Human Rights & the City Walk

This walk looks at how human rights and the city connect. It is a reminder that there are many ways of exploring Wien. We will look at equality, housing, refugees, feminism, dignity, homelessness, democracy, gender, the UN, ecology and transparency. With each of these areas, we will assess the strengths and weaknesses of Vienna's city government. Our walk goes from Haus Des Meeres Zoo to Habibi & Hawara.

With Vienna one of only four cities worldwide hosting the United Nations, and therefore with thousands of diplomats operating here, there is a special focus on this subject. Indeed the City of Vienna even has its own human rights commissioner, Shams Asadi, originally herself a refugee from Iran. This is a city which cares a lot about such details, and has pioneered several ideas, including gender mainstreaming. At the same time, the UN declaration of human rights, in 1948, was a direct reaction to the second world war, which Austria helped to provoke.

This walk forms part of Vienna Walking Week, where we attempt to show how exotic your home town can seem, when understood from new perspectives. We want to show that residents do not need to leave their home to experience difference, joy and ways to refresh their thoughts - the reason people most often give for travelling abroad, which is increasingly unsustainable.

Meeting point: Climbing frame on Haus des Meeres, Esterhazypark, 1060 (U3 Neubaugasse)

Duration: 2 hours, 15 mins

Date: 27 July, 18-20:15. We walk in every weather.

Freestyle FreedomFighter Fremdenführer: Eugene

Cost contribution: €10, or €50 for all 14 walks. Children 14 or under go free. No reservation is possible - just get a card on the day. No walk is ever sold out, so don't worry about not getting a place on the walk.

Fidelia Gartner (TU Wien Raumplanung/ISRA) and Lisa Fuchs (Max Planck Institute) finely translated these pages into German, added ideas, and helped select the images. Thanks to them for their valuable input.

Wir freuen uns sehr über die finanzielle Unterstützung der Wirtschaftsagentur Wien und über die Förderung von Wien Tourismus, der Mobilitätsagentur und diversen Mediengruppen. Außerdem sind wir stolz, dass wir in die Initiative Reparatur der Zukunft aufgenommen wurden, eine Kooperation von Ö1, Forum Alpbach, Ars Electronica und Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien.