climate change

Alongside other top tourism experts, MU Prof. Dagmar Lund-Durlacher spoke at the 21st Naturefriends Environmental Conference in Graz on September 30th. The conference addressed how increasing climate change in the alpine region affects tourism to these areas, and how winter-sport enthusiasts and tourism providers alike will have to adapt to new circumstances.

Thomas E. Bowman, founder of the Climate Solutions Project and keynote speaker at a public symposium held at MODUL University Vienna in June 2010 (see the project page of the Climate Change Collaboratory), has co-authored a call to action published in today's edition of "Science".

The Climate Change Collaboratory (Triple-C) is a two-year research project funded within the Austrian Climate Research Program (ACRP). The introductory expert workshop and public symposium entitled “Climate Change Communication and Collaboration: Translating Awareness into Collective Action” took place on June 16th, 2010 at MODUL University Vienna. Photos of the event as well as the slides of the keynote speakers (see short biographies below) are now available for download:

• David D. Herring, Communications Program Director, U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Climate Program Office
  Download Slides | Photo*
• Prof. Dr. Helga Kromp-Kolb, Head of the Institute of Meteorology, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences
  Download Slides | Photo*
• Prof. DDr. Arno Scharl, Vice President and Head of Department, MODUL University Vienna, Department of New Media Technology
  Download Slides | Photo*
• Dr. David Stainforth, Senior Research Fellow, London School of Economics, Grantham Research Institute
  Download Slides | Photo*
• Moderator: Thomas E. Bowman, MA, President of the Bowman Design Group and Founder of the Climate Solutions Project
  Download Slides | Photo*

The departments of Public Governance and New Media Technology of MODUL University Vienna have launched a common research project with other research institution to establish a Climate Change Collaboratory. The collaboratory aims to strengthen the relations between Austrian scientists, policy makers, educators, environmental NGOs, news media and corporations - stakeholders who recognize the need for adaptation and mitigation, but differ in worldviews, goals and agendas.

From December 7 to 15, the world's attention will be focused on the United Nation's Climate Change Conference (COP15) to be held in Copenhagen, Denkmark. The global importance of the event has sparked the interest of news media, blog authors, environmental organizations and the corporate sector alike.

Stefan Gössling, Professor at the Department of Service Management at Lund University, Sweden, and research coordinator at the Western Norway Research Institute’s Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism gave a presentation on the 23rd of October 2009 at MODUL University entitled: “The Future of Tourism out of a Climate Mitigation Perspective: the Post-Kyoto Emissions Challenge".

The travel industry must transform itself in order to adapt to the wide spreading impact of climate change. According to Stefan Gössling, it is still early enough for the industry to respond to climate change.

The World Environment Day 2009 is an ideal opportunity to emphasize the importance of new forms of communication and collaboration for addressing global environmental problems. Acquiring, managing and applying knowledge are crucial steps in coordinating environmental action and ensuring that change is conceived and implemented on both regional and society-wide scales.

Publicly accessible Web applications such as the Media Watch on Climate Change, released by MODUL University Vienna's Department of New Media Technology in a significantly extended version earlier today, are an important tool to increase transparency, create shared meaning and support sustainable processes.

On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, MU Vienna hosted a panel discussion on "Climate neutral" travel offers organized in cooperation with the NGOs respect (Institute for Integrative Tourism and Development), Naturfreunde Internationale and Klimabündnis Österreich. Recognizing the interrelationships between climate change and tourism as outlined in the UN reports:

Invitation to Panel Discussion

Wednesday, 3 December 2008, 18:00
MODUL University Vienna
Am Kahlenberg 1, 1190 Vienna

How important is climate protection to the customer when choosing a travel offer?  And to which offers does the travel industry react?

Dear all,

Welcome to the new issue of our newsletter. This issue provides news and web sources dealing with the issues of sustainability.