Austria: Diocese of Linz, single campus for Catholic universities and academic and educational institutions

The Diocese of Linz is to consider whether the tertiary educational institutions it runs can be grouped together under one seat, that of the Salesianumweg College. “A joint campus for education and science would reduce maintenance and operational costs, and would be more attractive to students, with a more dynamic research and teaching”, the Vicar Bishop, Johann Hintermaier, said in a press statement today. The building of the University of Education of the Diocese of Linz (PHDL), where some 1,500 future teachers study, needs both a technical overhaul and to be made more energy efficient with green energy. A European call for papers will be published in February 2023 for a design contest, and the winner will be announced by the autumn. Works are expected to start in 2026. The Salesianumweg campus is already home not only to the PHDL but also to the School for Social Care Professions (SOB) and to the College of Social Education (SPK). The libraries of the Master’s School and of the Catholic Private University have already been united into the diocesan library. A further expansion to include the Conservatory of Sacred Music and the Catholic Private University of Linz (KU Linz) is being considered. If all of these educational institutions were merged into one campus, they would nonetheless remain independent and would be managed and funded separately, Mgr. Hintermaier explained. The Diocese of Linz sees the modernisation of the PHDL and the consequent increase in attractiveness as a “major contribution to countering the serious shortage of teachers and experts in the social and socio-educational fields”. The cost is estimated at about €70 million. It will be shared by the Diocese, Upper Austria, and the Austrian Federal Government.
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