Autriche

Aim is the international cooperation, the meetings of people from different countries in spirit of the peace and the reconciliation.
In our municipality live 20% of Muslims (mostly from Turkey). For the meeting of the religions the peace bell is a special place of the tolerance and the respect.

The organisation aims to support social, economic and ecological sustainability in Europe and also developing countries all over the world. In the centre of our activity stands the desegregation of politics, society and economy with youngsters in the global context and the step in to an open dialogue and a generation of valuable common strategies for the present and the future. As our major task we see the interlinking and consultation of youngsters in connection with international, multicultural events and EU projects to promote awareness in the direction of tolerance, EU citizenship and cultural diversity with the generation of tomorrow. The main objective of the association is the interlinking of single organisations and individuals, above all youngsters, around subjects like sustainability and social entrepreneurship in order to give space to innovation & creativity and to allow a cultural exchange.

The Graz Bureau for Peace and Development, also known as the “Graz Peace Centre”, is a communally sponsored service for the promotion of peace-oriented thinking. It is a one-of-a-kind undertaking in German speaking countries, probably in all of Europe as well. The city municipality, backed by all of its political parties, has committed itself to continual and systematic engagement in the areas of peace, development, tolerance, reconciliation and human right protection. In doing so, Graz has made education and project work in these areas a matter of its own political and municipal concern.
Since 1988 the city of Graz has supported the Peace Centre through financial means and personnel. At the same time, however, the centre is given complete freedom in terms of its programming, organisation and administration.
Areas of Work:
1. Educational and informational work: Based on current issues or general topics such as identity, violent group dynamics, violence and media etc., the centre’s systematic educational and information work is especially geared towards educator training programs, universities as well as work in classrooms.
2. Networking: The Peace Centre is also a “switchboard” of sorts for the activities of the many organisations working in the area of peace and development policy. Through representation in the centre’s advisory board, over 40 such organisations are using our network for the coordination and improved efficiency of their work.
3. Active Programmes for communal peace: The Peace Centre has carried out several projects on various peace issues (peace talks on the Balkans, interreligious dialogues, non-alignment policy, anti-racism …), but has concentrated on concrete communal peace work in the last years.

The nowadays association started in 1949 as a co-operation programme of protestant youth organizations in Austria, Ger¬many and the USA (nowadays „International Cultural Youth Exchan¬ge“/ICYE). In 1970, the ICYE Austria  became an independent association. In 2001, it was renamed into “Grenzenlos – Inter-Cultural Exchanges”.
Between 1997 and 2001, the association started various new programme co-operations – such as the European Voluntary Service (EVS), the co-operation with the Alliance network and the Youth Action for Peace movement (YAP), as well as many bilateral partnerships.
In 2001, Grenzenlos opened its sending programmes for all generations, and also for short-time volunteers.  On the hosting side, Grenzenlos joined the international camp movement in 2003 and started its medium-term hosting programme for foreign volunteers in Austria in 2006 (“Experience Austria”).
In order to promote and develop Grenzenlos’ inclusion approach, Grenzenlos co-ordinated an international back¬up and trainings structure for inclusion trainers (“All Inclusive”, see www.allinclusiveproject.org) from 2005 to 2008. All international camps hosted by Grenzenlos include participants with special needs.
In 2009, Grenzenlos decided to give a high priority on the development of domestic programs, promoting a more harmonious relationship between Austrian citizens and immigrants. The result is a mentorship programme for immigrants to Vienna, and anti-racist awareness workshops for schools.
Since 2010, more EU programmes have become part of the Grenzenlos activities – so Grundtvig 50+;  Leonardo da Vinci student mobility and projects in cooperation with the European Youth foundation.