Vienna Convention Bureau To Certify Green Meetings

The Vienna Convention Bureau supports sustainable action and environmentally friendly conference tourism. As a licensee of the Austrian EcoLogo, it is now authorized not only to assist conferences in matters relating to environmental impact, but also to certify them as “Green Meetings”.

The ecological footprint left by a congress has long been an important issue for congress organizers and congress destinations world-wide. For a long time now, the Vienna Tourist Board’s Vienna Convention Bureau (VCB) has advocated sustainability and responsible treatment of the environment. Now Nikolaus Berlakovich, Austria’s Minister for the Environment, has awarded the VCB the Austrian Green Meetings EcoLogo. This means that the bureau is now licensed to certify as Green Meetings conferences whose organizers take climate protection, regional value-added and social compatibility into account.

“Congresses of any size make an impact on the environment, whether it be due to their energy consumption, waste production, or CO2 emissions. The Vienna Convention Bureau has set itself the task of raising awareness of sustainable action in the conference industry, and supports initiatives and projects involving the themes of green meetings, sustainability and corporate social responsibility. As a licensee of the Austrian EcoLogo, we are not only pointing the way, but also aiming to enhance the competitiveness of Vienna as a congress city in the long term,” explains Christian Mutschlechner, Director of the Vienna Convention Bureau.