After months of planning and organising by the SAIAD committee, alongside the help from other students and the CISAD department, the Vienna trip was finally underway! On the 10th of May 2023, students from the IRPUB and ISAD courses travelled to Vienna for a university trip to visit several international organisations, namely the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the OPEC Fund, the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), and the UN. Over the 3 days the group was in Vienna, the students not only had the opportunity to visit the wonderful city and the beautiful and historical attractions it had to offer, but also to tour the organisations and attend lectures organised by members of each organisation on several subjects and topics. Below is an outline of each event and what the students were up to and experienced during their visits to the international organisations.
Day 1
Our group arrived in Vienna in the early afternoon and headed out into the city, ready to explore! Everyone was busy visiting various attractions, from the Freud Museum to the Gustav Klimt exhibition in the Belvedere Palace, as well as just walking around the city and taking everything in. Everyone later met up together to spend some time together and excitedly talk about the events of the next few days and what they were looking forward to the most.
Day 2
The day started early with the group heading out to the first organisation on the list – the ICMPD. After arriving at the organisation, the group was met by Slavka Zborovianova, who gave us a presentation about the organisation she was a part of – its history, its main purpose, goals, and mission, how it functioned and its structure. We were also able to learn about how many field missions were currently ongoing in the organisation – 80! – and fascinating past and future events that were organised by the organisation. After the first presentation, we were also able to learn more about the ICMPD Research Unit in a presentation from Daria, who gave us more insight into how the department was working towards Migration Policy and Research and responding to the demand for more policy relevant research.
After a quick break for lunch, where the students had more time to visit the city, the group headed to the next organisation - the OPEC Fund for International Development. The group was met by Baȿak Pamir who gave a presentation about the organisation – its history, structure, and main purpose – as well as providing us with more information about what it had been involved in with in the previous years – for example, in 2022, the OPEC Fund had invested US$1.5 billion commitments in 41 projects! We were also able to learn more about how the organisation was working in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and what it had in store for the future. Afterwards, we were also lucky to participate in a lecture with Mr. Said Taufik Ridha - the director of the Portfolio Management Unit - about the private sector within the organisation, as well as about how investments into development aid were changing due to changes in priorities, and how funding and bilateral and multilateral financing functioned within the organisation. We also had the opportunity to participate in a workshop with Mr. Ridha, which gave us even more insight into how the organisation worked.
The day ended with a wonderful group dinner after more sightseeing, where the group was able to chat and discuss what they had learned at each organisation, as well as have some fun!
Day 3
On the final day of the trip, the morning started with a visit the UN offices in Vienna. The group enjoyed a wonderful tour of the buildings and its conference rooms while learning more about the history of the organisation, what agencies of the UN were specifically based in the offices in Vienna, and how things functioned in the Vienna International Centre, where technically, the UN offices were in extraterritorial territory (meaning, we were technically not in Vienna anymore!). Afterwards, the group participated in a lecture with Martin Nesirky – the director of the UN Information Service – regarding the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, as well as the UN priorities for 2023: mobilising climate action, ending the war in Ukraine, and fighting inequality, all while striving to promote information integrity. Following this incredibly insightful visit and some lunch, the group headed onto the final organisation on their list, the OSCE.
At the organisation, the group was met by Florence Le Clezio, who gave a presentation on the organisation, covering its establishment and history, main purpose, and its structure – for example, the Chair of the organisation changes every year, and each year it is a different member state! We were also able to gain more insight into the 3 different dimensions – the politico-military, energy, and environmental, and human rights dimensions – with which the organisation based their work and operations on, as well as some of the challenges that they have had to face recently due to the ongoing war between two of its member states. On top of this, we were also able to learn about more specific examples of field work the organisation carried out in various member state countries, as well as other cross-dimensional activities that they had planned in the past, such as work with the youth and students like us!
Suddenly, the trip had come to a close and our group was on the bus on the way back to Kraków. Following the 3 intense days, packed full of visits, tours, lectures and sightseeing, our group was ready to get back home and fully take in everything they had learned, experienced and seen.
(written by Maja Sikora)
Student Submissions:
On the 11th of May, we had the opportunity to visit the OPEC Fund for Development. We not only participated in a lecture given by a senior communications officer of the Fund, but we also had the chance to walk through the steps of how to plan a power plant as a bankable development project with Director of Portfolio Management, Mr. Said Taufik Ridha. Apart from the very interesting and engaging workshop, we also had the pleasure to see the building where the OPEC Fund is located in the Kaiserstadt: the beautifully embellished palace of Archduke Wilhelm. Our little excursion also provided me the opportunity to spend some time in the vibrant city of Vienna - I visited a few exhibitions, but let me give here just one recommendation: if you have the chance, visit Klimt's Beethovenfries in the wonderful building of the Secession! And also, just walk around the city, and take in the picturesque architecture of the Austrian capital! – Júlia Vadler
For students who dream of launching careers in international relations, Vienna was the perfect destination for an academic trip. Refreshingly, it was a portal to the past and to the future: time travel awaited us. OPEC Fund for International Development’s office had the grandeur of a Duke’s home, which it actually was in the 19th century. UN’s Conference Hall hailed the monumental decisions that moved the world to where it is now. The pillars of Hofburg’s Palace evoked the OSCE steadfast values shared by peoples from Vancouver to Vladivostok: security, cooperation, and world peace. A trip to our own promising future were projected on the staff and officers we have met. We glimpsed a day in the life of an officer in the International Centre for Migration Policy Development. We tasted the spectrum of cuisines in the UN cafeteria. We were humbled by hardworking men and women representing the nations of the world. My fellow IR students and I felt a shared optimism that there is much work to be done and there may be a place for our voice to be part of the advocacies of ICMPD, OFID, OSCE, and the UN. This memorable experience strengthened the connections among our group and has indeed inspired us to become valuable contributors to international cooperation and development. – Alya Monina Rodriguez
We arrived to our last organization visit to OSCE office in Wien. We were warmly welcomed by Florence Le Clezio who kept interactive introductory lesson. In this lesson we received insight into how the OSCE has developed to be the organization it is today, what is the structure of it and how it operates. For example, this visit taught me about the most important charters OSCE is built on, what are OSCE’s Three Pillars and what are their main tasks providing security into the world. From this visit we also gained knowledge about possible internship possibilities in the organization. For me, this visit was one of the most interesting, considering OSCE is one of the largest international organizations solely focusing on security, the field I am studying! - Eeli Jämsä