International Conference on Environmental Management and Innovation

The priorities were Environmental Management and Innovation in the face of sustainable development. Lectures and sessions encompassed visions and strategies for sustainable economies and implementation-oriented best practice solutions, presented by industries and their scientific partners. Keynotes were provided by the well-known international futurist Hazel Henderson, USA, as well as by Reto Ringger, founder of the Sustainable Asset Management Group (SAM), Switzerland.

In addition to parallel sessions in typical technical conference style, the conference offered interactive working sessions, using new forms of communication for large groups in "World Café Style". Poster sessions and a multimedia exhibition of the Austrian "Factory of Tomorrow" program assured interesting and diversified inputs for all participants.

Parallel sessions were held on Sustainable Product Development and Innovation, on Sustainable Management Systems and on Sustainability Reporting and Environmental Accounting. The future of environmental management systems and the EU Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) was addressed as well.

Additional Background Information

Applying the principles of sustainability will contribute to securing our prosperity and quality of life in the long run. The orientation towards sustainability not only contributes to relieving the environment, it also opens up completely new opportunities for the economy. It helps to develop more intelligent and more efficient solutions and products to meet our needs and, at the same time, to save on energy, raw materials and hence costs.

In this context, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation, and Technology (BMVIT) has developed a five-year research and technology Program on Technologies for Sustainable Development. The "Factory of Tomorrow" aims at zero-waste, zero-emission production, and produces and provides products and services of tomorrow using materials of tomorrow to meet tomorrow's needs. Thus, the "Factory of Tomorrow" will aspire to generate maximum benefit with minimum consumption of resources and minimum environmental impact. Environmental management accounting has been one focus of the research program.

EMAS, the European Regulation for an Environmental Management and Audit Scheme, has had a very successful past and is strongly promoted by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management. In Austria, there is a special focus on small and medium sized companies (SME) from all sectors. In the context of the actual EMAS revision the conference will offer opportunity to experts from Member States, Commission, industry, EMAS organisations and interested parties to discuss options for the further development of the EU Eco Management Scheme. In this respect a special focus will be placed on legal compliance, enhanced product dimension in EMAS and the enlargement to sustainability topics as well as an improved scheme for application in SMEs, education sector etc. The results of the conference will serve as a valuable input and milestone to the EMAS revision.

International Conference on Environmental Management and Innovation was complemented by two pre-conferences

The Environmental Management Accounting Network - Europe (EMAN-EU) has held its ninth annual conference on April 26 and 27, 2006 at the Technical University Graz, Institute for Resource Efficient and Sustainable Systems (RNS). The conference was organised jointly with the Institute for Environmental Management and Economics, IÖW, Vienna.

The conference also belongs to a series of conferences organised by the Institute for Resource Efficient and Sustainable Systems at Graz University of Technology addressing progress in "Zero Emissions Research and Application". It is aimed at researchers, government authorities and policy-makers and corporate representatives. It seeks and brings together an international and interdisciplinary audience to begin to tackle many of the issues connected with Zero Emissions and sustainable development - to share experiences and to begin to work towards solutions. By building informal partnership and in offering opportunities to share ideas this conference seeks to move this complex debate forward. For conference registration and submission of abstracts please follow this link.

The EMAS Conference 2006 - Education and Training (4th European EMAS Congress for Schools) at the Vienna City Hall, April 27, 2006 focused on the links between education/training and environmental management in the light of sustainable development. Two major events - the 4th European EMAS Congress for Schools and the EMAS award 2006 ceremony formed an integrated part of this conference. The conference offered a unique combination of sessions on environmental issues in education and best practice examples in schools and public organisations and also considered possible links to business and industry looking for opportunities for new partnerships. The main objectives were communication as a tool for developing environmental consciousness and behaviour and networking of sustainable economy and education. The target groups of the conference included schools and public services of EU member states and pre-accession countries for the EU, teachers and social partners (Federal Chambers of Labour, Federal Chambers of Economy, Trade Unions,...), and EMAS (ISO 14001,...) companies working regionally and all over Europe.