Wisdom Council in Wolfurt wins! OGUT Environment Prize

The Austrian Society for Environment and Technology (OGUT, www.oegut.at) has recently awarded the OGUT Environment Prize 2006 for exemplary environment projects. The award took place in the context of the traditional annual meeting of the OGUT in Vienna/Austria.\

Seven winners are pleased with the prize money of altogether 24,500.- EUR (approx. US $ 30,000), the highest ever been made available.

Three municipalities received the OGUT Environment Prize 2006 for the inclusion of citizens into the local sustainable development: the municipality of Wolfurt (Vorarlberg), the municipality of Maeder (Vorarlberg) and the German city of Weyarn.

The municipality of Wolfurt (www.wolfurt.at) won the main prize with their Wisdom Council (www.wisedemocracy.org), that was applied in the context of a mission statement process. This citizen's participation project focused on the topic "preservation of the good quality of life and the high standard of living" and was conducted by the Office for Future Related Issues of the State Government of Vorarlberg (www.vorarlberg.at/zukunft).

About the Austrian Society for Environment and Technology

The Austrian Society for Environment and Technology was founded as a non-party platform in 1985 - after the débacle of the Hainburg hydropower scheme - with the aim of overcoming barriers to communication in areas of conflict between economics and ecology.

The Austrian Society for Environment and Technology is the non-party platform for the environment, business and authorities.

With a membership comprising around 70 organizations from business, administration, employment and the environmental movement, OGUT is well equipped to forge links between its members, to process information competently and to initiate innovative ways of dealing with challenges involving the environment.