Author: Kulturamt der Stadt Innsbruck

The cultural strategy process has so far enabled broad and diverse participation of a wide range of people on the subject of culture. As the participation phase has been completed, it is time to make the political decisions for the implementation phase.

The results of the participation process for the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030 have been finalized so far and are available at kulturstrategie-innsbruck.at/content. In the current issue of Innsbruck informiert, project manager Rita Hebenstreit and head of the Department of Culture Isabelle Brandauer describe their impressions in retrospect and how things will continue after the participation phase. Click here for the article: issuu.com/innsbruckinformiert/docs/ibk_info_2206/s/15934030

We would like to thank everyone for the feedback on the result of the participation process for the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030. We have received some very detailed feedback, which demonstrates an intensive engagement with the process.

The result of the participation phase can still be viewed on the website at kulturstrategie-innsbruck.at/inhalt.

Together with all comments, the document will now be forwarded to the responsible politicians and will serve as a template for the political decision on goals and measures.

On March 31, 2022, the result of the participation phase has been published with recommendations and proposals for the further elaboration of the Innsbruck cultural strategy 2030 (only in German language): kulturstrategie-innsbruck.at/ergebnis-des-partizipationsprozesses

To avoid misunderstandings: the paper is not the final cultural strategy, but an interim result on the way to it. The paper contains a summary of the broad-based participation process, in which hundreds of experts from the arts and culture sector and interface areas were involved in several workshops and discussion rounds.

“I am pleased that we, as the City of Innsbruck, can now show what diverse and valuable suggestions have been made by those working in the arts and cultural fields in Innsbruck,” says City Councillor for Culture Mag.a Uschi Schwarzl, expressing her heartfelt thanks. The published result of this participation phase serves as a recommendation and proposal for the political decision on projects and measures.

You can send comments on the content of the results of the participation process to the office for cultural development and funding of the City of Innsbruck until April 17, 2022. Please use the contact form for this purpose.

The aim of this public review of the paper is,

• to transparently present what has been achieved so far,
• to give all the people that have participated in the process the opportunity to check if they find themselves in the result, and
• to obtain feedback from all other interested parties.

Special thanks go to the seven members of the working group for their valuable contribution to the now published paper, to which they also include the following short statements:

