WU Anniversary Fund of the City of Vienna

Review: Networking Meeting 2026

On 21 April 2026, the City of Vienna’s Anniversary Fund held its fifth networking event, once again providing an inspiring platform for discussion, networking, and innovative ideas. The event focused on funded projects by WU researchers addressing key societal issues related to Vienna—ranging from the energy transition in Vienna and circular supply chain management in the Viennese construction industry to AI in public administration and exploration of impoliteness in Vienna.

The range and diversity of those in attendance were impressive: representatives from the municipal departments of “Science, Research, and Business,” “Economy, Labor, and Statistics,” “Europe and International Affairs,” “Organization and Security,” as well as “Vienna Child and Youth Welfare,” and staff from the Vienna Business Agency, the Vienna Social Fund (FSW), and waff—the Vienna Employee Promotion Fund—took part and exchanged ideas with WU researchers.

This clearly highlighted the interdisciplinary dialogue between academia and practice. The network meeting demonstrated once again how important ongoing dialogue between researchers, the city, and society is for generating forward-looking ideas.

Background:

Founded to celebrate WU Vienna’s 100^th anniversary in 1998, the Anniversary Fund was created to support research projects in the field of economic sciences that are expected to produce results of interest and value for the City of Vienna and will stimulate the city’s economy.

Another key function of the Anniversary Fund is to strengthen and improve the flow of knowledge between the economic sciences, the Viennese economy, and the municipal government. The Network Meetings were introduced in 2017 to help achieve these ends in a way other than through project funding alone.

Current WU projects funded by the Anniversary Fund are presented at the Network Meeting. After the presentation, participants have the opportunity to discuss the current projects and possible future research topics with the project heads at a poster session.

Representatives of the City of Vienna and companies affiliated with the city are invited to attend the meeting, as well as members of the WU community interested in the results of the individual projects or who are planning to submit a project proposal for future funding.

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