The Vienna Salon Talks started in March 2026 at the Vienna Grand Gallery. They provide sustainable impulses for tomorrow and are a discourse series of Social City Wien in cooperation with the CSR Dialogue Forum, the Vienna Grand Gallery, Nibra and Donaustadtecho. The topic of the first event: “From duty to freestyle: Sustainability as a competitive advantage for SMEs”.
After the welcome by Nikolaus Brada, the host and Prof. Wolfgang Bandion, the curator of the Vienna Grand Gallery, the guests exchanged ideas and experiences on and with sustainability activities.
At the beginning of the discussion, moderator Wolfgang Renner asked about the importance of SMEs in Austria, which account for over 90% of companies, as well as their approach. “The key to a successful company is first and foremost the workforce. Small and medium-sized enterprises retain their employees even in the bad times. Emotional connections are built, and a satisfied employee is a high-quality employee,” explained Nikolaus Brada, who faced major challenges, especially during the pandemic due to the standstill on construction sites. His strategy was to offer his elevators in the federal regions of Austria in addition to Veinna, so market expansion was his success factor. “The employees thanked me for it with great commitment. We have become an incredibly tight-knit team,” says the entrepreneur. Ursula Oberhollenzer adds: “Keyword Employer Branding: If I act sustainably and can prove it, I have competitive advantages on the labor market, which is a key success factor in times of a shortage of skilled workers.”
The Businessart Magazine from Lebensart Verlag was created from the Sustainable Creator Award, which was launched in 2009. This is awarded to entrepreneurs and managers who have set sustainable milestones. The basis is transparent criteria, selected by a jury of experts. “For the first time, the award has made sustainable pioneers widely visible. Our approach to lifestyle and business style: Information must be action-oriented and solution-oriented. Proposed solutions should inspire readers to think about solutions themselves,” says publisher Roswitha Reisinger.
Roland Spitzhirn‘s company – Wiener Eisfabriken – is a cooperative, so he said: “Our credo: Customer satisfied, cooperative member satisfied, employees satisfied – then you do a good job. We do that at minus 28 degrees. We know the families and life stories of all employees. If there are problems, we support them – also financially.”
In the energy sector, costs can be reduced in the medium term, for example, by installing solar panels, and the topic of energy communities is also a good solution to optimize energy generation and supply in cooperation with local residents. In 2022, Roland Spitzhirn successfully implemented the Eisbärenpower Energiegemeinschaft e.Gen. according to the possibilities of the legislator. Nibra is currently working on an innovation with solar panels and steel structures to further increase efficiency and subsequently reduce costs. This leads us to innovations that are another success factor in the context of sustainability. A nice example of this is Bellaflora. After the decision to discontinue glyphosate – a bestseller – the company has developed a new solution concept: plant strengthening instead of pesticides. Then chemical fertilizers were phased out and finally peat was replaced. “This required 10 years of research, but this is sustainability in consequence,” explained Roswitha Reisinger.
The very interested audience then asked, among other things, how to inspire those companies that are not yet geared towards sustainability. Ursula Oberhollenzer says: “There are always the first movers and visionaries. We have to take the next cohort with us – through cooperations, role models, scalable projects. Collaborations are central to using swarm intelligence.” And when it comes to taking young people on the journey, Roland Spitzhirn said: “It’s about trust and respect. You have to show that you are not only interested in short-term profit. And say clearly what you can’t offer.”
Finally, the President of the CSR Dialogue Forum, Stefan Blachfellner, also had his say and invited the audience to join the Communities of Practice in the association or to start their own CoP to work together on future topics. During the lively networking, there were many exciting discussions and initial cooperation ideas as well as offers for further events in the Vienna Grand Gallery.
We would also like to thank the supporters of this series of events on behalf of Social City Vienna, represented by the managing directors Emil Diaconu and Richard Vrzal:
