Current activities

New series: the Charakterinitiative Deep Dives — first issue on what makes people happy

With the Charakterinitiative Deep Dives, the Austrian Character Initiative starts a series of research summaries for schools, school leaders, researchers and policy-makers. Each issue draws on the original publications, documents its sources completely and distinguishes between what is empirically established and what follows from it for educational practice — as a free PDF magazine in German, compiled and edited by Roland Bernhard and published under a Creative Commons licence.

The first issue, “Was macht Menschen glücklich? Fünf Wege zu einem gelingenden Leben”, presents the research of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University in 16 pages: the flourishing model with its six domains, the Global Flourishing Study with more than 200,000 participants in 22 countries, and the four pathways to a flourishing life — marriage and family, work, education and religious community — complemented by a fifth element, the continuing work on one’s own character. The conclusion sets out what this means for schools: relationships as a core pedagogical task, the deliberate cultivation of gratitude, hope, forgiveness and care, spaces for meaning and belonging, and respect for communal religious life as a resource. Further Deep Dives on different topics are in preparation. The series and the PDF →

New from 28 January 2027: “Making Others Great” — character‑based leadership for educators

In cooperation with the KPH Vienna/Lower Austria, the Autoris Leadership Institute’s master programme “Making Others Great” starts in German on 28 January 2027: ten live online sessions with Prof. Dr. Dr. Matthias Ehrhardt and Verena Lauffs, learning teams, three assessments, a certificate and a KPH micro-credential worth 3 ECTS. School leaders, teachers and educational leaders learn to lead development conversations, coach classes and teams and help people through setbacks — with the ACE it!® method and their own cases from school.

Booked through the KPH as a micro-credential, the special price for educators is € 1,800 including VAT until 30 November 2026 and € 2,200 thereafter; the access code is available on request via the contact form. All details and dates (in German) →

Character education and character-based leadership in practice: talk to more than 100 school leaders in Horn

At the invitation of Andrea Haas, Head of Education Region 1 in Lower Austria, Roland Bernhard spoke to more than 100 school leaders in Horn on 1 October 2026 about how character education and character-based leadership can be put into practice. The talk began with a shift in the OECD’s thinking: away from education framed by human capital theory and towards education for human flourishing. As defined in the Global Flourishing Study, flourishing is a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good — including physical and mental health, meaning, material security, close relationships and the steady growth of character. Research points to four main pathways: marriage, family and friendship; education; meaningful work; and religion and spirituality.

Personality and character are not fixed: they can be developed, and character education in schools is both possible and effective. Studies on the growth mindset suggest that young people who learn that people can grow and change become more resilient and less aggressive, experience less stress and do better at school. In schools, character is caught, taught and sought, as the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues puts it — through role models and school culture, through explicit teaching and through young people’s own striving. Aristotle’s four stages of character development and his insight that virtue lies in the mean between two extremes give teachers a practical framework.

The second part turned to character-based leadership. It starts with proactivity in Stephen R. Covey’s sense: between stimulus and response there is a space in which we choose our response — an idea Covey popularised and that is often attributed to Viktor Frankl. With reference to Jim Collins’s Good to Great, Becoming a Leader of Character by Dave Anderson and James L. Anderson, and Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog!, the talk then looked at the habits of good leaders and at courage and humility in leadership: leaders who say “we” rather than “I”, listen, ask for help, can say “I don’t know”, put the cause above themselves, admit mistakes, stay open to coaching and lead in a transformational way.

In the words of executive coach Matthias Ehrhardt (Autoris Leadership Institute, Boston), leading with character means making others great. Together with him and the Autoris Leadership Institute, plans are under way to train and certify many leaders in Austria in character-based leadership. The school leaders were also pointed to the free 30-day online course Leading with Character of the Oxford Character Project, built on research from the University of Oxford and Harvard University.

Finally, the school leaders learned about concrete offers for their schools:

• the free MOOC Character education for mental health on iMooX
• materials for hundreds of lessons in primary and early lower secondary school
• school development modules for resilience and character strengths
• leadership and coaching tools for school leaders
• the new university certificate course starting in February 2027
• interviews with school leaders in London and elsewhere in England who have greatly improved schools in very difficult circumstances through character-based leadership

Many thanks to Andrea Haas for the invitation.

