Symposium 2025: The (Different) Ways to Success

What role do courage, mindset, and creativity play?

From February 17–19, 2025, the annual symposium of the Bachelor's program in Nonprofit, Social & Health Care Management (renamed Social, Health & Public Management in 2024) took place as the kick-off for the fourth semester. This year, the focus was on courage, creativity, and a culture that views failure as an opportunity to learn.

The event was launched by the inspiring speech of Saša Filipović, founder of Fuckup Nights Vorarlberg. In his keynote, he discussed personal detours, the role of mistakes in individual growth, and why our society should learn to see failure as a valuable experience. He emphasized that an effective culture of learning from errors is built on open communication, interactive processes, and leadership that regards mistakes as an integral part of learning and progress.

Following this, 14 alumni & friends of the study program shared insights into their career paths, the challenges of starting their own businesses, and the key lessons learned from their experiences. The diversity of career trajectories, as well as the presenters’ openness in discussing obstacles and missteps, proved particularly inspiring for the students. A central theme was the importance of resilience and the necessity of being aware of one’s own values to remain focused and determined.

Another key takeaway: a “growth mindset” can be acquired. Mistakes and challenging situations can serve as a catalyst for further development and innovation. It was also made clear that uncertainty and complexity are part of everyday professional life, especially in business start-ups. The alumni offered valuable advice to the students: maintain focus, build a strong team, and work with discipline.

On the afternoon of the second day, the students got actively involved. In a case study on the Tyrolean Femtech startup FEMBLE, they delved deeply into female entrepreneurship, the Femtech industry, social impact, and the common challenges of starting a business. The event concluded with an interactive fishbowl discussion, during which the students reflected on the insights they had gained.

The symposium encouraged participants to broaden their perspective on success and failure and to have the courage to simply take that first step – because the biggest and most successful ideas often emerge from those initial steps.

A heartfelt thank you to all participants, speakers, and organizers for a successful event and an inspiring start to the new semester!

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"Managing the Public Interest" is the motto of the Social, Health & Public Management program. If you don't want to wait for things to change in our society, then be part of the change! We are always happy to receive applications from motivated people!”