$Unique_ID{COW00268} $Pretitle{376} $Title{Austria Institutions for Youth Work Run by Adults} $Subtitle{} $Author{Federal Press Service} $Affiliation{Embassy of Austria, Washington DC} $Subject{austrian youth association young office vienna oh student address tel} $Date{1989} $Log{} Country: Austria Book: Austria Culture and Society 1945-1955-2000 Author: Federal Press Service Affiliation: Embassy of Austria, Washington DC Date: 1989 Institutions for Youth Work Run by Adults Internationales Institut fur Jugendliteratur und Leseforschung (International Institute for Young People's Literature and Reader Research) The Institute has the status of a non-profitmaking association. It has close links with the "Buchklub der Jugend". Its functions are: to promote teacher training and further training, to collaborate with teacher training colleges; to compile and publish booklists; to publish information on Austrian children's and young people's literature; to provide teaching aids for literature; to arrange events; to promote Austrian children's books abroad; and to conduct research in the field of children's literature. The institute publishes a quarterly magazine entitled "Jugend und Buch". The Institute's office has the address: A-1040 Vienna, Mayerhofgasse 6, tel.: (02 22) 65 03 59. Musikalische Jugend Osterreichs (Austrian branch of Jeunesses Musicales) This is a non-profitmaking association which sets out to offer young audiences high quality musical performances at low prices. It also aims to provide young composers and performers a framework for their music-making. It runs 28 offices throughout Austria, has approximately 12,000 subscription holders and puts on some 300 concerts every year. There are currently autonomous branch organisations in Linz, Eisenstadt and Klagenfurt which collaborate only loosely with the head office, while the branches in Vienna are administered directly. The association receives subsidies from the state, from the Vienna City Council and from the provincial or municipal authorities responsible for individual concert venues. The Austrian association is affiliated to the Federation Internationale des Jeunesses Musicales and is popularly referred to as "Jeunesse". The head office has the address: A-1010 Vienna, Bosendorferstrasse 12, tel.: (02 22) 65 63 56. Osterreichischer Buchklub der Jugend (Austrian Young People's Book Club) The Book Club is registered as a non-profitmaking association with the aim of promoting good books for young people. Since the 1948/49 academic year it has been represented in all schools, at every level of Austria's educational system. At the end of 1985 it had a membership of around 500,000. The educational objective of the Book Club is to encourage constant, independent-minded, critical and perceptive reading habits. The Club argues that a school-child who has never learnt through reading to finish an idea, to concentrate, to explore the depths instead of being distracted by a width of visual appeal, will make little progress in life. Scientists have identified a causal link between linguistic ability and intelligence. The Club covers its costs largely from membership fees (approximately AS 20 million, to which must be added subsidies granted by the Ministry for Education, the Arts and Sport for the teacher's yearbook "Die Barke" and, since 1981, for the bimonthly magazine "1001 Buch", which is published in collaboration with the Ministry for Education, the Arts and Sport). For pubils the Club produces yearbooks in 12 editions (last edition running to 500,000 copies), selected reading lists (for various age categories), exhibition collections for peripheral areas, miniature editions, pocket books and presentation sets. The Club membership card entitles the bearer to a 25 percent discount on all Book Club editions in any Austrian bookshop and to discounts for sporting and cultural activities. For teachers the Club produces "Die Barke" (a yearbook) and the magazine "1001 Buch" (every two months), booklists, teaching aids and information for literary studies and so on. The Club's office has the address: A-1040 Vienna, Mayerhofgasse 6, tel.: (02 22) 65 17 54. Osterreichischer Jugendherbergsverband (OJHV), Hauptverband fur Jugendherbergen und Jugendwandern (Austrian Youth Hostel Association) The association has no party political allegiances. By virtue of collective membership with ten youth and sports organisations it has over 100,000 members, and in addition there are 20,000 direct individual members. The supreme body is the eight-member Executive Committee, while the business management is handled by the Federal Secretary. The function of the association is to build and to maintain youth hostels and to sponsor low-price travel for young people. It publishes a quarterly magazine, "Hostel", for members. The association is affiliated to the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) and