About us

Actions

The Cardijn Verein:

• organises seminars on themes related to theology, work and economy
• ffers training for those working locally with people facing bad working or living conditions, unemployment, marginalisation....
• publishes material which supports Christian critique and action on economic and social issues
• provides a space for ecumenical networking and initiatives
• hares resources for liberating and transformative theology, related to practice

Basis

The Cardijn Verein is:

• Independent and invites individuals, churches, ecumenical groups and others in agreement with its aims to join
• Ecumenical, drawing on different sources and keeping the spirit of working for change in the direction of justice, participation and sustainability
• Committed to the core ideas of Josef Cardijn, meaning to have an emphasis on human dignity and value and to support participation in action for change

Organisation

The association was founded in 2011 in Austria, and is international in scope. The small voluntary executive is elected by a biennial meeting of the members. If you want to read the constitution, you can downloaded here:

Membership

The Information Leaflet about the Association can be downloaded here:

If you or your organisation are interested to join or to know more, please contact the Association! Membership is simply by filling an application form and paying a small member fee. The Association is funded by voluntary donations and external support for specific projects. The member fee is 20€ per annum for individuals and by negotiation for organisations.

Bank details can be downloaded here:

Background

Austria

The ‘Cardijn Verein’ grew out of two former Austrian associations, one which developed the original ‘Betriebsseminar’, a training house for industrial mission and the other, an association which promoted the ideas of Josef Cardijn, founder of the Christian Workers’ Movement. It is rooted in the strong presence of industrial mission in Upper Austria and in international ecumenical engagement with economic and social issues.

International

The Association builds on the experience of two former European ecumenical networks, the European Contact Group (ecg) and the Work and Economy Network in the European Churches (WEN). These networks agreed with the Austrian partners to found the new Association.