Moosburg, Carinthia, Austria

Moosburg with its some 4,500 residents is located in an attrctive landscape in central Carinthia close to the lake Wörthersee. The provincial capital Klagenfurt and the cities Villach and Feldkirchen are only a few minutes away.

In the beginning of the 1990s, Moosburg was an inconspicuous municipality without a special profile. Its appearance was unattractive, the infrastructure badly constructed. The municipality was close to becoming a dead location for commuters.

However, committed citizens and decision makers became aware of the situation and started a process in 1991, which invited the entire population to take part in the thinking and bulding process. A local and region development concept was developed. On this base, also the Agenda 21-process took place and in 2003, a guiding concept was established in the municipal council. An-other milestone was the very successful participation in the audit “Family-friendly municipality”: Moosburg is considered the most family-friendly municipality in Austria.

An essential step was the development into an educational municipality – centerpiece of which was the establishment of a local education campus. Moosburg only had 85 child care spots, but today there are 230 spots in child care institutions, kindergartens, a special kindergarten and a day care-center. By establishing these institutions, 23 new jobs were created. All care and education institutions have a common curriculum and work closely together. The scientific aspects of education are handled by the Alpe-Adria-University Klagenfurt, which helped improve its quality. By establishing specially equipped classes, children with a higher need for assistance can be taught individually and still be integrated in the normal class. The collaboration with the SOS Children’s Village located in Moosburg also profits from this.

Moosburg is founding member of the Future Villages Austria, which put the main focus on a high quality of life. The collaboration with municipalities in other European countries boosts the development process even further. For example, Moosburg hosted a three-day-long European Education Conference, which is not a usual thing to do for such a relatively small municipality.

Moosburg also participates in the e5 program. The municipality’s lighting was exchanged with LED lights, large parts of Moosburg are heated with district heating. This did not only lead to better air quality, but it also allowed for the added value to remain within the region. The project “Go Mobil” provides more mobility for the population: the Go Mobil picks up citizens at home and takes them to their destination – an offer that improves especially the life quality of elderly citizens.

The newly established CoWorking Space at the market place offers workspace and good technical equipment at a low price and allows the population of the municipality and region to take a step towards self-employment.

Due to its clearly structured development process and the implementation of many extraordinarily innovative projects, Moosburg has gone through an amazing development since the beginning of the 1990s. Basis for this success was the great commitment of the municipality’s responsible who trusted the advice of experts and the intense contribution of the population.

Evaluated: 2014