the International Office for Social Tourism. The association office has the address: A-1010 Vienna, Gonzagagasse 22, tel.: (02 22) 63 53 53. Osterreichisches Jugendherbergswerk (OJHW - Austrian Youth Hostel Scheme) The Austrian Youth Hostel Scheme is a non-political association devoted to building and maintaining youth hostels and other forms of young people's accommodation, promoting children's, young people's and family hikes, arranging walks, trips and family holidays and collaborating with other institutions involved in recreational activities. Through the system of collective membership with other youth and sports organisations, the association has approximately 60,000 members. Its supreme body is the General Assembly, comprising some 50 members from youth and recreational organisations. There are nine provincial organisations, and the business management is conducted by the Federal Executive Committee whose 12 members are elected by the General Assembly. The OJHW publishes "Die Jugendherberge-Sehnsucht" four times a year. The OJHW is affiliated to the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) and to the Federation of International Youth Tourism Organizations (FIYTO). Its head office has the address: A-1010 Vienna, Helferstorferstrasse 4, tel.: (02 22) 63 18 33. Note on the two Austrian youth hostel organisations: they have joined forces in one working group calling itself the Osterreichischer Jugendherbergsring. This body represents both organisations in the IYHF, since only one representative organisation from each country can be affiliated to the IYHF. Osterreichisches Institut fur Jugendkunde (Austrian Institute for Child Studies) The Institute is a non-political association to which all the organisations affiliated to the Austrian Youth Union belong as members. Its function is to provide a comprehensive service for every area of youth work. It publishes a series of brochures under the overall heading "Report-Forschung-Information" which deal with such topics as youth and religion, community youth work, or methods of lively group work. The Institute's office has the address: A-1150 Vienna, Pouthongasse 3, tel.: (02 22) 92 71 15. Osterreichisches Komitee fur Internationalen Studienaustausch (OKISTA - Austrian Committee for International Student Exchange) The OKISTA is an association to which the following bodies belong: the Federal Chancellery, the Ministries for Education, the Arts and Sport, for Trade, Commerce and Industry and for Public Industry and Transport, the Federal Economic Chamber, the Austrian Chamber of Medicine, the Austrian Students' Union, the Association of Austrian Industrialists, the Austrian National Tourist Office and the provincial governments (except Tyrol and Vorarlberg). The OKISTA is a non-profitmaking service organisation concerned with travel and further education for young people. Its sets out to promote international contacts through bilateral exchange programmes in the fields of scientific training, specialised further training and practical work. With these goals in mind it arranges: exchange programmes for holiday trainees, language courses in Austria and abroad, reduced air and train fares for students and young people, international contact groups, seaside and family holidays for young people, skiing holidays, end-of-school trips and academic excursions, and travel counselling for young people. The OKISTA's publications include; extensive annual programmes and special programmes for train travel, vacation language courses, summer courses in Austria, "Travel for Individualists". The OKISTA office has the address: A-1090 Vienna, Turkenstrasse 4, tel.: (02 22) 34 75 26. Studien- und Beratungsstelle fur Kinder- und Jugend-literatur (Research and Advisory Centre for Children's and Young People's Literature) This is a service office run by the Archdiocese of Vienna, and the Centre's work revolves around the Christian concept of man. Most of the voluntary staff have a Catholic background. The Advisory Centre's purpose is to facilitate the study of literature for young people, to provide counselling in the form of direct or indirect youth work, and to promote adult education. The Centre publishes catalogues and recommended reading lists. Its office has the address: A-1010 Vienna, Freyung 6/I, tel.: (02 22) 63 98 60. Theater der Jugend (Young People's Theatre Organisation) The "Theater der Jugend" is an association composed of representatives of the federal authorities and of the provinces of Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland. The Executive Committee comprises 14 members and appoints the management board. The objective of his association is to allow schoolchildren throughout the secondary school age range to attend theatre, opera and concert performances at reduced rates. It seeks to stimulate in young people a