General Information

European Expert Conference and European Contest:

“Environmentally Friendly Travelling in Europe. Challenges and Innovations Facing Environment, Transport and Tourism”

30-31 January 2006

Host:

Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW)
Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT)
Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour (BMWA)

Within the context of the

Austrian Presidency of the European Union
Austrian Presidency of the Alpine Convention

Objectives of the Conference

Within the context of the Austrian EU Presidency, a European expert conference will be mounted in Vienna by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour.

The conference will, inter alia, follow up the findings gained through innovative European projects, such as Alps Mobility II – Alpine Pearls, Alpine Awareness, Mobilalp, MoSeTo (environmentally sound transport and tourism in sensitive regions, Lake Neusiedel, Fertö-Tó region), targeted at the interfaces between environment, transport and tourism. The focus of this exercise will be on the transferability of analyses, the transfer of know-how and the development of stakeholder-oriented activities.

The above-mentioned, innovative European projects are contributions to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Alpine Convention and they are milestones along the road to sustainable regional development. They also generate value added in the regions and destinations – thanks, among other things, to their “gentle mobility” USP.

Conference objectives:

• Exchange and discuss the experience gained and the success factors and challenges identified in best practice examples of gentle mobility solutions. Presentation of the winners of the European contest, “Environmentally Friendly Travelling in Europe”.
• Formulate proposals for measures designed to facilitate and improve the nexus of environment, transport and tourism.
• Formulate  proposals for action addressed to ecological, transport, tourism and regional policy makers at regional, national and EU level.
• Stimulate the implementation of the Alpine Convention and, in particular, its Protocols at the European level, also as a contribution of the Austrian Presidency of the Alpine Convention to the Ministerial Conference in the autumn of 2006.
• Frame and submit for adoption a final document in the form of a “Catalogue of Recommendations and Measures”.

The Conference is expected to gather approximately 300 decision-makers, project heads and experts from all over Europe, as well as representatives of the EU Commission and of other international organisations active in the fields of ecology, transport and tourism.

Options market:

The winning projects in the contest, “Environmentally Friendly Travelling in Europe”, as well as several other projects will be on display in the lobby of the conference hall. The conference will provide scope for exchange of experience and discussion with project leaders.

Conference languages:

German, English, French, Italian

Registration online:

Until 10 January, 2006 at www.eco-travel.at.

Contact:

For further information please contact info@eco-travel.at.

Conference organisation :

Content:

• TRAFICO
• International Friends of Nature

Organisational arrangements:

• respect – Institute for Integrative Tourism and Development
• TRIMEDIA Communications Austria
• MONDIAL

Contest:

• NETS
• ECOTRANS

Conference Venue:

Hofburg, Entrance Josefsplatz (Redoutensäle), Vienna