Austrian Commission for UNESCO
President of the Austrian Commission for UNESCO is Ambassador, rtd. Eva Nowotny (since 2009). Vice-Presidents are Wolfgang Waldner and Manfred Nowak.
The Austrian Commission for UNESCO has as its members the federal government, the state governments, KulturKontakt Austria, four institutions (European University Center for Peace Studies, Österreichisches Studienzentrum für Frieden und Konfliktlösung, Umweltdachverband, Infoterm) and persons active within UNESCO. The General Assembly is held once a year.
The Board meets four times a year as a rule. It is made up of the President, Vice-President, representatives of the ministries involved, one representative of the state governments and of KulturKontakt Austria, and the chairpersons of the advisory panels.
The Secretariat of the Austrian Commission for UNESCO comprises Gabriele Eschig (Secretary General), Mona Mairitsch (Deputy Secretary-General and Programme Specialist for Culture and Communication/Information),Therese Wintersteiner (Programme Specialist for Education and Science), Eva Trötzmüller (Public Relations) and Martina Mertl (Secretariat).
Friederike Koppensteiner is the coordinator for the Austrian UNESCO Schools.
2006, the National Agency for the Intangible Cultural Heritage was set up, which is headed by Maria Walcher and Eva Stiermayr.
Furthermore in 2010 the Point of Contact for the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was established within the Commission and is headed by Yvonne Gimpel.
Since January 2007, the Austrian Commission for UNESCO has been offering two internships on an ongoing basis.
The Commission’s structure provides for the establishment of advisory panels and working groups with a view to drawing on the expertise of its members. At present, six advisory panels have been set up: