A regional approach to sustainability in Austria

The political discussion about sustainable development had an early start in the Austrian context. The concept of “eco‐social market economy” was introduced at the end of the 1980s and dominated the Austrian approach towards sustainable development for much of the 1990s. This early start had some consequences especially regarding regional approaches towards the implementation of sustainable development. One major feature was the absence of local or regional LA 21 initiatives and a proliferation of diverse regional approach acts to further sustainable development. One approach put into effect in the Feldbach region in the south‐east of Austria was the concept of Islands of Sustainability. The idea of this concept was the realisation of a regional pathway towards sustainable development via conscious management of flows (of matters, products, capital, etc.) into the region as well as increasing the intra‐regional networking of social actors. This concept called for a long term involvement of research in the process of implementation of sustainable development. The experiences showed that existing research institutions, such as universities as well as consultant companies, were not optimally equipped to support this process. As a consequence, a new approach of “regionalised” research centres was adopted. This approach ensured accessibility of research capacity by the important players in the region, as well as efficient application of scientific knowledge to concrete on‐the‐ground decision making within the region.