Learning about PAR in the Austrian Alps

Article and photos by : Katharina Streicher and Malena Teufelhart

The Participatory Action Research Summer Camp, organised by the Bertha von Suttner Privatuniversität St. Pölten, took place in June 2026 in the Austrian Alps. Together with other PhDs, Master students, activists and community researchers we spent 8 days exploring and experiencing PAR.

We were welcomed at the Waldhüttl in Innsbruck, Austria, a place linked to resistance during the second world war and currently hosting people experiencing homelessness, poverty and/or being Soma/nja, asylumseekers (https://www.waldhuettl.at/).

Embedded in this lively setting where you can hear roosters crowing in the morning, geese honking during the day, and escape to the shade of a large vegetable garden in the afternoon, a community has formed within a week.

This happened while we went on walks, cooked together, engaged in theatre play, created a zine, journaled, discussed, did yoga, drew, cleaned up, exchanged poets and academic resources, presented our projects and enjoyed pizza and ice cream.

A special highlight was learning from the researchers and co-researchers of two realised PAR projects, one in the Czech Republic and one in Sweden. They shared their experiences in creating these special relationships, the obstacles and ethical dilemmas they faced, the impact their projects had and invited us to reflect on our own decisions.

We left after this week with new connections, new discomforts, new insights and new questions which we will bring back to Denmark and France where they will enrich our PhD projects and provide new insights.