Prof. (FH) Doris Böhler, MA

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University of Applied Sciences Vorarlberg, Austria

Prof. (FH) Doris Böhler, MA What is the first thing that comes to my mind when someone says ERIS?
Ostrava (smiling).
ERIS is linked to Ostrava for me, because when I studied social work myself we cooperated with Ostrava and so I knew Oldřich and Alice. I knew them already before I actually joined ERIS as an associate member. So the first thing that comes to my mind are the people.
The second thing which I find very important is that the network is frequent enough. We meet twice a year - once at a special ERIS conference and then at our Spring School - and this regularity of meeting each other and working together supports cooperation and connection. If I go to the ERIS conferences on my own it doesn't matter whether it is Finland or Germany because I always meet people I already know - and that is very nice.

What in my opinion makes ERIS unique?
The major point for me is the regularity of meetings and people knowing each other. Also there is a major focus on different European countries and it's not dominated by English-speaking countries, but there's actually a sort of compassion - by that I mean it doesn't really matter how you speak or how long you take to address something. People are welcomed to participate and I really like that atmosphere. I think it is important for Europe. That is especially unique with ERIS.

How has ERIS changed or influenced my life? Is there anything I have learned thanks to ERIS?
Well I am focused on intercultural social work and I teach diverse seminars about intercultural aspects for different nationalities. This also involves reflecting on how practice and social work teaching is done in different countries. And when I teach my seminars in Austria I can bring in examples from ERIS conferences and also from my European colleagues who are doing projects in diverse areas of social work. So it definitely adds to my knowledge base, making it more international.


Updated: 18. 11. 2022