Welcome to the „Green World “ of the Austrian Ecolabel

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of "UmweltTipp!" we asked the expert Jutta Kellner about the initiative "Clever shopping for school" about the developments.

According to the World Economic Forum (Global Risk Report 2023), the loss of biodiversity is one of the four greatest risks facing the world's population over the next 10 years, alongside a lack of climate protection and climate change adaptation as well as severe weather disasters. Biodiversity refers to the diversity of life, whether animal or plant. In order to preserve this, it is necessary to protect and maintain the various habitats.

The Kardinal König Haus in Vienna-Hietzing was awarded with the Austrian Ecolabel for the first time in 2015. Recertification has now been completed and the Jesuit and Caritas education centre can once again be recommended as a particularly environmentally friendly and sustainable education and conference centre.

It is not only particularly important for school buildings that tested ("healthy") building materials are used in their construction and interior design. Building products with the Austrian Ecolabel guarantee health and well-being. Dr Thomas Belazzi pays particular attention to both. He is a recognised expert in ecological building and managing director of bauXund forschung und beratung gmbh in Vienna (www.bauxund.at).

The Austrian company Scheucher Holzindustrie GmbH has held the EU Ecolabel for wooden floors since March 2023. This makes the company the first parquet manufacturer in Europe to be authorised to use this cross-border Ecolabel. It guarantees the environmental friendliness, durability and high quality of the labelled products. Read more about this here.

In Austria, the federal government spends almost 1.3 billion euros a year on building construction projects. The money flows into the refurbishment, new construction, repair and maintenance of schools, hospitals, prisons and other public buildings. The construction-relevant guidelines of the Austrian Ecolabel play an important role here!

HTL Mödling is the largest school in Austria, has been awarded the Austrian Ecolabel and has been able to reduce energy costs by a remarkable 40 percent by switching to district heating and other measures.

The Austrian Ecolabel made a strong presentation at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg from 16 to 18 October 2023. Together with the Blue Angel from Germany, the Nordic Swan from the Scandinavian countries and the Dutch Milieukeur, the importance of national quality labels was pointed out to the EU parliamentarians. The motto of the exhibition in the busy area in front of the canteen of the EU Parliament: Together we are strong.

What do mushrooms have to do with Kaffeesud? Are algae, nettles or hair really miracle substances of the future? These and other questions are addressed in the new hands-on exhibition at the Zoom Children's Museum in Vienna. Enter our competition on Facebook and win tickets to the Zoom!

On the occasion of World Ecolabel Day on 12 October 2023, which celebrates quality labels worldwide, the Austrian Ecolabel hosted a seminar in Brussels. During a seminar, EU parliamentarians and their assistants were informed about the credibility of governmental quality labels - and pointed out future challenges. The seminar is part of a series of events - after the seminar in Brussels, there will be a fair at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to illustrate the variety of certified products for EU parliamentarians.

Pernauer produces many of the bigood products sold by a large Austrian drugstore chain. But other household cleaners or detergents are also produced by Pernauer and carry the Austrian Ecolabel.

Cleaning companies in Austria focus on environmentally friendly cleaning agents and cleaning products. Outstanding among them is the Tyrolean GmbH hollu, which has been in existence since 1905. At that time, the founder Julius Holluschek laid the foundation stone of the hygiene specialist's production.

The EU Commission recently published a regulation that will improve transparency about fragrance allergens in cosmetics.

Read in the interview with biotechnologist Marion Jaros from the Vienna Environmental Ombudsman's Office what is important for the safe and economical use of disinfectants.

On Austrian Museum Day 2023, a visit to the ecologically important exhibition BLITZBLANK! Cleaning - inside, outside, everywhere in the Women's Museum in Hittisau.

The Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research is starting the school year 2023/24 with the Austria-wide competition "energie:bewusst unterwegs" to bring the topic of energy saving in the area of mobility to the fore in schools.

EU disclosure and transparency standards should combat "green-washing". Transparency criteria should help investors to make informed investment decisions.

In June 2023, the Seefeld region in Tyrol, together with Wagrain-Kleinarl in Salzburg, became the first destinations in Austria to be awarded the Ecolabel for Tourism Destinations. Read here how travel bloggers experienced the region.

Together, Austria's tourism industry is sending a strong signal for sustainability and future security: 27 companies from tourism and gastronomy received the Austrian Ecolabel from Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler and Tourism State Secretary Susanne Kraus-Winkler at a festive award ceremony on 6 September. 13 of the award-winning companies also received the European equivalent, the EU Ecolabel. For the first time, 2 tourism regions were certified in addition to companies.

Austria's cultural landscape is once again enriched by several resource-saving and environmentally conscious businesses: On 5 September, 28 cultural and event businesses were honoured. For the first time, institutions from the theatre and cinema sector were also included. Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler and State Secretary for the Arts and Culture Andrea Mayer presented the awards at the Haydn Cinema in Vienna.

In June 2023, the Seefeld region in Tyrol, together with Wagrain-Kleinarl in Salzburg, became the first destinations in Austria to be awarded the Ecolabel for Tourism Destinations. Read here how travel bloggers experienced the region.

Combining ecology and economy is one of the most important tasks of the next decades in order to reduce climate change and its consequences. It is essential to be able to count on the support of manufacturers and retailers.

With the campaign UmweltTipp! the initiative "Clever Shopping for School" supports parents and pupils in sustainable school shopping before school starts. Since the campaign began in August 2008, the number of product recommendations for sustainable school shopping has increased almost fivefold to more than 5,700 products.

The Financial Market Authority (FMA) has published its annual report for 2021. Encouraging: Investments according to the guidelines of the Austrian Ecolabel for Sustainable Financial Products (UZ 49) continue to increase strongly. Almost 12 percent of Austrian fund assets are invested in UZ 49 funds.

