WHAT’S NEW!? #19 - VILLACH IN OCTOBER 2022

The welcome2villach team collects the most important news from around Villach in a compact, monthly “News Story”, with links to more information. In October we’ll give you some tips on how to save electricity, report on the Women’s Conference and the Women’s Prize, introduce the culture tec lab, and are looking forward to amazing cultural events.

• Russia’s war against Ukraine has caused energy prices to skyrocket. The City of Villach has reacted quickly and wants to reduce its energy costs by around 20% over the next few months. The six point energy-saving plan is as follows:
  • reduce the heating temperature in city offices to 20 degrees C, and in the hallways to 12 degrees.
  • turn off the central hot water supply in City Hall
  • reduce outdoor spotlighting of public buildings and landmarks
  • shorten the operating times of the ice rink on Rathausplatz
  • shorten the duration of Advent season lights
  • shorten the lighting time of the Winter Wunder Wald in the park of the former Parkhotel
     
• The City has collected here a list of energy-saving tips that anyone can use at home.

• Villach’s Photovoltaic Campaign is approaching the hectare mark. The exemplary goal: By 2030, the largest possible share of roof space on city-owned buildings should be used for PV systems. The installed solar panels are already producing enough electricity to cover a year’s consumption by 300 single-family homes.
   
• Villach is leading the way and the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) are following suit. By 2025, the company will renovate 14 residential buildings in the city, all of which will be available exclusively to ÖBB employees. The repair and refurbishment of unattractive old buildings is the right way to help the strained housing market in the long term.
   
• Innovative ideas wanted: Every two years, the City of Villach awards the Youth Climate Protection Prize. Cool ideas are sought on the topics of renewable energy, energy efficiency, technological and social innovation, air pollution control, waste prevention and disposal, water pollution control and management, noise protection, nutrition, fair trade, transport and new mobility, nature conservation, environmental precautions, and environmental education and awareness raising. Anyone who is 18 years old or under when they submit their proposal, as well as groups and associations in which the majority of the members are 18 years olds or younger at the time of submission, can participate. Proposals can be submitted from October 3-23.
   
• Villach’s third Women’s Conference will take place on October 7 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. This conference, sponsored by Villach’s Frauenbüro, will offer women of all ages and in all phases of life well-informed answers to questions in the areas of work, health, and social affairs, all in one place.

• There will be detours on Mühlenweg due to construction work starting in the middle of October. Mühlenweg connects the districts of St. Martin and Untere Fellach and will be completely renovated.
   
• A competence center for the intersection of art and technology will be created in Dinzlschloss and will be called the culture tec lab. This contact point for modern, artistic-technical projects is an innovative step and has an enormous amount of potential. In concrete terms, this project is a cooperation of the City of Villach and Bernd Liepold-Mosser’s “Flying Opera”, with the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Klagenfurt. It is financially supported by the City of Villach, the Culture Department of the Province of Carinthia, and the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture. The “culture tec lab” in Villach is initially a three-year project.
   
• October in Villach also has a lot to offer culturally: Philharmonix - The Vienna Berlin Music Club will wow its audience on October 3 at the Congress Center, and you can get your tickets here. Theater for the youngest audiences (2 years old and up) is happening again on October 17 at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The dance theater with live music “Rund ums Eck” is a journey of discovery into the world of shapes. For kids aged four and up, “Waldrapp” comes to the Bambergsaal on October 20, and “Momo” will be performed for big kids 7 and up on October 18. All information about tickets and prices can be found here.