ETH Foundation and ETH Alumni Chapter Wien at NZZ Podium Europa Wien – «Migration»

ETH Foundation invited the ETH Alumni Chapter Vienna

Andrea Müller (ETH Foundation) has invited members of the ETH Alumni Chapter in Vienna to join the NZZ Podium in Vienna, on November 27th in the Viennese «Museumsquartier».
The NZZ Podium is a format by the Swiss newspaper NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), hosted in many European cities and addressing different, mostly social, topics.

Wasn’t migration always part of the human history?

Today`s topic was all about «migration». Swiss screenwriter Charles Lewinsky opened the event with an introductory speech around the topic “migration”. He challenged politicians and the media around the world with the stigmatised language some are using when talking about migration. What exactly is “migration”, which has always been part of the human history? And, “would Arnold Schwarzenegger have become a star, if he had stayed in Thal bei Graz?”.
The audience was invited to follow Charles Lewinsky`s thoughts, who finally opened the panel discussion with some provocative comments.
The opening speech can be found external page here.

Top-class panel setup

The subsequent panel discussion was facilitated by NZZ, and included Wolfgang Peschorn (Austrian interior minister), Michael Ludwig (major and governor of the city of Vienna), Sepp Schellhorn (member of the national council) and Deborah Sengl (artist).
Around 200 people, including 6 ETH Alumni members, joined the evening and were part of a very fruitful discussion around migration and the societal and political challenges we are facing at the present time.

Proof of Concept

The event was a good chance for the Alumni chapter in Vienna to be part of a well-organised, qualitative event, and to meet fellow ETH alumni. For a small chapter, it is more challenging to organise such events – further collaboration with the ETH Foundation and NZZ Podium could definitely be an example for the future.