critical appreciation of the performing arts, helping them to become discriminating audiences. The "Theater der Jugend" has two theatre premises of its own, where it stages eleven productions a year. While the largest age-group represented is the six to 14-year-olds, the current total membership amounts to some 50,000, which makes the "Theater der Jugend" the largest audience organisation in the western world. The head office has the address: A-1070 Vienna, Neubaugasse 38, tel.: (02 22) 93 25 46. Osterreichische Hochschulerschaft (OH - Austrian Student's Union) While almost all youth organisations are voluntary bodies with the status of simple associations, the Austrian Students' Union is incorporated under public law, it is one of the legal representative bodies, and every matriculated student in Austria is automatically accorded membership. As a legal representative body the OH enjoys the right within its sphere of responsibility to submit expertises and proposals relating to student and university affairs to the state authorities - particularly to the Ministry for Science and Research, the academic authorities and the country's legislative assemblies. Furthermore, the ministries are obliged to allow the OH to see and to voice an opinion on draft legislation before it goes before the cabinet and statutory regulations before they are implemented, insofar as these relate to matters concerning the student community. The OH is financed by student contributions. The enrolment fee includes a contribution to the OH which is fixed by law. The budget of the OH comes under the scrutiny of the Central Auditing Authority. Austria's student community (currently around 150,000, a tenth of whom are foreigners) is represented by the Central Committee, which is subdivided into the following departments: Education and Politics; Social Affairs; Press; Alternative Affairs (for the fields environment, peace and alternative issues); Women's Affairs; and International Relations. Each university and college has its own Main Committee, which deals with every field insofar as these apply to the institution concerned. The Main Committee sends delegates to the supreme body, the Senate. The departmental representative bodies send delegates to the various university committees whose responsibilities range from appointing assistant lecturers and allocating university funds to selecting professors. This means that student representatives share all the major decision-making processes at universities and colleges with the teaching staff and professors. Representatives of study courses and years stand for election as individuals and not as candidates of particular groups. They represent the students on the commissions whose responsibilities include approving the syllabus. The main groups represented on the Central Committee are: Aktionsgemeinschaft (AG, social-liberal, associated with the Austrian People's Party, OVP, Christian Democrats) - 23 seats; Verband Sozialistischer Studenten Osterreichs (VSSTO, student organisation of the Socialist Party of Austria, SPO, Social Democrats) - 16 seats; Junge Europaische Studenteninitiative (JES, conservative) - 15 seats. The remaining seats are held by two groups: Kommunistischer Studentenverband (KSV), Sozialistische Alternative (SOAL), Vereinte Grune Osterreichs Studenten and Die Rebellen vom Liang Shan Po with two seats; Linke Alternative Liste (LAL), Liste der Theologischen Fakultat and Liberaler Studentenverband (LSV) with one seat. The student groups raise their own finances through party donations and advertising revenue. Students are entitled to make use of the following services provided by the Central Committee: study counselling, counselling for school-leavers, social counselling, medical counselling, sickness welfare benefits, legal assistance, kindergarten, employment and accommodation agency. The Main Committees at the various universities and colleges also provide a range of services, the most important being study and social counselling. The OH Cultural Departments at the universities arrange lectures, readings and concerts and provide tickets. University shops offer stationery, lecture manuscripts, photocopying facilities etc. "Edition OH" is the publishing house run by the OH and is affiliated in its organisation to the OH-Wirtschaftsbetriebe Ges. m. b. H. The objectives of "Edition OH" are to publish scholarly works by students, to carry out special OH projects and to cover topics of importance in university education. Brochures are available on the following subjects: social affairs, student hostels, civilian service, women at university, and foreigners. The official publication of the OH is "OH-Express". The head office of the OH has the address: A-1090 Vienna, Liechtensteinstrasse 13, tel.: (02 22) 34 65 18. There are also student union offices at all Austrian universities and colleges.