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The city of Lienz and the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology have been awarded the prestigious ÖGUT Environmental Prize in the category "Sustainable Municipality". The award recognises their joint commitment to holistic, scientifically sound and future-oriented urban development, which is consistently geared towards making Lienz climate-neutral by 2040.
Lienz sets standards for sustainable urban development
With an integrated inner city development concept, the current energy and GHG balance (base year 2023) and a comprehensive climate neutrality roadmap, Lienz is one of Austria's pioneers in strategic, sustainable urban development. Back in 2022, the city of Lienz, together with Bruneck, Hermagor and Spittal an der Drau, developed a regionally coordinated inner city development concept, which has since served as the strategic basis for numerous measures to make the city lively, sustainable and resilient.
"Climate protection and sustainable urban development are key tasks for the future. With the GHG balance and the upcoming scenario analysis, we are creating a solid foundation for consistently pursuing our goals until 2040," emphasises Mayor Elisabeth Blanik. "We are very pleased about the ÖGUT award, which underlines our approach."
"Lienz impressively demonstrates how ambitious climate goals can be achieved with a clear, data-based and participatory approach. Our aim is not only to provide scientific support to cities on their path to climate neutrality, but also to work with local stakeholders to design viable and realistic transformation pathways," says Markus Ray, Head of the Digital Resilient Cities Department at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology.
AIT is developing the 2040 climate neutrality roadmap together with Lienz
As part of the federal funding programme Pionierkleinstadt (Pioneering Small Town), the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is working closely with the municipality of Lienz to draw up a comprehensive energy and GHG balance sheet for the year 2023. Based on this, a detailed climate neutrality roadmap will be developed, based on an integrated sectoral approach and a participatory co-creation process with local stakeholders.
"With this process, we are not only creating a scientifically sound basis for Lienz, but also a clear, jointly developed vision for the future," explains Sebastian Stortecky, project manager at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. "Our aim is not to formulate climate neutrality as an abstract goal, but to design it as a realistically achievable development path – transparent, measurable and tangible for all relevant sectors," says Stortecky. Sectors considered for the plan include mobility, buildings, energy, industry, climate change adaptation and soil protection.
The following elements will be developed by the end of January 2026:
- BAU scenario (business-as-usual) until 2040
- KNS scenario (climate neutrality scenario) until 2040
- Catalogue of measures with sector-specific fields of action
- KPI-based monitoring concept for the municipality of Lienz
- Draft of a transfer concept for the surrounding municipalities (Planning Association 36)
The project is funded by the FFG as part of its Climate-Neutral City 2024 initiative. The focus is on R&D services for the development of climate neutrality roadmaps for pioneering cities with a population of 10,000 or more.
Further award for AIT: RecAL: New standard for aluminium circular economy
In the category "Research & Innovation for the Circular Economy", the EU project RecAL, led by the LKR Light Metal Competence Centre Ranshofen of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, was awarded a prize. RecAL represents a paradigm shift in industrial aluminium production: instead of relying on primary materials, the project is developing new ways to recycle aluminium efficiently and network it across Europe via a digital platform.
RecAL is developing new recyclable aluminium alloys, high-precision sensor-based sorting processes and the digital "RecAL Hub", which links the material and data flows of European partners. The project is thus laying the foundation for a closed aluminium cycle that saves primary raw materials, reduces CO₂ emissions and strengthens the competitiveness of European industry. The project, funded under HORIZON EUROPE, brings together 19 partner organisations from nine European countries – from research institutions and technology providers to industrial users.
Prestigious award for sustainable innovation
The ÖGUT Environmental Award has been one of Austria's most prestigious sustainability awards since 1988. In 2025, a total of 27 projects in six main categories were nominated from 252 submissions. The award recognises projects, organisations and individuals that combine innovation, climate protection and social responsibility.
The prize money of €40,000 is donated by the Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI), the BMLUK, the FFG, the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns, as well as partner companies and foundations.
Press photos: Pictures of the award ceremony can be found here: https://www.oegut.at/de/initiativ/umweltpreis/2025/nh-kommune-lienz.php