24 From a Cris is Area to An Area With a Future From an lndustry-oriented aspect, Steyr is a typ ica l Eu ropean region. Here, concentrated in a geographi ca ll y limited space, ascent and decline take place in a descriptive and cyc li ca l rhythm . All across Austria, Steyr has become nothing less than a symbo l. The abil ity to so lve problems assoc iated with industr y, probl ems among whi ch are not only cop ing with mass unemployment , build-up and loss respect ive ly of market out lets and the introd uct ion of new art icles of production , but also those invo lving environmenta l politics or questions of ethi cs suc l1 as justification of arms export, etc., is readily demonstrated to the entire nation by example of t he Steyr microcosmos. More than t en years ago a government survey, wide ly procla imed and carr ied t hrough with extensive publi c part icipat ion, should have demonstrated th e government ' s politica l competence in confront ing troubles to whi ch the industrial and laboring communities we re liab le, troub les it had then become aware of for tl1e first time. Fears tl1at all wou ld end in tota l co ll apse was th e pervasive commentary back then , as did the hope that old cond iti ons cou ld be re-established. In spite of all th is , nothing came to pass. Unlike many othe r European industri al areas , tl1e region has not become an industria l graveyard. Yet 110 stone has remained upon another. Steyr has become emblematic of how a region of hope can emerge from a region of crisis. Today, Steyr no langer stands for dec line, but rather for change , for trade and traffic, the eventual outcome still wide open. A key project in t l1i s process is FAZAT Steyr. Already committed, and with the advantages of being cons idered from an externa l viewpo int , the concept of estab li shing a Forschungs- und Ausb ildungszentrum für Arbe it und Techn ik (Research and Training Center for Labour und Technology) - FAZAT - was being developed as early as 1986. The goal was to create a region al institut ional infrastructure in historical factor y bu il dings in the Steyr Wehrgraben and wh ile doing so further developing the qua lity of Steyr as an economic foca l point in the changing global environment. lt has not yet been decided whether the region will utili ze these opportunit ies . But the thought alone, that one need not surrender l1imse lf to a scarcely influenceab le secu lar trend, that it's simp ly on ly necessar y to reach the ri ght decis ions, can be very strong mot ivat ion. Uni versity Professor Josef Weiden l1olzer Johannes Kepler Uni versity, Linz Institute for Soci al Policy
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