Lund-Durlacher's blog

On March 11, the former federal environment minister, Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer, awarded the new certificate “CSR-Tourism-Certified” of the “forum anders reisen” (far – literally translated forum traveling differently) to the first 15 tour operators for their sustainability achievements at the ITB Berlin.

The acronym CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility and circumscribes businesses’ contributions to sustainable development that go beyond legal requirements. A guideline to CSR reporting was developed by “forum anders reisen” under the management of “Kontaktstelle for Umwelt & Entwicklung” (KATE – literally translated Contact Point for Environment and Development) and a European network of tourism experts. This guarantees the quality and comparability of the CSR reports in tourism for the first time ever.

On March 9, 2009, Prof. Lund-Durlacher discussed possible approaches to the attainability of a balanced work-life balance with Federal Minister Niki Berlakovich, Woman’s State Secretary Christine Marek, the Federal Ministery for Economy, Family and Youth, and Mag. Martina Hörmer from REWE in front of approximately 200 guests in the Marble Hall of the Ministry for Economic Affairs. Prof. Lund-Durlacher also presented the first results of a study that is being conducted by MODUL University about the work situation of women in the Austrian hotel and restaurant industry.

During the Vienna Travel Exhibition 2009 (Wiener Ferienmesse 2009), the “Live well – travel green!” convention took place in the Vienna Exhibition Center. It was hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture and the Institute for Integrative Tourism and Development “respect”. Representatives from national and international tour operators, tourism specialists, as well as mobility experts took part in the discussions about the characteristics and possibilities of the implementation of green travel opportunities.

Professor Lund-Durlacher held a presentation at this year’s Sustainability Conference 2008 (Nachhaltigkeitskonferenz 2008) in Pielachtal, Austria, where more than 100 industry experts discussed the role sustainability can take in the future development of the tourism industry. The integration of multiple aspects of sustainability – social, ecological and economical - was exemplified in the conference theme Sustainability as a Chance (Nachhaltigkeit als Chance).