Interview with Kathpress: “A school cannot not form character”

On the occasion of the Research Award of the State of Lower Austria, the Austrian Catholic news agency Kathpress interviewed Roland Bernhard about character education, the TEPACE findings, Lower Austria’s annual theme, human flourishing and the role of faith. Read the full interview in English → · Kathpress report on katholisch.at (in German) →

Research Award of the State of Lower Austria 2026 for research on character education

At the award ceremony in the Haus der Digitalisierung in Tulln on 29 September 2026, the State of Lower Austria honoured Roland Bernhard with its Research Award 2026 (Anerkennungspreis der Wissenschaftspreise des Landes Niederösterreich). The state has presented these awards since 1964; they are conferred by the state government on the recommendation of an expert advisory board. Submitted was a collection of research and practice-oriented work from the Austrian Character Initiative, with the European study TEPACE at its core — more than 10,000 parents and teachers surveyed in eight countries by a team of over 40 researchers from twelve countries. Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf presented the awards. Among the guests were Vice-Rector Andreas Weissenbäck (KPH Vienna/Lower Austria), Benedikt Michal (Catholic Schools Office of the Diocese of St. Pölten), Brigitte Schuckert (Education Directorate of Lower Austria) and many colleagues and partners. Warm congratulations to the fellow awardees Maria Ibáñez, Julia Mourão Permoser, the research group of Dea Slade, Johann Georg Danzl and Georg Gübitz. The short film produced by the State of Lower Austria introduces the work in one minute (in German). Report on noe.ORF.at → · Brochure of the State of Lower Austria (PDF) → · Interview with Kathpress →

The full story: the award, the evening in Tulln, photos and media coverage →

Short film (1:05) · Video: State of Lower Austria · YouTube

Leadership tools for school leaders — free to download

For Lower Austria’s annual theme “Leadership and Character Education”, the workbook for primary schools and leadership tools for school leaders are now available on the new page Character-Based Leadership in Schools — from courage and humility to research briefs on teaching quality, resilience and gratitude.

New university certificate course: character education for mental health

From February 2027, KPH Vienna/Lower Austria offers a one-semester online course (6 ECTS, taught in German) for teachers and school leaders — with Prof. Dr. Peter Stippl, Dr. Evelyn Kropfreiter and Verena Lauffs, in cooperation with the ÖBVP, the Autoris Leadership Institute and EULEAD. Registration until 1 January 2027. Course page →

“Making others great” — the sixth EULEAD Summerschool

Over 100 leaders from education, business and civil society came to Lilienfeld Abbey. Executive coach Prof. Matthias Ehrhardt (Boston) led the training on character-based leadership.

Annual theme 2026/27: Leadership and Character Education

At an event on the annual theme “Leadership and Character Education” for the school year 2026/27, Roland Bernhard spoke to leaders of Lower Austria’s school system — together with Education Director Karl Fritthum and representatives of the Education Directorate and the University of Teacher Education Lower Austria. Workbook and tools →

Global webinar on the Character Initiative

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.

Co-hosting the ECVA Conference 2026 in Trnava

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.

Character-based leadership at the Vienna Hofburg

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.

Doctorate completed: Evelyn Kropfreiter

Evelyn Kropfreiter completed her doctorate on Austrian secondary teachers' perspectives on values-oriented character education — supervised by Ulrike Greiner and Roland Bernhard. Congratulations!

Character-based leadership at csrTAG 2025

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.

KPH study day: “School development concerns us all”

The annual study day at Campus Wien-Strebersdorf opened with music and a panel on shared responsibility for school development.

School development counselling at the research day of the University of Teacher Education Vienna

Roland Bernhard, Michaela Waldherr and Peter Eckel presented findings on school-development counselling as a strategic support format for schools.

What psychotherapists advise schools — first findings

At the ECVA Conference 2025, Lena Cataldo-Schwarzl and Roland Bernhard presented first findings on how character education supports young people's mental wellbeing. Project page →

ECVA Conference 2025 in Vienna

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.

“Character education works!” — press conference and media echo

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.

Greeting from the President of the European Parliament

For the ECVA Conference 2025, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, sent a video greeting on character, education and Europe's future.

