Leoben's current mission statement envisions the cultural, economic, ecological and social development of the city. With "Lust auf Le(o)benskultur", Leoben has now given itself a cultural concept that responds to current social challenges and takes this vision an important step towards realisation. A press conference was held in Leoben on 11 January 2024, at which the core team of the process development presented the concept paper (in German).
The University of Leoben and a long tradition in mining and metallurgy, and with Voestalpine in the iron and steel industry, characterise the business location of Leoben with its approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The city already offers important cultural activities, which are mainly realised at the locations of the traditional city theatre, the Live Congress, the KulturQuartier with library and museum, the music and art school and some free spaces.
Depending on the season, there are lively festival and open air activities. Although the existing offer already makes Leoben a cultural centre of the region, there are significant development options, the realisation of which is linked both to outstanding lighthouse projects and to an effective concept of supra-regional cultural public relations. Structural measures and further artistic genres and formats are also to be included in future further developments. In addition, the settlement of a new production site of the AT&S company in Leoben has resulted in a need for employees who live and work in the city and are to move in from outside.
The challenge now is, on the one hand, to take into account the cultural interests of the new citizens and to make living in Leoben attractive for this group in order to attract highly qualified workers to the city, but also to make Leoben more interesting for young people in general. Overall, it is important to take into account that the cultural interests of many Leoben residents have changed in recent years due to transformation processes, be it digitalisation or pandemic-related changes in behaviour. The public no longer uses all cultural offers as it did before the pandemic, in particular there is a lack of subscribers to classical offers. At the same time, it is important to make Leoben more visible beyond the region in terms of culture.
In the course of the development process, working sessions in the core team and focus groups on topics of e.g. cultural infrastructure, cooperation with existing highlights, own formats and lighthouse projects, marketing and communication as well as target group-oriented offers (children and young people, etc.) take place with relevant stakeholders. The results of the aforementioned steps will be incorporated into the final concept paper, which will then be discussed with the municipality, stakeholders and funding bodies.
Duration: February 2023 – January 2024
Client: City of Leoben - Citizen Communication & Culture
Contact: aron.weigl(at)educult.at
Concept "Lust auf Le(o)benskultur" (in German)Press release "Lust auf Le(o)benskultur", 24.01.2024 (in German)
Cultural Heritage and Sustainability