28 cultural and event enterprises newly awarded the Austrian Ecolabel

For more than 30 years, the Austrian Ecolabel has been the most important state-approved environmental seal in Austria and stands for a consistent orientation towards environmental protection and sustainability. The cultural landscape in Austria is unique and known beyond its borders for its high-quality cultural performances. Now many businesses are seizing the opportunity to strengthen this quality with Austrian Ecolabel certification. A total of 28 cultural and event enterprises meet the respective criteria of the Ecolabel Guideline UZ 200 for tourism, gastronomy and cultural enterprises.

"Climate protection and culture can be wonderfully combined - no matter whether in artistic mediation or in the art and culture business itself. This is exactly what the many excellent cultural and event enterprises show. I am pleased that more and more businesses are taking part and are consistently committed to climate protection and environmentally friendly business practices. They are making an important contribution to a good and climate-friendly Austria," said Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler.

The State Secretary for the Arts and Culture, Andrea Mayer, is also pleased with the steady increase in sustainably certified cultural and event enterprises: "Artists, as sensors of our society, address current global issues and fuel social, cultural and critical discourse. Cultural policy is therefore inconceivable without environmental policy. I am very pleased to be able to award 28 companies with the Austrian Ecolabel - for the first time also cinema and theatre companies. I am convinced that many more cultural institutions will apply for the Austrian Ecolabel, because we can, indeed must, make a difference," says State Secretary for the Arts and Culture Andrea Mayer.

Ecolabel award ceremony Salzburg Landestheater, Dietmar Pucher, Petra Höllrigl. Copyright by Weinwurm-Fotografie.

Speech and music theatre awarded the Ecolabel for the first time

The category of spoken and musical theatre was on board for the first time with the award of four certificates. The Salzburgers can be pleased about the location of the first green theatre with the Salzburg Landestheater. Three further certifications went to houses in Styria: Schauspielhaus Graz, Theater LILARUM GmbH and Next Liberty.

Ecolabel Award Ceremony Haydn Kino Vienna, Christian Dörfler. Copyright by Weinwurm-Fotografie.

Green premiere at cinemas

For the first time, cinema lovers can also take their seats in the cinema hall with a clear conscience, because two cinemas show that a visit to the cinema can also be designed in an environmentally friendly and resource-saving way. The Haydn cinema in Vienna and the Schubert cinema in Styria were the first Austrian cinemas to be awarded the Austrian Ecolabel. But also friends of TV moving pictures get their money's worth in a sustainable way: The Austrian Ecolabel for Green Producing in Film and Television was awarded to three companies: ORF Vienna, Satel Film GmbH and the Carinthian company PKM FilmproduktionsgmbH.

Ecolabel award ceremony ORF Vienna DG Edgar Weinzettl, Editor-in-Chief Oliver Ortner. Copyright by Weinwurm-Fotografie.

Sustainability in Austria's museums

A total of nine museums have been awarded the Austrian Ecolabel for museums and exhibition halls. Among them are four museums from Vienna - the Austrian Film Museum, the Albertina, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien and Imperial Treasury and Imperial Carriage Museum as well as the ZOOM Children's Museum. Two of the certified museums are located in Vorarlberg: the Frauenmuseum Hittisau and the vorarlberg museum. The Salzburg Open Air Museum, Welios® The Unique Museum: Science Center Wels in Upper Austria and Forchtenstein Castle in Burgenland were also certified as green museums.

Incidentally, numerous businesses used the certification process to have themselves checked with regard to several guidelines - such as gastronomy, green meetings and events or conference and event locations - and were thus able to receive several certificates, including in Lower Austria the Schrammel.Klang.Festival association, the cultural event location Grafenegg or Wachau Kultur Melk GmbH. In Burgenland, Bogner Veranstaltungs Ges.m.b.H in Wiesen, the Kalandahaus in the district of Eisenstadt and the St. Margarethen Quarry were certified, and in Vienna, the Wiener Konzerthaus, Das MuTh - Concert Hall of the Vienna Boys' Choir, the Austrian National Library and the Vienna Technical Museum with Austrian Media Library.

Ecolabel awarded to arts and cultural enterprises. Copyright by Weinwurm-Fotografie.

The new Ecolabel licensees at a glance*

Category Museums and Exhibition Centres

· Albertina (1. Bezirk, Wien)

· Burg Forchtenstein (Forchtenstein, Burgenland)

· Frauenmuseum Hittisau (Hittisau, Vorarlberg)

· Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien und Kaiserliche Schatzkammer und Kaiserliche Wagenburg (1. Bezirk, Wien)

· Österreichisches Filmmuseum (1. Bezirk, Wien)

· Salzburger Freilichtmuseum (Großgmain, Salzburg)

· vorarlberg museum (Bregenz, Vorarlberg)

· ZOOM Kindermuseum (7. Bezirk, Wien)

Category Green Meetings and Events

· Bogner Veranstaltungs Ges.m.b.H. (Wiesen, Burgenland)

· Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (1. Bezirk, Wien)

· Technisches Museum Wien mit Österreichischer Mediathek (14. Bezirk, Wien)

· Verein Schrammel.Klang.Festival (Litschau, Niederösterreich)

· Wachau Kultur Melk GmbH (Melk, Niederösterreich)

Category Conference and Event Locations

· Das MuTh – Konzertsaal der Wiener Sängerknaben (2. Bezirk, Wien)

· Grafenegg (Grafenegg, Niederösterreich)

· Kalandahaus (Trausdorf an der Wulka, Burgenland)

· Steinbruch St. Margarethen (St. Margarethen, Burgenland)

· Wiener Konzerthaus (3. Bezirk, Wien)

Category Gastronomy business

· Café-Restaurant im Kunsthistorischen Museum (1. Bezirk, Wien)

· Joules Bistro im Technischen Museum Wien (14. Bezirk, Wien)

Category Speech and Music Theatre

· Next Liberty (Graz, Steiermark)

· Salzburger Landestheater (Stadt Salzburg)

· Schauspielhaus Graz (Graz, Steiermark)

· Theater LILARUM GmbH (3. Bezirk, Wien)

Category Cinemas

· Haydn-Kino (6. Bezirk, Wien)

· Schubert Kino (Graz, Steiermark)

Category Green Producing in Film and Television

· ORF Wien (4. Bezirk, Wien)

· PKM FilmproduktionsgmbH (Klagenfurt, Kärnten)

· Satel Film GmbH (14. Bezirk, Wien)