Innovative results for local democracies

The tools and activities developed in the IcARUS project in various European cities are of great interest to us at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences.

The scientific monitoring of these activities provides us with useful information since our teaching and research is focused on  social innovation and the development of democracy and that we share the results of our work with our networks, especially our students from the field of social work.

Work package 4 in particular, in which the tools are being tested and initial results are expected, will enrich our teaching. We also want to reflect on these results in scientific articles and pass them on to stakeholders from Austrian cities as good practice.

Our main focus in the project is on supporting cities that are dedicated to preventing radicalisation and extremism, which is particularly true of Stuttgart. Our many years of experience in the development, implementation and scientific monitoring of social innovations, especially in the prevention of anti-democratic tendencies, is very helpful for our role in the IcARUS project.

We also endeavour to draw on preliminary work from previous EU projects and share this experience with our project partners. We have already summarised the main findings from these previous projects in two publications: Handbook for Inclusive Democracy and Empowerment at Local Level and Resilience Against Anti-Democratic Tendencies Through Education. Competences for Democratic Culture in European Social and Youth Work* The work we carried out in the past will be expanded and deepened by the IcARUS project.

* You can download this publication in four languages here.