German translation of the Jubilee Centre Framework published

The official German translation of the Jubilee Centre’s Framework for Character Education in Schools was published — translated by Roland Bernhard and Jörg Schulte-Altedorneburg. Full text →

Character education in highly effective schools — talk in Oxford

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.

TEPACE: first comparative results presented in Oxford

Together with Martin Brestovanský (Trnava), Roland Bernhard presented first comparative results of the European TEPACE study on teachers' and parents' views on character education. TEPACE project page →

BildungsTV broadcasts the EULEAD 2024 lectures

BildungsTV published the lectures of the EULEAD Summerschool 2024, organised by KPH Vienna/Lower Austria under the direction of Roland Bernhard.

160 school leaders in the Weinviertel region

Talk on character education and mental health to 160 school leaders of education region 1 — followed by grateful feedback from the region.

KPH's first MOOC launched

Following strong demand for the CPD series on appreciative, character-friendly teaching techniques, the content became KPH's first massive open online course.

2nd Austrian Education Forum

Rector Ulrike Greiner and Roland Bernhard contributed to the 2nd Austrian Education Forum of the MEGA Education Foundation — 24 hours of exchange among decision-makers of the Austrian education system.

New paper: religiosity and mental health

With psychotherapist Peter Stippl, Roland Bernhard published a research-to-practice paper on the link between religiosity, resilience and young people's mental health.

EULEAD Summerschool 2024 at Lilienfeld Abbey

The Summerschool brought Austria's school leaders to Lilienfeld Abbey under the theme “Leadership for mental health, resilience and character strengths”.

Published with Oxford co-authors in School Effectiveness and School Improvement

With Tiarnach McDermott, Christina Hasenhüttl, Katharine Burn and Pam Sammons (University of Oxford), Roland Bernhard published in School Effectiveness and School Improvement: a focus on teaching quality increases students' progress.

Politeness: classroom materials for primary schools

New classroom materials help primary schools develop the character strength of politeness — part of the Character Initiative's growing library.

Book: “Sternstunden der Charakterstärken”

With Johannes Gasser, Roland Bernhard published a children's book of inspiring stories about twelve character strengths — created with the help of AI tools.

Study: gratitude and mental health

A new article examines the links between the character strength of gratitude and learners' mental health, with recommendations for school practice.

Journal of Moral Education: Austrian teachers on character education

Evelyn Kropfreiter, Roland Bernhard and Tiarnach McDermott published quantitative findings from the mixed-methods study on Austrian secondary teachers' views on character education.

TEPACE symposium organised in Rome

At the ECVA Conference in Rome, Roland Bernhard organised the international symposium of the TEPACE project — 23 contributors from eight countries. TEPACE project page →

Creating character-education materials with AI — talk in Rome

With Johannes Gasser, Roland Bernhard presented how AI tools can help create high-quality teaching materials for character education.

Edited volume: Character Education in Europe

“Character Education in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities” (McGraw-Hill) appeared, co-edited by Verónica Fernández, Tom Harrison, Kristján Kristjánsson and Roland Bernhard.

FWF project SQTE completed

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. Project page →

“Austria Challenge” at the Innovation Foundation for Education

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.

Long-term education strategies: Zukunftsdialog Bildung

On the conditions for London's extraordinary school improvement — followed by a panel with the education spokespeople of the parties in the Austrian Parliament.

Leadership Days Graz

Talk to around 40 school leaders on leadership in highly effective London schools and the role of instructional development in quality management.

540 teachers at the Day of Catholic Private Schools

At Melk Abbey, Roland Bernhard gave the main lecture to 540 teachers and school leaders on effective teaching and school development.

120 leaders at the Vienna Education Directorate

First “Pädagogisches Werkstattgespräch”: with Aron Marton and Cecilia Cadman, Roland Bernhard spoke to 120 principals and quality managers on teaching quality.

Very positive feedback for the classroom-management series

The five-part modular CPD series on effective classroom management concluded with very positive participant feedback.

New onboarding guide for schools

With Aron Marton and Doris Pfingstner (state-prize school Modulare Mittelstufe Aspern), Roland Bernhard published a practical onboarding guide for new teachers.