Salzburg Global Seminar has been based at Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg,
since its beginnings in 1947 when it was loaned by the widow of Max Reinhardt,
the Schloss’s pre-WWII owner. In addition to its main programs, Salzburg Global
brings in many other partners to this inspiring idyll.
In 2012, Salzburg Global collaborated with the Salzburg-based art
collective “subnet” to host a series of talks with selected cultural
innovators from cities such as Vienna, Berlin, Bournemouth and
Athens. These monthly meetings were held deliberately small in size
in the inspiring atmosphere of the Schloss library to ensure a vibrant
exchange of ideas. Locals from Salzburg had the chance to discuss a
wide range of topics ranging from new technologies and social media
to arts and society. The lectures were videotaped for a larger audience
while the off the record conversations provided a safe space in which
new ideas could come to life.
Teach for Austria
With Walter Emberger
and Wendy Kopp, head
of Teach for Austria and
founder and CEO of Teach
for America and Teach for
All respectively, and both
Salzburg Global Fellows,
Schloss Leopoldskron and
Salzburg Global Seminar
were a fitting venue and
host for the graduation
celebrations of the first
two cohorts of Teach for Austria.
Teach for Austria (TfA) is a subsidiary of Teach for
All, a global network launched in 2007 to expand
educational opportunities and address educational
needs by enlisting future leaders in the effort, first in
classroom and later outside in the social enterprise and
policy spheres.
After a competitive and meticulous multi-staged
process and intense training, these new TfA teachers
will spend two years
helping provide equal
opportunities to socially
disadvantaged children
and youth in Salzburg
and Vienna. Speaking
at the graduation of the
f irst cohort, Salzburg
Global Vice President and
Chief Program Officer,
Clare Shine said: “Teach
for Austria and Salzburg
Global Seminar share a similar range of topics:
education, social mobility, global citizenship and social
entrepreneurship.
“But it is not just these two organizations – all of
you, who are now here at the Great Hall this evening,
are also passionately committed to education. We all
believe regardless of background or income, students
should have the same opportunities to move mountains
in the world.”
John Lennon
Educational Tour Bus
Salzburg Global Seminar was host to the
John Lennon Educational Tour Bus in August
2013 as part of its inaugural European tour.
Lennon Bus, which houses a state of the art
media studio, with instruments, cameras,
mixing desks, editing suites and recording
studios, has been touring the USA for 17 years
and the European enterprise launched in
Liverpool, England – home to the Beatles – in
May 2013. It not only provides young people,
often from underprivileged backgrounds, with
the opportunity to write, record and edit their
own music and film accompanying music
videos, but also brings with it the message of
peace that Lennon so famously sang about it
in his song “Imagine,” tying in serendipitously
with Salzburg Global’s June Board Meeting
theme that year: “Above Us Only Sky.”
Salzburg Global launched the partnership with
the Lennon Bus as part of a shared passion for
imagination, youth and education. Director of
Marketing and Communications, Thomas Biebl,
who arranged the visit, called it the perfect
complement to the Salzburg Global program.
Lennon Bus Director Brian Rothschild said it
was “fitting” that the Lennon Bus should stop at
Schloss Leopoldskron on its first tour of Europe.
“The mission of the bus and of the Salzburg
Global Seminar are congruent. It is impossible
for me as a Jew not to recollect the Nazi shadow
here, but this place is also witness to the
ultimate triumph of good over evil.” The bus
will return to Salzburg in 2014 as part of the
Young Cultural Innovators program.
