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Topics
backTopicsOur programs create spaces where open-minded leaders can gather for breakthrough conversations on pressing global issues – each aligned to one of the following pillars:
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Events
backEventsExplore the variety of events Salzburg Global hosts within Austria and in the rest of the world. Learn more about our programs and what else happens at Schloss Leopoldskron.Upcoming EventsDec 01 - Dec 06, 2025Peace & JusticeAdvancing Youth Safety and Justice: Transformative Policies, Community Solutions, and Accountable PracticesGlobal Innovations on Youth Violence, Safety and JusticeDec 08 - Dec 13, 2025EducationSkills for Tomorrow: Building the Next Generation of Vocational LearningEducation for Tomorrow's World
- Insights
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Fellowship
backFellowshipSince 1947, more than 40,000 people from over 170 countries have participated in Salzburg Global's sessions. Collectively, these alumni are known as Salzburg Global Fellows.
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About Us
backAbout UsSalzburg Global is an independent, non-profit organization committed to creating spaces that overcome barriers and open up a world of better possibilities.Our Approach
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Support Us
backSupport UsYour generosity helps us gather open-minded leaders for breakthrough conversations, while creating space for dialogue that overcomes barriers and opens up a world of better possibilities.
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Our History
Tracing Our Unusual Roots and Global Events Shaped by Our Sessions
Tracing Our Unusual Roots
We've been doing things differently since 1947. Back then, a group of three Harvard students - including an Austrian refugee - had a bold idea. Their names were Scott Elledge, Richard “Dick” Campbell, and Clemens Heller.
They wanted to launch a center for dialogue and reconciliation in the heart of Europe, to push past barriers, and recover a sense of shared humanity in the aftermath of World War II.
Our first session brought together over 100 young Europeans and Americans - including survivors of concentration camps, veterans of resistance movements, prisoners of war, and former enemies.
They met at Schloss Leopoldskron, an Austrian palace that had been occupied by the Nazis, in a country that was still under Allied military control.
Together, they wrestled with how diverse and fractured groups of people could come together and begin to create the conditions for peace in the aftermath of war.
Today, our mission carries that same founding spirit: To overcome barriers and open up a world of better possibilities.
Global Events Shaped by Our Sessions
Conversations and connections that take place at Salzburg Global have had a direct impact on key moments in history. Here are some world events that our sessions have helped shape.
Global AIDS Crisis (1988)
We hosted the first global AIDS research gathering of its kind. Still influential today, the resulting practical approaches tackled socioeconomic, educational, and ethical issues surrounding the medical crisis.
Education Reform in South Africa (1996)
Our work examining the National Commission on Higher Education report was instrumental in redesigning higher education systems in post-apartheid South Africa.
The Good Friday Agreement (1998)
A conversation by the fireplace at Schloss Leopoldskron between leaders of warring factions helped build a relationship that shaped Northern Ireland's historic Good Friday Agreement.
The Launch of "One Health" (2008)
Our 2008 sessions laid the foundations for the “One Health” approach to human and animal health. Now adopted by the World Health Organization and UNEP, this was expanded in 2018 into the development of an “early warning system” used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Park City Movement (2016)
In 2016, we began working with the National Park City Foundation to start a movement that rethinks how cities can better connect people with nature. This has so far led to London, Adelaide, and Chattanooga becoming the world's first National Park Cities.
Through The Years
A timeline documenting important events in Salzburg Global's history, highlighting the different ways in which the organization's work has evolved and expanded.
12 Vignettes in 75 Years
A “harvest” of moments curated by Timothy W. Ryback, former Vice President and Resident Director of Salzburg Global, for the organization's 75th anniversary
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