Austria’s largest conference centre is now an official Green Meeting certification partner. The ECR 2014, held as a Green Meeting for the first time this year, served as a pilot project.
A new development at the Austria Center Vienna has taken the conference centre’s long – term sustainability and environmental strategy a step further. As an official accrediting body, it is now able to independently audit events that have applied for the Österreichische Umweltzeichen eco – label for Green Meetings and Green Events, in accordance with Eco – label Guideline UZ62. The European Congress of Radiology (ECR), which brought 20,000 delegates to Austria’s largest conference centre from 6 – 10 March, was the pilot project.
Venue contributes 17.5 Green Meeting points
Guideline UZ62 sets out the criteria for events, covering various areas including mobility, accommodation, catering, communications, and material and wa ste management. Venues are obliged to meet a number of mandatory criteria, but can earn bonus points by complying with a range of additional non – compulsory requirements. These are then taken into account when judging the strength of the conference’s applic ation. Hosting a meeting at the Austria Center Vienna automatically brings organisers 17.5 points towards the total required for Green Meeting certification.
Green Meeting status starts at the procurement stage
Before it can qualify as a licensed Green Meeting certification body, a venue has to comply with a catalogue of criteria issued by the Environment Ministry. This stipulates that a venue must have a clear environmental strategy and that all measures aimed at saving energy and water, promoting waste separation and reducing the impact of transportation must be clearly documented. “It also covers areas such as eco – friendly procurement of paper and brochures, electronic devices and any foodstuffs used at the centre. Thanks to our consistent approach to sustainability and improving energy efficiency, the Austria Center Vienna reached the points total required and met all of the criteria for licensees,” explained IAKW – AG and Austria Center Vienna CEO Susanne Baumann – Söllner.
Helping to minimise environmen tal footprints
“Conferences such as the ECR have a significant economic impact, but also have a considerable ecological footprint. However, the Green Meeting guidelines help us to significantly reduce the downside effects . As the largest conference centre in Austria we want to send out a powerful environmental signal, and are very pleased that we can work towards implementing our strategy with the full support of long – term partners like the ECR,” Baumann – Söllner added.
Achieving Green Meeting certification was a key goal for the ECR’s organiser, the European Society of Radiology (ESR). “The ECR 2014 is not just our 20th conference in Vienna, it’s also a major milestone in our history. Our aim was to ensure we acquired the Österreichische Umweltzeichen for G reen Meetings. Considering the size of the ECR – we have more than 20,000 delegates – we are definitely setting a standard for others to follow throughout Europe. The Austria Center Vienna is an expert partner whose dedication has helped us to achieve what we set out to do,” noted Peter Baierl, Executive Director of the European Society of Radiology.
5,000 coffee cups and 3,500 cloth lunch bags each day
Meeting the criteria is not just a challenge for the ECR and the Austria Center Vienna; caterer Food Affairs in particular also had its work cut out. Österreichisches Umweltzeichen holder and seasoned Green Meeting organiser Thomas Breuer, CEO of Food Affa irs, and his team had to provide around 5,000 coffee cups and several thousand plates each day. Like plastic bottles, d isposable cutlery and crockery were off limits. Over a period of three days Food Affairs handed out more than 8,000 lunch boxes, all o f which also had to meet the strict eco – label criteria. The bags themselves were made of cloth and contained recyclable glass bottles, locally made sandwiches and fruit from the region. During the course of the four – day event it took around 40 cooks and 20 0 service staff to keep pace with this major logistical challenge.
“Seasonal, locally sourced, organic produce was the watchword for the food. The majority of ingredients that we use have to come from within 170km of the centre,” Breuer added. “Fair trade coffee and tea and organic products are a must.”
High – performance WiFi supports paper – free conferencing
Thanks to the one – stop IT service offered by the Austria Center Vienna in partnership with specialists H82, all the relevant information and abstracts can be viewed using the conference’s very own app (including interactive programme planner) as well as on the ECR homepage.