The Seebach Valley Nature Experience is now accessible for all.

Under the title "The Austrian Ecolabel in Tourism - With Certification Processes to More Sustainability", the kick-off event of the new dialogue series "Sustainability in Tourism" of the Tourism Section at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economic Affairs took place on Wednesday, 28 June 2023.

"Back to the Future" was the motto of this year's Convention 4 U, the meeting industry's conference that can be interpreted in many ways - and where better to do that than at the Congress Centrum Alpbach in the Village of Thinkers? The Austrian Ecolabel was there too!

Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler and Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler, together with the Green Events Austria network, honoured the 28 most sustainable festivals, cultural events, sporting events and sports clubs in Austria and awarded the eight best as competition winners.

The European Commission has presented a new law to combat misleading environmental claims. With it, Brussels wants to take stronger action against greenwashing.

The Clever Shopping for School initiative offers the opportunity to quickly find environmentally friendly products. This gives everyone the opportunity to pay attention to climate protection when shopping at school. The best thing is to do it right away with your next purchase!

Sporting events can move a lot towards sustainability. The 48th edition of the Hypomeeting Götzis/Vorarlberg shows that this can also work for major events. It was the first major sporting event to achieve the Ecolabel for Green Events and was produced and broadcast according to the Ecolabel "Green Producing" standard.

The Environmental Centre of Raiffeisenbank Gunskirchen is a true pioneer for sustainable investments and green banking. In 2023, both the 125th anniversary of Raiffeisenbank Gunskirchen and the 10th birthday of the environmental centre will be celebrated

8 October is World Ecolabel Day - the international day for national Ecolabels. Independent, governmental Ecolabels are based on transparent criteria and sound third-party verification and are a credible barrier against greenwashing. What is your opinion? Support your colleagues by answering a short questionnaire.

Austria has been a pioneer in sustainable tourism for many years, but together we can achieve much more.

This was proven by the international "Green Tourism Conference" organised by the ÖHV, at which 70 certified best practice businesses (hotels, campsites, tour operators, apartment buildings) from six countries were presented. Eleven Austrian businesses were awarded the Austrian and European Ecolabel.

With the Ecolabel, what belongs together comes together: The Ecolabel group continues to grow - our tour operators can also take advantage of the growing range of sustainably certified locations and hotels to put together consistently certified travel experiences. The following offers are particularly worth highlighting in the near future.

In order to demonstrate the possibilities of collaborative engagement, a webinar was held on 24 April 2023 as part of the series "Green Money for Green Investments", which was organised by ÖGUT on behalf of the Ministry of Climate Protection and in cooperation with the Austrian Ecolabel team at VKI.

The cultural sector is an important partner in climate protection and can benefit from common national environmental standards. Therefore, there is now also a separate Ecolabel guideline for cinema operations and already the first two licensees.

On the opening day of WeFair Vienna, nine companies were awarded the Austrian Ecolabel for sustainable products and services. The companies from Vienna, Lower Austria and Styria received the green sustainability seal in the areas of financial products, printing, mobility, educational institutions, the hotel industry and Green Meetings & Events.

Active environmental and climate protection are indispensable for sustainable organisations. As an Ecolabel company, submit your best measures for environmental and climate protection to the Environmental Management Award 2023!

The Diagonale, the festival of Austrian film, celebrated several Green Events/Green Meetings certifications in 2023 as well as Austria's first green cinema.

The HAK Lienz is the first educational institution in East Tyrol to be awarded the Austrian Ecolabel. This makes it an ecological pioneer!

"Our service is working," says Sabine Wolfsgruber, Managing Director of umwelt service salzburg, the regional support agency, about the most successful year so far: in 2022, more than 700 consultations were completed by the advisory and support agency for corporate environmental and climate protection - the highest number since the independent association was founded. There was also strong demand for Ecolabel certifications.

Plastics can be found in all areas of everyday life. A new brochure informs about the effects of microplastics on humans and nature and gives helpful tips on how to avoid them.

These qualities are taught to the pupils at the Gymnasium and Realgymnasium in Seekirchen am Wallersee. The Ambassador School of the European Parliament was certified with the Austrian Ecolabel in 2022.

The successful motivation and awareness-raising campaign "Austria is cycling" will start a new main season from 20 March to 30 September 2023. Many municipalities, businesses, clubs and schools throughout Austria are already on board as organisers, because cycling is known to make people fit and happy. In addition, they are also committed to climate protection.

klimaaktiv mobil puts kindergarten and school routes under the microscope - and at no cost!

While it took fourteen years for the first hundred certified funds, the time had now come again after less than three years: the two hundredth financial product was awarded the Austrian Ecolabel. A brief analysis.

Not only the strict, transparent criteria and the independently prepared expert opinion ensure that Ecolabel products also deliver what they promise. The Association for Consumer Information (VKI) also tests products from all guidelines for correct use of the Austrian Ecolabel.

While a driver's license allows us to use cars, it does not exclude so-called multimodal mobility, i.e. the use of multiple methods of getting around. The Austrian Ecolabel driving schools are thinking different ...

What does biodiversity mean? What can everyone contribute to the protection of biodiversity? Every contribution is important!

The guideline UZ 72 "Travel Offers" is all about designing sustainable travel offers. It was known long before it came into force in 2008 that man-made climate change is a major problem. And that is also the core of the requirements.

The guideline for tourism and leisure enterprises contains specific requirements for museums. The first mandatory criterion is: "Integration of education for sustainable development into the educational work". What`s about?

In the guideline for tourism and leisure businesses, there is a requirement in criterion UZ 200-F05 to motivate businesses to contribute to the promotion of biodiversity.