• “Im Ergebnis des Partizipationsprozesses werden die zentralen Handlungsfelder sichtbar, die in der Stadt Innsbruck für die Weiterentwicklung einer prosperierenden Kunst- und Kulturlandschaft essenziell sind. Dabei zeigt sich einmal mehr, wie sehr kulturelle Fragen mit den aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Fragen verwoben sind – oder anders ausgedrückt – wie sehr Kulturpolitik auch Gesellschaftspolitik ist.”
  (Helene Schnitzer, Geschäftsführerin der TKI – Tiroler Kulturinitiativen, Mitglied im Kulturbeirat für Kulturinitiativen des Landes Tirol)
• “Die Ergebnisse des Kulturstrategie-Prozesses haben zu einer umfassenden Bestandsaufnahme des Innsbrucker Kulturbiotops geführt und zeigen auf, wie Kultur in Zukunft auch für den Tourismus eine tragende Säule sein kann. Wie weit Kultur in das alltägliche Leben der Menschen hineinreicht, wird deutlich, wenn man sich die unterschiedlichen Bereiche von Bildung über den sozialen Zusammenhalt bis hin zur Nachhaltigkeit vor Augen führt.”
  (David Prieth, Selbständiger Künstler, Geschäftsführer der p.m.k. Plattform mobile Kulturinitiativen, Vorstandsmitglied der TKI – Tiroler Kulturinitiativen und der IG Kultur Österreich, Mitglied von skin on marble und Kulturkollektiv Contrapunkt)
• “Das vorliegende Papier involviert Kultur als Querschnittsmaterie in alle wesentlichen Themen, denen wir uns als Gesellschaft stellen müssen und wollen, wie etwa Nachhaltigkeit oder Inklusion. Überall dort wird Kultur als Motor für Diskurs und Verbesserung eingesetzt – darin liegt ihr großes Potenzial.”
  (Nicola Weber, Geschäftsführerin des WEI SRAUM. Designforum Tirol)
• “Die Frage, wie Kultur gefördert werden sollte, beinhaltet weniger die Problematik einer generellen Unterstützung von Institutionen und Sparten, als vielmehr die gewünschte Art und Ausrichtung von kulturellen Veranstaltungen. Dabei geht es einerseits um das Nützen von vorhandenen Ressourcen und Erschließen von Potenzialen, beispielsweise durch ein vernetztes Zusammenwirken von Kulturschaffenden oder das gemeinsame Nutzen von Räumen. Andererseits rückt die Perspektive einer möglichst breiten Zugangsmöglichkeit in den Mittelpunkt. Deshalb sind Barrierefreiheit, Teilhabe und Inklusion zentrale Handlungsfelder. Genau hierin liegt eine große Chance für die Kulturstadt Innsbruck.”
  (Karl C. Berger, Leiter des Tiroler Volkskunstmuseums, Mitglied im Kulturbeirat für Volkskultur des Landes Tirol)
• “Kunst und Kultur öffnen Welten. Welten voller Farben, Formen und alternativer Einsichten. Kulturell partizipieren und wirksam sein können erzeugt Sensibilität, schafft die Basis für gegenseitiges Verständnis und bietet Möglichkeitsräume zur kulturellen und gesellschaftspolitischen Weiterentwicklung. Kultur ist Lebensmittel für jeden und die Kulturstrategie weiß das! Um es mit Karl Valentin zu sagen: ‘Kunst ist schön, macht aber viel Arbeit!’ Die Kulturstrategie soll diese erleichtern.”
  (Monika Abendstein, Leiterin von bilding – Kunst- und Architekturschule für Kinder und Jugendliche)
• “In einem beispielhaften Partizipationsprozess wurden Kulturschaffende und Kulturinteressierte gefragt und gehört. Das vorliegende Ergebnis gibt klare Handlungs-Leitlinien für gesellschaftliche Entwicklung und ein besseres Miteinander in der Stadt. Packen wir es an!”
  (Isabel Gabbe, Leiterin des Departments für Musikpädagogik Innsbruck der Universität Mozarteum Salzburg)
• “Kunst und Kultur stellen ein immens wichtiges Werkzeug dar, um vorherrschende Machtverhältnisse und Sehgewohnheiten zu hinterfragen und zu stören. Gerade deshalb gilt es die Handlungsmöglichkeiten in diesem Feld auszubauen und zu verbessern. Der Kulturstrategie-Prozess hat unter Einbindung zahlreicher Stimmen aufgezeigt, woran es fehlt, aber auch wie mit – zum Teil sehr einfachen Mitteln – Kunst und Kultur nachhaltiger, inklusiver, sichtbarer gedacht und gemacht werden können.”
  (Petra Poelzl, vorm. Künstlerische Leiterin und Geschäftsleiterin der Tiroler Künstler:innenschaft (Kunstpavillon & Neue Galerie))

In six workshops with partly more than 100 participants, in 33 qualitative interviews with experts from the Innsbruck art and culture sector, with a 33-member advisory board and a 7-member working group and under the leadership of a 5-member project team, the result of the participation process for the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy is available after a process of slightly more than one year. In all mentioned groups at least 50% women were represented. The result of the participation process serves as a basis for the political discussion, formulation and decision-making of the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030.

For City Councillor for Culture Uschi Schwarzl, the process of developing the cultural strategy, for which Isabelle Brandauer and project manager Rita Hebenstreit are responsible, is a showcase project that invites to  participation and, with professional support and the greatest possible transparency, is intended to set new standards for how a city sets up its processes. This is also evident from the feedback of numerous participants, which can be read here: #19 Kulturstrategie 2030: Rückblick und Ausblick

An interesting insight into the cultural strategy process can also be read in the current March issue of Innsbruck informiert. In it, Manuela Schweigkofler, managing director of “Haus der Begegnung” and board member of the association “spectACT – Verein für politisches und soziales Theater”, and Ulrike Tanzer, vice rector and head of the research institute Brenner-Archiv at the University of Innsbruck, talk about their motivation and their role in the development of the cultural strategy: https://www.ibkinfo.at/media/13280/ibk_info_2203.pdf (page 36 and 37)

In April, the result of this transparent participation process will be published for review. Then political decisions will follow on the final Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030 and on which measures from the participation result will be prioritized and how funding will be secured. “Innsbruck is a city in which culture plays a very important role. We want to take our responsibility for this role and the many people who have participated in this process in their spare time and contributed their ideas for the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030,” says City Councillor for Culture Uschi Schwarzl.

A few days ago, the seven-member working group together with the project team withdrew for two days to the Bildungshaus St. Michael der Diözese Innsbruck to work on the draft of the cultural strategy. The current version of the mission statement was discussed intensively before the goals and countless proposed measures were reflected upon and discussed in small groups. The main focus was on establishing a consensus on the goals and working out which proposed measures would contribute most meaningfully to the achievement of the goals and should therefore also be reflected in the final version of the cultural strategy.

