Outcry from the civilian population – where are you?

It's a cold December day in the Hainburger Au. Thousands of people are not deterred from strolling through the floodplain forest. With them: loud slogans, militant signs and a lot of passion. The destruction of this natural wonder in favor of a Danube power plant must be prevented - because the excavators are already waiting. Their commitment will pay off: Thanks to the uprising of the population, the clearing of the forest was averted in 1984. The first great victory of civil society has long since become an Austrian legend.

But were the Hainburg protests a one-off event in recent history? Not at all. Because if you take a closer look, you will see that the flame in the Austrian population never completely ceased to blaze - even if it sometimes appears to have done so. This is demonstrated, for example, by a current research project by political scientist Martin Dolezal from the University of Vienna. His study "The Austrian protest arena in the 21st century" counts around 8,500 protest events in Austria between 1998 and 2016. The most common reason for protest, accounting for over a fifth of the total: environmental issues. This also includes demonstrations against nuclear energy and genetic engineering in agriculture as well as actions by animal rights activists.

So you could get the impression: The fire is burning to some extent. Only one question remains. What does it take for a few demonstrations to really become a movement that politicians need to listen to? Ingredient number one: concern among the population. The activists in Hainburg, for example, identified with the endangered natural environment and stood up for it. Another ingredient: the desire for a promising future. Will we leave our children a free, democratic society in an environment worth living in or will the deluge come behind us? A question that seems to be making many citizens get up from their comfortable sofas again today. A third ingredient is crucial if this discontent is ultimately to give rise to a real movement. The conviction must be shared by different social groups. Only when women and men, old and young, workers, citizens and students are equally outraged will the decision-makers be forced to act.

The climate marches of recent years have shown that this recipe also works internationally. When hundreds of thousands of people in 150 countries took to the streets for climate protection on September 21, 2014, it was the largest demonstration of its kind in the world to date. A year later, further "Global Climate Marches" followed - in total, there were more than 1.5 million participants in 2014 and 2015. Activism without consequences? On the contrary: the wake-up call was heard. Christiana Figueres, Chair of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, saw it as backing: "When we saw the huge demonstrations, we knew that we had the people on our side." This in turn gave the conference participants additional motivation to take action. In December 2015, the Paris Climate Agreement was signed by all countries around the world.

The global climate marches are a prime example of how the assumption of civil society responsibility has an impact. Compared to the marches in the Hainburger Au in the 1980s, however, one difference is striking. With the technological opportunities offered by the web, the younger generation has a clear advantage when it comes to mobilizing like-minded people. At the climate marches, for example, the necessary platform was provided by the global citizens' movement Avaaz.

Millions of people around the world feel jointly responsible for the pressing problems of our time. In the digital age, networking can create a tremendous snowball effect. People who do not know each other and live in different places can be won over for joint action. Avaaz makes use of this potential by conducting an annual member survey to determine the movement's priorities. It also sends ideas for campaigns to 10,000 randomly selected members every week. Those topics that generate sufficient response are pursued further. In total, over 2,800 campaigns have already been launched. The citizens' movement is also active in Austria.

At the moment, there seems to be a tailwind for protests by the civilian population in Austria. The future will show their effect. The fact is that we live in circumstances that allow us to take action and change things - be it for the environment or a fairer society. The population can, or should we say must, demonstrate responsibility where politics fails. And finally, everyone should ask themselves the question: Isn't it much more fun to shape your own living environment than to put up with it?