkofler (MAK, Vienna): Perspective and challenges of young professionals entering the field.

The event concluded with a clear call to action: to critically rethink institutional structures and commit to building sustainable, inclusive, and attractive working environments for all cultural professionals. CultHeRit provided a vital platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange and collective reflection, including active participation from the audience, successfully generating momentum for continued conversation and long-term systemic change within the sector.

Building on this momentum, it was particularly rewarding for our team to learn that several colleagues had read about our recruitment process last year and felt inspired to adapt their own practices. Hearing that our approach had sparked such positive engagement reaffirmed the impact of our efforts. It clearly demonstrates that concrete examples can resonate across the sector and encourage others to innovate cultural work environments.