Based on this, further consolidation and specification will take place in the coming days and weeks by the project team (led by the office for cultural affairs of the City of Innsbruck with support from LIquA and Aliette Dörflinger), also the  obtaining of expert opinions from various offices of the Municipality of Innsbruck, and a discussion of the current draft in the context of a five-hour workshop with the Cultural Committee of the City of Innsbruck and the members of the working group at the beginning of March.

An insight into the work of the working group can also be found in the current issue of Innsbruck informiert on pages 36 and 37:
Innsbruck informiert (Ausgabe Jänner 2022)

© Rita Hebenstreit

Members of the working group and project team at the meeting.
Back row from left to right: Isabelle Brandauer (Office for cultural affairs of the City of Innsbruck ), Karl. C. Berger (Tyrolean Folk Art Museum), Nicola Weber (WEI SRAUM. Designforum Tirol), Norma Schiffer-Zobernig (office of the mayor of Innsbruck), David Prieth (p.m.k., skin on marble, Kulturkollektiv Contrapunkt), Petra Poelzl (Tiroler Künstler:innenschaft – Kunstpavillon & Neue Galerie), Monika Abendstein (bilding – art and architectural school for children and young people), Wolfgang Andexlinger (office for urban planning, urban development and integration of the City of Innsbruck).
Front row from left to right: Aliette Dörflinger (external process advisor), Helene Schnitzer (TKI – Tiroler Kulturinitiativen), Isabel Gabbe (Department for Music Pedagogy Innsbruck of University Mozarteum Salzburg), Rita Hebenstreit (Office for cultural affairs of the City of Innsbruck).

The creation of the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030 is progressing rapidly. Currently, the main focus is on reflecting, discussing and condensing the many results from the workshops. The goal is to produce a draft in the upcoming weeks, which will be published on the website in the course of March and can be reviewed. After processing the received comments, the cultural strategy will then be presented to the political committees of the City of Innsbruck for decision-making by the middle of the year.

In the current phase, the Cultural Committee of the City of Innsbruck has the role of reflecting on the proposals developed by the working group and the project team and providing feedback from a political perspective. On January 10, the members of the Cultural Committee met to discuss the drafts of the mission statement, the fields of action and the goals of the cultural strategy. The meeting of the Culture Committee was attended by the city councilor in charge of the department, Uschi Schwarzl (GRÜNE), as well as the members of the Culture Committee Irene Heisz (SPÖ), Christoph Appler (ÖVP), Andrea Dengg (FPÖ), Astrid Denz (FPÖ), Thomas Lechleitner (GRÜNE), Dejan Lukovic (GRÜNE), Mesut Onay (ALI), Theresa Ringler (Für Innsbruck) and Dagmar Klingler-Newesely (NEOS), furthermore also Isabelle Brandauer (MA V, Office for cultural affairs of the City of Innsbruck), Rita Hebenstreit (MA V, Office for cultural affairs of the City of Innsbruck), Claudia Jochum (Intern MA V, Office for cultural affairs of the City of Innsbruck), Thomas Philipp (LIquA) and Aliette Dörflinger (Dörflinger Consulting & Facilitation).

Several important aspects were addressed in the meeting. For example, it was noted that a precise definition of the role of the city municipality in the cultural strategy is necessary: What are the core tasks of the city? Which proposed measures from the strategy should be implemented by the city administration itself? Where do municipal cultural policy and cultural administration only provide the impetus so that other actors can start to implement them, and where is active support by the city administration necessary and useful? It was emphasized that a prioritization of the proposed measures seems to make sense, which at the same time directs the view to the special features and unique selling points of the cultural city of Innsbruck. Furthermore of great relevance: the consideration of the already existing diversity in the field of art and culture, which should be built upon.

The members of the Culture Committee highlighted individual fields of action that require special attention. These include cultural education, cultural participation and culture in the city districts. Here, it should be a matter of promoting cultural networking between the existing associations in the city districts, actively involving the people there in the further development of culture and cooperating with the existing structures and partners such as the ISD city district meetings. Other topics addressed included the challenges of the current Corona crisis for culture and tourism, opportunities for participation in cultural policy decision-making processes, and the visibility of art and culture in the context of marketing, media and communication. In a next step, the Culture Committee will devote itself to discuss the proposed measures.

