Election of the Board of the Club of Rome – Austrian Chapter – Club of Rome

In June 2025, the General Assembly of the Club of Rome – Austrian Chapter (CoR-AT) took place at the premises of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB). In addition to an engaging exchange on content, an important organizational step was at the center of the agenda: the election of a new board. With a broad majority, a team was elected that combines scientific expertise, practical experience, and strong commitment, bringing fresh impulses to the work of the Austrian Chapter.

The new Board

**Photo:** The current board of the Club of Rome – Austrian Chapter (as of 2025). From left to right: Mar-tin Hoffmann (Secretary General), Josef Meichenitsch, Sabine Gaber, Reinhold Lang, Michael Losch, Andreas Gotwald.

The newly elected board consists of:

Function	Name
President	Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhold W. Lang (*)
Vice President	Mag.a Sabine Gaber
Vice President (interim)	Dr. Michael Losch (*)
Secretary	Dr. Karl Steininger
Deputy Secretary	Mag.a Gertrude Suschko
Treasurer	Prof. Dr. Andreas Gotwald (*)
Deputy Treasurer	Dr. Michael Losch
Further Board Members	Dr. Rudolf Scholten Mag. Josef Meichenitsch (*)

(*) newly elected to the Board and/or in a new role.

The new faces on the Board

With this election, three new personalities joined the board who will enrich the association’s work with their expertise and perspectives:

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhold W. Lang, emeritus professor at Johannes Kepler University Linz, is the new President. With his long-standing international experience in science and applied research, he will especially advance the Austrian Chapter in the areas of comprehensive carbon manage-ment, energy transition, and climate justice.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Gotwald takes over the role of Treasurer. The physicist and technology consultant has over 25 years of experience in research, development, and innovation support, both in aca-demia and in the private sector, and has long been active as an EU expert.
Mag. Josef Meichenitsch, economist and member of the board of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), is responsible for payments, financial education, and IT. Among other achievements, he led the first climate stress test of the Austrian banking system.

Thanks to outgoing Board members

With great respect and gratitude, the General Assembly bid farewell to Dr. Hannes Swoboda, Mag. Anton Kolarik, and Dr. Friedrich Hinterberger. In particular, Hannes Swoboda, a founding member since 1987, significantly shaped the development of the Aus-trian Chapter and, as President since 2018, made important contributions – not least by es-tablishing Earth4All Austria.

“You co-founded the Club and shaped it with great commitment until the very end. Your contri-butions were always carefully prepared and of high quality. As President, you took on an out-standing role since 2018, particularly in building Earth4All Austria. We are pleased that you will remain with the association as a member.”
– Mag.a Sabine Gaber

**Photo:** Vice President Sabine Gaber presents farewell gifts to Friedrich Hinterberger and Anton Kolarik in recognition of their long-standing commitment and valuable contributions to the CoR-AT.

Exchange of ideas and perspectives

Under the motto “Impulses for a sustainable society”, the General Assembly also provided space for in-depth discussions. Key topics included:

the new Bioeconomy Strategy for Europe (Dr. Michael Losch),
the NextEnergy platform of the World Energy Council Austria (Univ.-Prof. Stefan Schleicher),
and the role of industry in building comprehensive carbon management (Univ.-Prof. Reinhold Lang).

These impulses highlighted the close link between scientific expertise and social responsibility, which will continue to guide the Club of Rome – Austrian Chapter in the future.

**Photo:** Dr. Michael Losch, Univ.-Prof. Stefan Schleicher, and Univ.-Prof. Reinhold Lang during the discussion at the 2025 General Assembly of the Club of Rome – Austrian Chapter.

Looking back & moving forward

The past years, shaped above all by the Earth4All Austria project, have strengthened the association both organizationally and in terms of content. The new board aims to continue this development and to actively shape the social transformation through new alliances, a stronger focus on education, and the promotion of interdisciplinary dialogue.

**Photo:** The 2025 General Assembly provided ample space for personal exchange: members engaged in discussions about ongoing projects, new ideas, and future activities of the Austrian Chapter.

We look forward to the coming years and to taking the next steps toward a sustainable and just future together.

A first visible step into this new phase is the launch of our event format NEXT LEVEL Forum Series of the CoR-AT, which will regularly put current future-oriented topics at the center of discussion.

The series will kick off with the event

“NEXT LEVEL Carbon Management in Industry”
on 1 December 2025, 16:00–20:00 at the Austrian National Bank (OeNB).

The program will run until 19:00 and will bring together senior representatives from industry and business, a voice from European Union institutions, as well as perspectives from civil society. Afterwards, a buffet will provide the opportunity for personal exchange and networking. This event marks the beginning of a three-part series that will systematically examine existing carbon cycles and highlight a topic that has so far received too little attention.

We warmly invite you to save the date and join us in discussing innovative solutions and perspectives. You can already register here:
👉 Eventbrite Registration

Further information on the program will follow shortly.