International Liaison Offices of the City of Vienna, WH Digital GmbH - Eurocomm-PR

Activity range

WH-Digital GmbH - Eurocomm-PR supports the City of Vienna in its communication with the cities it engages in dialogue with and ensures a fast information flow and short communication paths. Depending on the task at hand, Eurocomm-PR acts as a door opener, networker or impulse provider for the City of Vienna and Vienna's business and academic sectors.

For many years, the nine International Liaison Offices of the City of Vienna in Belgrade, Berlin, Budapest, Krakow, Ljubljana, Prague, Sarajevo, Sofia and Zagreb (Bratislava is covered by the Vienna headquarters) have been in continuous interaction with authorities, media and political players of this city network and in this way ensure efficient cross-border knowledge management. Person-to-person contacts with local decision-makers also yield early information about planned projects. The City of Vienna and Vienna's economy benefit from this information advantage. In addition, Eurocomm-PR provides assistance to expert and media delegations and political representatives from the dialogue cities during their visits to the Austrian capital and supplies them with information about current projects and issues of interest for the City of Vienna.

Moreover, the International Liaison Offices provide local decision-makers with the opportunity of contacting the City of Vienna in their respective mother tongues, with MA 27 - European affairs assuming the role of contracting authority on behalf of the City of Vienna.

The International Liaison Offices communicate the core competences of the City of Vienna in such fields as Smart City, services of general interest, social affairs, economy, science, digitalisation and environmental protection - all prerequisites for outstanding urban quality of life.

Thematic orientation

Core competences of the City of Vienna: Environment, social values, sustainability, smart urban design, science and services of general interest

Background

Both geographically and as a historically evolved metropolis, Vienna is a hub at the heart of Europe and assumes a position of responsibility in the Central and South-eastern European region. The Vienna City Administration availed itself of this fact and already in 1996 initiated networking activities with capital cities in Eastern Europe.

Objectives

• Positioning of Vienna
• Co-operation between cities
• Economic and academic contacts
• Know-how transfer
• Political networking

Target groups

• Vienna City Administration and external units
• Municipal administrations, media representatives, opinion leaders in the respective cities, enterprises

Importance for Vienna

The Vienna City Administration co-operates closely with its neighbouring cities, e.g. in the fields of urban development, social housing, energy supply and efficient energy use, water supply, public transport, education and culture as well as future-oriented Smart City strategies. This co-operation also enables the cities to find ways of positioning themselves jointly and to co-ordinate the representation of their interests.