The Austrian Commission for UNESCO (ÖUK)

The Austrian  Commission for UNESCO (ÖUK) is the national coordination and liaison office for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization  (UNESCO). The ÖUK was established on 14 September 1949 after Austria joined UNESCO. In 2001, the Commission was constituted as a registered society. The Austrian federal states including Styria perform technical and substantive support tasks towards the objective of international law in the sense of incorporating civil society. The focus is on preserving the tangible and intangible cultural heritage and on promoting the diversity of cultural forms of expression and creativity.

The State of Styria is represented in the  Advisory Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Advisory Committee makes the intangible cultural heritage in all its many forms for expression visible by highlighting the hidden and existing customs as well as region-specific characteristics. They serve as a sustainable local resource for a new understanding of regional specificities and play an important role in terms of social cohesion.

Individual traditions, community practices, typical crafts and artistic characteristics of Austria are listed in a register of intangible cultural heritage. To date, 35 traditions have been listed for Styria.

 Three Styrian sites are listed on the  International List of World Heritage Sites: The Historic City Centre of Graz and Schloss Eggenberg, shaped by the Houses of Habsburg and Eggenberg, the  Semmering Mountain Railway in the region bordering Lower Austria, and the impressive Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut cultural landscape.