For us, “Forward” is more than just a motto for 2025. It represents an attitude of not merely managing crises, but using them as an opportunity to rethink established approaches and pursue new paths. This attitude has shaped KDZ’s work over the past year, in our collaborations with municipalities and cities, public administrations, and public sector organisations at federal, Länder, and EU levels, as well as in our contributions to the public debate on administrative and structural reforms.
In 2025, we supported numerous cities and municipalities across Austria, helping them improve their fiscal capacity through systematic analyses and quick-to-implement measures, as well as in-depth service and performance reviews. At the same time, we consistently contributed our expertise on reform issues and supported the Austrian “Reformpartnerschaft”. We developed proposals for stabilising municipal finances, presented complex intergovernmental fiscal transfer relations between “Länder” and municipalities in an understandable way, and maintained a presence in the media and among experts.
A particular highlight was a conference on consolidation potential within Austria’s federal system, which brought together academia and representatives from all levels of government. For us, “Forward” means new topics and approaches as well as organisational change. Peter Biwald’s retirement marks the end of a formative era in KDZ’s executive leadership. We would like to express our sincere thanks for his many years of commitment and dedication to municipal practice. At the same time, a new chapter is beginning. A new team is taking responsibility for shaping the future of KDZ, aiming to preserve what has been tried and tested while
resolutely driving forward new ideas.
“Forward” also means making targeted use of innovations. We are modernising management and benchmarking instruments, improving quality and impact, and providing guidance in an increasingly uncertain operating environment. This ranges from new data-based approaches to further developing CAF and digital support services. One concrete example is the benchmarking tool at www.offenerhaushalt.at: a modern benchmarking platform that enhances transparency and supports evidence-based decision-making.
This annual report illustrates our approach in 2025: solution-oriented, collaborative and focused on feasibility. It demonstrates that “Forward” and consolidation are not contradictory, as new ideas often emerge when objectives, processes and services must be refined due to limited resources. We would like to thank all our employees, members and partner organisations for supporting us on this journey. They support us with expertise, trust and a willingness to collaborate, even during challenging periods. In this sense, we see “Forward” as an opportunity. Let us continue to view challenges as opportunities and collaborate to create an efficient, resilient andforward- looking public sector.
