News
Talks, projects, publications and encounters — continuously updated.
Over 100 leaders from education, business and civil society came to Lilienfeld Abbey — for the first time with a registration cap. Executive coach Prof. Matthias Ehrhardt (Boston) led the training on character-based leadership.
More than 80 researchers and educators from four continents joined the talk “The Austrian Character Initiative and Three Pressing Frontiers” in the international Flourishing Student series.
KPH Vienna/Lower Austria co-hosts “Bridging the Knowledge–Action Gap in Character Development” — with two accepted papers on service learning and on mentoring, practical wisdom and character leadership.
At the Austrian IT & Consultants Day, Roland Bernhard spoke on “With character to business performance” — character-based leadership as a key to trust and results.
Evelyn Kropfreiter completed her doctorate on Austrian secondary teachers' perspectives on values-oriented character education — supervised by Ulrike Greiner and Roland Bernhard. Congratulations!
Invited by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Roland Bernhard led a workshop for CEOs and CSR officers — from current research on character to practical application in companies.
The annual study day at Campus Wien-Strebersdorf opened with music and a panel on shared responsibility for school development.
Roland Bernhard, Michaela Waldherr and Peter Eckel presented findings on school-development counselling as a strategic support format for schools.
At the ECVA Conference 2025, Lena Cataldo-Schwarzl and Roland Bernhard presented first findings on how character education supports young people's mental wellbeing.
130 researchers, educators and policymakers from 23 countries explored “What makes a life of flourishing?” — opened by a video greeting from Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament.
At the Concordia Press Club, the Character Initiative presented evidence on how character development strengthens mental health and improves learning — covered by ORF, Kurier, Tiroler Tageszeitung, Die Furche and many others.
For the ECVA Conference 2025, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, sent a video greeting on character, education and Europe's future.
The official German translation of the internationally acclaimed Framework for Character Education in Schools was published — translated by Roland Bernhard and Jörg Schulte-Altedorneburg.
At the 13th annual conference of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at Oriel College, Oxford, Roland Bernhard spoke on school leadership and character in highly effective English schools.
Together with Martin Brestovanský (Trnava), Roland Bernhard presented first comparative results of the European TEPACE study on teachers' and parents' views on character education.
BildungsTV published the lectures of the EULEAD Summerschool 2024, organised by KPH Vienna/Lower Austria under the direction of Roland Bernhard.
Talk on character education and mental health to 160 school leaders of education region 1 — followed by remarkably grateful feedback.
Following strong demand for the CPD series on appreciative, character-friendly teaching techniques, the content became KPH's first massive open online course.
Rector Ulrike Greiner and Roland Bernhard contributed to the 2nd Austrian Education Forum of the MEGA Bildungsstiftung — 24 hours of exchange among decision-makers of the Austrian education system.
With psychotherapist Peter Stippl, Roland Bernhard published a research-to-practice paper on the link between religiosity, resilience and young people's mental health.
The Summerschool brought Austria's school leaders to Lilienfeld Abbey under the theme “Leadership for mental health, resilience and character strengths”.
With Christina Hasenhüttl and colleagues from the University of Oxford, Roland Bernhard published in School Effectiveness and School Improvement: a focus on teaching quality increases students' progress.
New classroom materials help primary schools develop the character strength of politeness — part of the Character Initiative's growing library.
With Johannes Gasser, Roland Bernhard published a children's book of inspiring stories about twelve character strengths — created with the help of AI tools.
A new article examines the links between the character strength of gratitude and learners' mental health, with recommendations for school practice.
Evelyn Kropfreiter, Roland Bernhard and Tiarnach McDermott published quantitative findings from the mixed-methods study on Austrian secondary teachers' views on character education.
At the ECVA Conference in Rome, Roland Bernhard organised the international symposium of the TEPACE project — 23 contributors from eight countries.
With Johannes Gasser, Roland Bernhard presented how AI tools can help create high-quality teaching materials for character education.
“Character Education in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities” (McGraw-Hill) appeared, co-edited by Verónica Fernández, Tom Harrison, Kristján Kristjánsson and Roland Bernhard.
The Austrian Science Fund project School Quality and Teacher Education concluded — with an overview of its outputs and key findings on rapid school improvement in England.
Talk to the scientific advisory board of the Austrian Innovation Foundation for Education on compensating social disadvantage through school development modelled on the London Challenge.
On the conditions for London's extraordinary school improvement — followed by a panel with the education spokespeople of the parties in the Austrian Parliament.
Talk to around 40 school leaders on leadership in highly effective London schools and the role of instructional development in quality management.
At Melk Abbey, Roland Bernhard gave the main lecture to 540 teachers and school leaders on effective teaching and school development.
First “Pädagogisches Werkstattgespräch”: with Aron Marton and Cecilia Cadman, Roland Bernhard spoke to 120 principals and quality managers on teaching quality.
The five-part modular CPD series on effective classroom management concluded with outstanding participant feedback.
With Aron Marton and Doris Pfingstner (state-prize school Modulare Mittelstufe Aspern), Roland Bernhard published a practical onboarding guide for new teachers.
Activities before 2024: see the press review and the news of the Centre for School Development at KPH.