STaR Humanitarian Aid

“Hope is a verb with its shirtsleeves rolled up”(attributed to David Orr)

Our deepest sympathy goes to everyone affected by the ongoing humanitarian crises, whether personally, through family and friends, directly or indirectly.

To WU's faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have been dedicating their energy, skills, and time to humanitarian relief work - our sincere THANK YOU!

Refugee Talents: A research-informed guide

A brochure produced by WU’s Judith Kohlenberger (Institute for Social Policy), Milda Zilinskaite (STaR), and project assistant Teresa Riosa, in collaboration with Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) and Federation of Austrian Industries (IV). It presents research insights on refugee employment, dispels common misconceptions and provides useful tips for recruitment, onboarding and management of persons with refugee background. With quotations from scholars, humanitarian aid experts, and business leaders from Austria and abroad. English translation by Christopher Ross (WU).

To download the guide in German, click on the title: Refugee Talents: Leitfaden für Arbeitgeber/innen zur Unterstützung von Recruiting, Onboarding und Beschäftigung geflüchteter Mitarbeiter/innen
To download the guide in English, click on the title: Refugee Talents: Guidance for Employers recruiting, onboarding, and integrating Refugees into the workforce

Welcome to Vienna Brochure

Our dedicated student volunteers compiled a brochure with useful links and tips for refugees and asylum seekers in Vienna. The information [last updated summer 2022] was selected specifically for newcomers from Ukraine. However, much it of remains relevant also today, and we hope it will prove useful also for asylum seekers and international migrants from other countries.

Download the guide in English here
Download the guide in Ukrainian here
Download the guide in Russian here

Please share with anyone to whom these guides could be helpful!

viaGerman: free German lessons for Ukranian children

This initiative ran between April 2022 and December 2023, founded and led by WU (CEMS) alumnus Lukas Pichler, with support from STaR. The mission of ViaGerman was to create opportunities for refugee children. Over these two years, ViaGerman efforts added up to:

More than 600 hours of free German language lessons...
...for more than 150 Ukrainian children...
...taught by more than 40 volunteers, including but not limited to WU students, staff, and alumni, and
... the initiative also provided space for Ukrainian families in Vienna (mostly mothers and grandparents) to meet and connect during a critical time

In addition to the weekly German classes, the initiative included fun events for children and their families, like visiting the puppet theater, chocolate museum, playing soccer, and Ukrainian-Austrian food potluck at a summer celebration event.

https://viagerman.com

Learning German resources

A special thanks to STaR project assistant Teresa Riosa for compiling a spreadsheet of online platforms and other tools for learning German [last update summer 2022]. It includes:

Podcasts
Learning apps
Language exchanges where you can meet people and practice your German
Tutoring services

Click here: Learning German

Get involved!

Our team has compiled a carefully curated Google spreadsheet table with links to:

Volunteering & donations locally
Information platforms
Job search platforms

Click here: #How Can We All Help? [last updated summer 2022]

Volunteering at Caritas - a photographical testimony by STaR's Eva Maria Basantpreet

As WU employees, we all are allowed to take a special 2 day leave from work to engage in voluntary work at a recognized aid organizationhere in Austria. This is an enormous opportunity to contribute: please consider it!