youth - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2012 - 62 Euro Cent

Integration is a societal task that affects everyone equally. Adults as well as teenagers and children, with which we would be equal to the keyword: the youth. Exactly from their point of view, the complex topic of integration in the present special issue is examined. The special thing about it: The new stamp is not only, especially for the youth, but also of the youth - the design of the brand image should, according to the idea, be done by the children themselves. For this reason, the Austrian Post AG and the Association of Austrian Philatelic Society (VÖPh) organized a corresponding creative competition in which children and young people of all ages were invited to grapple with the subject in an artistic way and in many different ways. The result was overwhelming, but the advertised competition brought a highly significant result. Hundreds of submissions with interesting artworks created by young people of various backgrounds have been submitted. From the numerous beautiful drawings, paintings and photos that approached the topic of integration in remarkably different ways, a jury of experts, including several well-known museum directors and art experts, chose the work of Bianca Haselmayer, a fourth grade student at Herzogenburg (Lower Austria) secondary school. , to the winner design. Decisive for this, besides the motive idea itself, was the extremely talented execution, which brings the topic to the (global) point in an impressive way. Integration - this is the opinion of domestic politics and the representatives of different ethnic groups - needs both the immigrant and the hostile population. The concerns and fears of the majority population must be taken into account as well as the needs and concerns of the population with a migrant background. The specially created State Secretariat for Integration defines a new approach to this and stresses that it is not the origin of a person that counts, but the performance that someone provides. After all, integration happens through performance, whether at work, in the club or - just with the children - in school. Of course, the possibility of actively participating in our society should in no way deny one's own roots; moreover, in the perception of integration, the many positive life stories and experiences of persons with a migrant background should increasingly be brought to the fore. Ultimately, the new special stamp will do nothing but make a corresponding contribution in the necessary awareness raising.