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Kick-off for the EU HORIZON Project GRACE in Venice
In October, the official launch of the EU HORIZON project GRACE took place in Venice. Representatives from all 25 European partner organizations gathered for the kick-off meeting to get to know each other, define shared goals, and lay the foundation for four years of collaboration. BAB was represented on site by Heidi Grüneis, Daria Ernst, and Somaye Latifi. During the meeting, the three team members presented BAB’s work package and gained exciting insights into the Italian project region...
Participation in the SERIGO project meeting and the Forum Carpaticum in Bratislava and Ostrovany, Slovakia
From 10 to 12 September 2025, Georg Wiesinger, Katrin Hofer, and Somaye Latifi participated in the third SERIGO Consortium meeting, which was hosted by the Slovak partners from the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University. The meeting coincided with both the Forum Carpaticum 2025 and the second SERIGO Community of Practice (CoP) workshop, all taking place at this Faculty in Bratislava, Slovakia. The programme also included a field trip to Ostrovany (Eastern Slovakia). On...
Round table: A bioeconomy vision for Central Europe (BIOECO-UP)
How should the bioeconomy in Central Europe be structured in the future? Should the focus be on technological innovation, economic growth, material cycles or the preservation of ecosystem services? How can societal participation be taken into account? These and other questions were addressed by the ten participants at the high-level round table, which took place on 10 Sept 2025 at the Federal Institute for Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research as part of the BIOECO-UP project....
BAB at the IMC 2025
From small businesses to digital infrastructure and protective forests – expertise for sustainable mountain development At the International Mountain Conference IMC 2025, which took place in Innsbruck from September 14 to 18, 2025, key issues for the future relating to the sustainable development of mountain regions were once again discussed. Scientists from various disciplines presented their research findings and highlighted the role that socio-economic diversity, digital infrastructure,...
Participation in 28th Congress of the Austrian Association for Sociology (ÖGS)
From June 30 to July 2, 2025, the 28th Congress of the Austrian Sociological Association (ÖGS) took place at the University of Graz. Under the theme "The Climate of Society", the congress explored the current state of social climate and the role sociology can play in addressing the climate crisis. Katrin Hofer and Somaye Latifi participated on the first day of the congress. The event was officially opened by Alexander Bogner, President of the ÖGS. The opening keynote lecture was delivered...
Participation at the 30th Congress of the European Society for Rural Sociology in Riga
Katrin Hofer and Somaye Latifi participated in the 30th Congress of the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS), where they organized a session and presented findings from their case study analysis currently being conducted in Schwarzau im Gebirge as part of the SERIGO project. The congress took place from July 7 to 11, 2025, at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) in Latvia and focused on the theme of livable futures in rural areas, under the title “Navigating Rural Transitions:...
Erika Quendler presented to South Korean Delegation
On 7 July 2025, a delegation from the Jeonam Province Rural Women Leaders Federation in South Korea visited the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management in Vienna. The event served as a platform for international knowledge exchange on youth and women in agriculture. Dr Erika Quendler, Senior Researcher at the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics and Mountain Research, was invited as a speaker. In her presentation...
The Study on Female Farmers 2026 – Kick-off Meeting at the BAB
On 21 October 2025, the kick-off meeting for the project ‘Situation of Female Farmers in Austria 2026: Analysis of Current Working and Living Conditions’ took place at the BAB. This study is commissioned by the BMLUK and is carried out as part of the gender equality evaluation of the GSP 2023–2027. Otto Hofer from the BMLUK (Dept. II/1) chaired the event. Margarethe Schima-Tripolt (BMLUK/Dept. II/1) gave an initial overview of how the project fits into the evaluation of the GSP...
NEXRUR Project launched to foster sustainable business models for rural resilience across the EU and China
10 October 2025, Xiamen (China) - The NEXRUR project kicked-off today in Xiamen, China, with a European launch to follow in Potsdam, Germany, on 22 October 2025. With this start, the project embarks on its mission to foster next-generation innovative and sustainable business models in rural areas across Europe and China, built on a shared vision of community-led entrepreneurship. Rural areas and agriculture as well as aquaculture are facing major economic, social and environmental challenges...
Persistency of the shrinkage challenge in eastern Germany, legacy effects and limited policy impact
The article is a contribution to the Special Issue of the Journal of Rural Studies ‘Beyond Competitiveness - Place-based understandings of narratives of rural shrinking, and post-growths goals as points of departure for more appropriate strategies’ and can be downloaded free of charge until 1 August 2025 at the following link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1lFh%7E2eyKFzBMq The article is based on the empirical results of a study region in Saxony-Anhalt (DE), which was examined as part...
RUSTIK Project Meeting in Joensuu, Finland
From June 3 to 5, 2025, the consortium of the EU Horizon project RUSTIK gathered in Joensuu, Finland, for its fourth project meeting. Around 50 participants from the 14 Living Labs and scientific partner institutions came together to discuss insights and methodological approaches for shaping rural transformation pathways. From BAB, the colleagues Ingrid Machold, Karin Schroll, and Daria Ernst took part in the meeting. Day 1 The first day focused on the 14 Living Labs. Results, experiences...
Conference report: IFCN Dairy Conference 2025
The International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN) invited dairy researchers from all over the world to its 26th Dairy Conference in the Netherlands. The theme of this year's conference was ‘Future dairy farming systems: resilience as a path to sustainability’. The event took place in Leeuwarden, a key hub for innovation and research in the dairy industry in the Netherlands, which plays a central role in promoting sustainable and efficient dairy farming practices. The event took place from...