Updated Dec 06, 2022 | 11:31
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Occupation of a classroom at the University of Vienna in November
Photo: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER
DClassroom occupancies at universities are increasing. Since Monday night, students have also occupied the auditorium of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Since mid-November, smaller groups of climate activists from the “Erde brennt” group have occupied classrooms at the universities of Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck and at the Academy of Fine Arts. A radical change in climate, social and educational policy is needed.
With the occupation, Angewandte students also stand in solidarity with the “Erde Brennt” movement, the international movement “End of the Fossil: Occupy!” and the protests in Iran and Afghanistan. They also make specific university requirements. From Angewandte, which describes itself as “University for the Future”, they demand transparency about concrete steps towards climate neutrality by 2030, democratic teaching formats and disclosure and renegotiation of the university’s financial dependencies on “anti-future corporations”.
“We are taking advantage of this space so that we, as students, can meet, network and discuss demands inside and outside the university. In order not to faint in isolation, it is important that we organize and fight against the continuous colonial and imperial exploitation of land , people and ecosystems”, argue the squatters. The first item on the agenda is the lecture “Lectures for the Future” by Ulrich Brand, a university professor of international politics, who, according to the activists, supports their claims.
Only on Monday did the occupants of the University of Vienna confirm that they would continue and want to continue their protest even after a possible eviction from the C1 lecture hall at the University of Vienna.