Looking for the perfect sustainable destination for your next meeting? Look no further than Vienna.
Since 2011, as a licensee of the Austrian Eco-Label, the Vienna Convention Bureau can certify events as ‘green meetings’. To give you an insight into the destination, here’s 10 unique selling points:
1. Walkable city
In Vienna, you can easily organise a ‘walkable congress’. Almost all hotels, venues and starting points for social programs are within walking distance, or a short ride by public transport.
2. Extensive public transport
The public transportation network of the Vienna Public Transport System (Wiener Linien) with subways, streetcars and buses currently covers 1,150km. In the coming years, it will be expanded with an additional subway line. Short intervals help get your participants from A to B quickly and comfortably.
City bikes, car sharing, e-mopeds and e-scooters also complete the offer. The City Airport Train (CAT) takes just 16 minutes from the airport to the city center and meeting participants can even collect their own ‘congress tickets’.
3. Highest quality of life
Vienna is the most livable city in the world. Not only the residents are convinced of this, but also the international consulting company Mercer and the British News magazine The Economist. Both have repeatedly ranked Vienna first in their rankings of the world’s most livable metropolises.
4. Green spaces
Approximately 50% of Vienna’s area is grassland and bodies of water, and 280 imperial parks and gardens enrich the cityscape. The local recreation areas Prater, Vienna Woods and Lobau entice visitors to go for walks, excursions, hikes and bicycle tours. In total, Vienna has 2,000 green spaces.
5. High quality drinking water
There are more than 1,000 drinking fountains throughout the city, which offers delegates accessible refreshment. This fountain water, like all of Vienna’s tap water, is the purest high-spring water. Every day, around 400,000m³ of fresh spring water flows through two high-spring pipes from the Schneeberg, Rax, Schneealpe and Hochschwab regions to Vienna.
6. Social responsibility
In Vienna, DEI and social justice form part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR). Whether affordable housing, rainbow family centers, the advancement of women, reintegration programs or multilingual information services: Vienna is a city for all people.
7. Clean city
Vienna is one of the cleanest cities in Europe. MA48, the municipal department for waste management, street cleaning and vehicle fleet, is responsible for this. The department handles the functioning waste management system that helps makes Vienna clean.
8. Innovation
In Vienna, historical flair meets a smart city that is constantly evolving. The Smart City framework strategy is decisive for this. It includes key objectives in the dimensions of quality of life, resource conservation and innovation, is also Vienna’s sustainability strategy and forms the basis for further future strategies of the city.
One important goal is climate neutrality, which is to be achieved by 2040. In addition, Vienna regularly sets standards in terms of forward-looking urban development with new districts and Grätzl.
9. Environmental standards
The Austrian Eco-Label, considered the most important state-certified environmental seal in Austria, is also awarded in the Green Meetings & Events category. When organisng a ‘green meeting’, already certified partners provide advice and licensing. In Vienna, there are currently 40 venues (including hotels) and numerous service providers, that are certified with the Austrian Eco-Label.
10. Viennese urban agriculture
In Vienna, big city meets agriculture. Food is grown on 14% of the total area. Around one third of the vegetable requirements of the Viennese are covered by local farms. Regional cultivation also saves long transport routes.
The Vienna Convention Bureau
The Vienna Convention Bureau team is your first point of contact when it comes to planning congresses, conferences, corporate meetings or incentives in Vienna.
The team can organise eco-friendly site visits for eventprofs. Typical visits would showcase its green venues and transport, as well as local Viennese cuisine. The convention bureau would also provide a supporting programme, which explores activites that focus on CSR.
