Austrian Science Network: ‘Begegnungen’ (Embassy of Austria)

The Embassy of Austria in The Hague would like to invite everyone to participate to the second annual gathering of the Austrian Science Network in the Netherlands, which will take place on July 6.

The theme of this second edition is begenung, a German word meaning both ‘spontaneous encounter’ and ‘planned meeting’. The COVID-19 pandemic made it almost impossible to have physical ‘Begegnungen’ in the past year, a time during which numerous digital communication and collaboration tools and services have thrived. Certainly, without those devices and digital solutions our lives would have been even more restrained. Nevertheless, the most sophisticated tools fall short in their effort to set the truly human spirit of a ‘Begegnung’ free. The aim of this gathering is to facilitate encounters among scientists of various fields and artists. The true spirit of ‘Begegnungen’ will be kicked-off by a virtual meet-up experience, and held up by encouraging inspiring informal conversations held in small-group. A panel discussion will allow everyone to exchange thoughts in a fruitful way.

Place: virtual platform gather.town
Time: July 6, @ 19.00 

Programme: 

19:00 Reception in gather.town. Guests will login and create their ‘avatars’. Once logged in, guides will take the guests to the locations where spontaneous encounters will be possible. Helen Scarlett O’Neill, designer and curator, will orchestrate in her charming and creative way unpredictable and potentially transformative Begegnungen.

19:30 Welcome by the Austrian Ambassador to the Netherlands.

19:35 “The philosophy and architecture of encounter”, keynote speech by prof. Jacob Voorthuis.

20:00 Panel Discussion.

20:30 Official end, but gather.town stays open, and everyone is warmly invited to remain and talk with the other participants as long as they please. 

You can register for free for the gathering of the Science Network by filling this form.