About ECR

Being awarded the Austrian Ecolabel (Österreichisches Umweltzeichen) for the first time in 2014, we have implemented numerous measures designed to reduce the congress’ environmental impact over the years and are striving to expand our efforts every year. Find some examples on how we became the largest officially certified green congress below.

• Minimising the CO₂ emissions is of central concern when running a green congress. Large congresses are by their nature power hungry events. Our venue, the Austria Center Vienna, prioritises green energy, which is essential to limiting a congress’ carbon footprint.
• Encouraging and enabling the use of public transport by congress attendees is another means by which the ECR’s carbon footprint can be diminished. Vienna’s fully integrated public transport network makes getting to and from the congress simple no matter where attendees stay in the city.
• Improving waste management is also an important goal for any green congress. To reduce unnecessary waste, the ESR works with environmentally certified caterers who utilise reusable plates, drinking vessels and cutlery. Exhibitors are encouraged to reuse their stands and decoration and discouraged to distribute giveaways. Further, the amount of printed material used at the congress has been drastically reduced while making more materials, such as the congress’ programme, easily accessible online.
• As far as digital developments go, our streaming platform platform ESR Connect is an initiative that is very much in the spirit of green meetings. On ESR Connect you can ‘participate from home’ while still claiming CME credits. Also, ECR’s sessions are available on demand on this platform, extending the value of the knowledge transfer far beyond the 5 days of the congress.