Until then, the seven-member working group will fine-tune the draft of the cultural strategy. At the end of January, the group will hold a two-day meeting and work on concretizing the proposed measures. Members of the working group are Monika Abendstein (bilding – art and architecture school for children and young people), Karl. C. Berger (Tyrolean Folk Art Museum), Isabel Gabbe (Department of Music Education Innsbruck of the University Mozarteum Salzburg), Petra Poelzl (Tiroler Künstler:innenschaft – Kunstpavillon & Neue Galerie), David Prieth (p.m.k., skin on marble, Kulturkollektiv Contrapunkt), Helene Schnitzer (TKI – Tiroler Kulturinitiativen) and Nicola Weber (WEI SRAUM. Designforum Tirol). Subsequently, experts from different fields will be asked for feedback on the proposals – here, the advisory board is particularly in demand, consisting of 33 personalities from the arts and culture, but also from relevant interface areas such as science, education, youth, social affairs, integration, tourism, creative industries or urban planning. The members of the working group and the advisory board: they all represent the diversity, commitment and expertise that characterize Innsbruck’s arts and culture sector.

The six workshops held between April and November 2021 formed the core of the cultural strategy process. Four participants describe their personal impressions of the discussion rounds, in which they participated first digitally and then in person. In the workshops, proposals for goals and measures of the Cultural Strategy were developed and people became visible who wanted to contribute their ideas and concerns to the implementation. The spectrum of participants was very broad and ranged across different areas of expertise and generations. “Through the heterogeneous mix of such different culturally affine people, perspectives, ideas and connections arose for me that I would not have encountered otherwise. And as a result, very concrete plans for collaboration in the future,” recalls Teresa Waas (Initiative Hunger auf Kunst und Kultur).

Many of the participants, who averaged around 100 each, took part in several workshops, which enabled them to work continuously and network with one another: “This strengthens not only the individual institutions, but the cultural landscape of Tyrol as a whole,” finds Frederik Lordick (Dachsbau, Innsbruck Club Commission) and states: “Our wish is that these very productive and important workshops will lead to a cultural strategy for Innsbruck and the surrounding area that finally gives the entire Tyrolean cultural scene the status it deserves and, in the process, also redefines the local concept of culture.”

Culture blossoms

“My impression of the workshops was very positive, they were well organized and it also always motivated me personally when I was able to meet so many committed people,” says Viktoria Atzl (Verein Künstlervernetzung) and emphasizes: “By networking cultural professionals with each other, the cohesion of this sector could be strengthened and already existing infrastructure could be better used.”

“Innsbruck’s extremely colorful cultural scene should speak with a united voice for more diverse culture. The cultural strategy workshops were handled very professionally and the various opinions of the cultural operators present were well filtered out,” Peter Margreiter (Tiroler Volksmusikverein) elaborates: “The art will be to merge this opinion of a nevertheless quite manageable group with the general cultural interests of the city population, i.e. the end consumers of culture. Culture blossoms when it is perceived.”

How and when will it continue?

After finishing the workshop phase, a working group processes the results. The Cultural Committee of the City of Innsbruck discusses the proposed goals and measures. This results in a draft of the strategy paper. In March 2022, the draft is published on this website and a one-month public review period starts, to which all interested parties are invited again.

Link to press release (in German language): ibkinfo.at/kulturstrategie-ausblick

The VI. and final workshop on 9 November was entitled “Open Discussion … on the home stretch”. The VI and final workshop was entitled “Open Discussion … on the home stretch”. More than 70 participants discussed on 10 topic islands about still open aspects and dedicated themselves to a condensation of goals and proposals for measures. Click here for the documentation of the VI. Workshop (in German language only).

In the upcoming weeks, the working group and the project team will continue to work intensively on the draft of the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030, which will be published on this website for public review in March 2022.

The V. Workshop on “Value & Diversity” on 18 October at the Congress also brought many valuable insights. Click here for the documentation of the V. Workshop (in German language only).

Last workshop:

• VI. workshop – Open discussion … on the home stretch
  Tuesday, November 9, 2021, 5.00 – 8.30 p.m
  Congress Innsbruck (Rennweg 3, 6020 Innsbruck)
  Registration period: Tuesday, October 19 to Monday, November 1

The registration for the sixth and last workshop for the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy Process is now open:

Tuesday, 9 November 2021
at the congress, Saal Innsbruck
Duration: 5:00 to 8:30 pm.
followed by a get-together until 9:30 pm.

Topic: Open discussion … on the home stretch

The final workshop will enter the home stretch: we will uncover blind spots and still open or hidden topics. Our central task will also be to concretise the ideas together, perhaps to formulate them even better and to clarify who would like to get involved where in the implementation itself. Have we discussed everything that is needed to equip Innsbruck with a good cultural strategy 2030? What is particularly important? Is there still something of burning importance to us? An open discussion for all involved.

We welcome everyone who can still make it possible to contribute with their ideas!

Participation is only possible after prior registration! The registration period for the V. Workshop runs from 19 October to 1 November. 

Please note: We have the 3-G rule (see Conditions of Participation – subject to change).