The European Forum Alpbach is an interdisciplinary platform for science, politics, business and culture. Hundreds of experts meet at the Forum every year in August to exchange knowledge and discuss ideas. The theme of the 2018 Forum is “Diversity & Resilience.” Participants will discuss to what extent diversity promotes and encourages dynamic behavior, creates opportunities, and inspires innovative solutions in society.

The contributions of WU’s researchers reflect the wide spectrum of research areas represented at WU. They include topics like renewable resources, society and crises, diversity as a motor for innovation, manipulation through “fake news,” economic education, diverse decision-making cultures, and anti-trend banking.

One key focus area this year is blockchain technology. Through the establishment of its Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics last year, WU has positioned itself as a leading institution in this promising field of research. WU experts will be heading two working groups on this topic, showing participants possible applications for this technology and talking about the social changes it is likely to bring.

The WU Crypto Night will offer a comprehensive, hands-on approach to the subject. At this public evening session, researchers will be introducing the research institute and its work and talking about current projects. After the presentation, researchers will be available for one-on-one conversations. Alpbach scholarship holders will have the opportunity to find out more about specific applications for blockchain technology at three interactive stations: Wallet, Timestamping, and Sustainability.

WU researchers at Alpbach

August 24, 2018, 1:00 – 6:00pm

Sigrid Stagl
Head of the Institute for Ecological Economics

The renewability of societal resources  (Breakout / Working Group)

By 2050 the circular economy approach will be widely implemented in Europe. Resources used in 2050 will be a mix of bio resources, energy resources, and mineral resources, with the latter still making up the largest volume. This breakout session will discuss the renewability of each of these resources and whether renewability can indeed be achieved in our current economic system.

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August 24, 2018, 1:00 – 6:00pm

Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger
WU Rector

Resilience – how societies can cope with crises (Breakout / Working Group)

This breakout session, chaired by Forschung Austria, will deal with resilience in the sense of the characteristics that provide individuals, organizations, and societies with the tools to cope with crisis situations. How robust are our societies? What are the basic requirements and mechanisms that enable societies and individuals to deal with crises in a constructive way?

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August 26, 2018, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Burcu Gözet
MSc., Institute for Ecological Economics

Lessons from the best: What we can learn from Europe’s most sustainable regions

Presentation of the study “Sustainability Check of European Regions”, which compares European regions’ orientation towards sustainability. Subsequently, reasons and implications will be discussed in a World Café.

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August 28, 2018, 8:00 – 9:30pm

Werner H. Hoffmann

Head of the Institute for Strategisches Management 

Innovation 101: The “diversity” factor (Plenary / Panel)

Diversity – from gender to ethnicity, from cognitive abilities to interdisciplinarity – is a key factor in finding solutions to new, complex problems and achieving innovation. Why is diversity the key to innovation? Where does diversity reach its limits? These are the questions that will be answered in the evening session.

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August 28, 2018, 11:00am – 1:30pm

Johannes Steyrer

Interdisciplinary Institute for Management and Organizational Behavior

Republic of fake news – How civil society and businesses become resilient to manipulation  (Breakout / Working Group)

“Fake news” has gone from being a sideshow on social media to a severe challenge for civil society and corporations. Attempts at manipulation from third countries continue to magnify this threat. This breakout session looks for ways to harness the diversity of social media in order to become more resilient to “alternative facts.”

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August 29, 2018, 3:00 – 5:30pm

Bettina Fuhrmann
Head of the Institute for Business Education

We don't need no education! Economic education as a business-location factor (Breakout / Working Group)

Studies show that economic education is weak in Austrian society. Basic economic education is, however, one of the main pillars necessary for a healthy economy. Markets and corporations alike require educated staff for their daily businesses. How can Austria establish a sustainable concept for economic education? What can corporations do to support increased education?

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August 29, 2018, 3:00 – 5:30pm

Alfred Taudes
Head of the Institute for Production Management, Academic Director of the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics

Blockchain and the new cryptoeconomics: Are economy and society facing the next revolution? (Breakout / Working Group)

Well-known crypto economists have described blockchain technology as an operating system for a decentralized society. This technology is the driving force behind the Web 3.0 and has the potential to turn the economic world as we know it entirely upside down.

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August 29, 2018, 3:00 – 5:30pm

Shermin Voshmgir

Head of the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics

Cyber security – Is resilience an utopia in a digital economy? (Working Group)

The digital information infrastructure is now as important to a modern business location as streets, railways, or energy networks. What impacts does digitalization have on the resilience of this critical infrastructure? Are absolute security and stability just utopian visions in a digital world?

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August 29, 2018, 5:00 – 7:30pm

Shermin Voshmgir

Head of the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics

WU Crypto Night

Shermin Voshmgir, Head of the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics, will be talking about current projects and giving Alpbach scholarship holders the opportunity to become more familiar with blockchain applications at different interactive stations.

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August 30, 2018, 3:30-5:00pm

Heike Mensi-Klarbach

Institute for Gender and Diversity in Organizations

Diverse decision culture: Effects on business models – The wisdom of crowds vs herd-thinking (Plenary / Panel)

Studies on the correlation between diversity and corporate performance have shown that businesses with greater diversity in decision-making bodies perform better financially. Some ascribe this correlation to the ‘crowd wisdom’ as opposed to ‘herd thinking’. Can crowd wisdom bring about new, resilient organizational structures? If so, how?

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August 31, 2018, 10:30am -12:00 noon

Stefan Pichler

Institute for Finance, Banking and Insurance

Banking against the trend (Breakout / Panel)

The trend in Austria is clear: many bank branches are closing. A few banks, however, are still expanding. How do these businesses manage to remain resilient to this widespread trend?