E.C.O. Institute of Ecology

We are a research and consulting company for ‘nature conservation in the 21st century’ with focus on protected areas and certified regions.

With

  • specialised ecological planning,
  • vegetation surveys,
  • innovative communication concepts
  • and sustainable development cooperation,

we are actively committed to fulfilling the global Sustainable Development Goals.

 

 

E.C.O. in numbers

 

 

622

projects

160

long-standing customers

40

countries

74,974

hours in nature

230

publications

5,357

km² mapping

92

theses

92

alumni



Ecology | Communication | Organisation

E.C.O. stands for Ecology, Communication and Organisation. These 3 pillars form the basis of our company's success in nature conservation.

'Ecology' stands for our ecological proficiency, our team's knowledge in natural sciences and our expertise that we place all at the service of our customers.

'Communication' means translating scientific knowledge and insights into the language of different stakeholders. Successful communication and involving all stakeholders is essential for a nature conservation project to be successfully realised.

'Organisation' describes our elaborate project management and professional business infrastructure - from book keeping to IT proficiency. Thus, we guarantee our customers professional and efficient project realisation.

 

Together we accomplish more – our networks

We are embedded in several national and international networks.

 

As a company we cooperate with international institutions, NGOs and associations such as Alparc, EUROPARC, IUCN, Ramsar, UNESCO, WWF.

Projects
In our projects, we place our expertise at the service of various public institutions such as ASFINAG, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Joanneum Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), Austrian Federal Forests (ÖBf), Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Austrian environmental umbrella organisation (UWD), Vienna University of Technology, Federal Environmental Agency (UBA), Natural History Museum Vienna (NHM), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU).
We are also active for municipalities, cities and regions.

Research activities
In the context of our research activities, we are embedded in a local network and are in close exchange with actors such as the University of Klagenfurt, the build! start-up center Carinthia GmbH, the Carinthian Economic Development Fund, the Educational Lab, the Lakeside Science and Technology Park, the State of Carinthia, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the ScienceCenter network.

International support
Project sponsors and supporters are often international organisations such as the Austrian Development Agency, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), ECO Consult, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the GFA Consulting Group, the OeAD, the Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB), the UNIQUE Forestry and Land Use GmbH.

Individual commitment
On an individual level, our staff members are represented with their expertise in various expert committees. E.C.O. Managing Director Hanns Kirchmeir is a Board Member of the European Beech Forest Network and part of the Working Group on Forests and Nature of the European Commission, a subgroup of the Coordination Group for Biodiversity and Nature (CGBN). Christina Pichler-Koban is, among other things, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Wienerwald Biosphere Reserve, a board member of the Environmental History Cluster Austria and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Ökolog Network.

Some of our employees share their knowledge and experience as lecturers at universities and colleges. For example, company founder Michael Jungmeier has held the UNESCO Chair of Sustainable Management of Conservation Areas at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences since 2020.

Thanks to our dedicated employees and our worldwide customers and partners, we have been able to successfully implement a large number of conservation projects for more than 20 years.


A little journey through time | Milestones of the E.C.O. company history

Michael Jungmeier founds the Institute for Applied Ecology together with a partner, initially as a ‘souvenir dealer’ because there is still no suitable trade for conservation work.

 

You can find more E.C.O. milestones in our anniversary brochure 2017.

We look forward to continuing the E.C.O. company history together with you.