The Vienna Convention Bureau (VCB) is committed to sustainable behaviour and meetings tourism that respects the environment. As an Austrian ecolabel licensee, in addition to supporting sustainability in meetings it can now also award the Green Meeting certificate to these gatherings.
The carbon footprint left by a meeting has since become a major issue for meeting organisers and conference destinations the world over. Long an advocate of sustainability and environmental sensitivity, the Vienna Tourist Board’s Vienna Convention Bureau (VCB) has now been awarded the Austrian ecolabel byAustria’s minister of the environment, Nikolaus Berlakovich. This means it is licensed to certify as Green Meetings conferences whose organisation takes account of climate protection, regional sourcing and social compatibility.
“Whatever their size, meetings have an impact on the environment, either by consuming energy, generating waste or emitting carbon dioxide. The Vienna Convention Bureau has set itself the goal of encouraging awareness of sustainable behaviour in the meetings industry and supports initiatives and projects revolving around issues relating to green meetings, sustainability and corporate social responsibility. As a licensee of the Austrian ecolabel, we are setting a signal as well as pursuing the objective of making Vienna more competitive as a convention destination in the long term,” Christian Mutschlechner, head of the VCB, explains.
The Green Meetings environmental badge was launched in 2009 by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and the Austrian Consumer Information Association. To obtain the green certificate organisers need a licensee such as the Vienna Convention Bureau, which is equally bound by strict environmental protection requirements, to handle formal certification.
Karin Stattmann (tel. +43–1–211 14-528, email karin.stattmann@vienna.info) is responsible for processing certification procedures of this kind through the Vienna Convention Bureau. As the person all conference organisers who wish to have their event in Vienna certified as a Green Meeting should approach, she predicts: “We are clearly registering growing interest on the part of customers, and this will lead to other Viennese service suppliers – hotels, conference centres and PCO’s – qualifying to act as licensing agencies in order to keep up with the competition.” She also points to the following aspect: “The know-how acquired with a certification process inViennaalso provides international clients with an excellent basis from which to handle their meetings and events abroad according to the same criteria, applying the principles of the Austrian Green Meeting certificate. That is a not inconsiderable added bonus with long-term repercussions, reinforcing the sustainability effect.”
Besides the Vienna Convention Bureau, the following companies have also already qualified as certification offices for Green Meetings inVienna: Austropa/Interconvention, RAM Consulting, Hannah’s Plan and Hotel Modul.
