Join Us for SETAC Vienna: Where Science and Sustainability Take Center Stage
Hanna Schreiber, Barbara Wetzer and Leo Posthuma, Chairs of the SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting Programme Committee
The SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting, taking place from 11–15 May 2025 in Vienna, Austria, is set to offer a harmonious blend of science, sustainability and networking. Registration is now open, and right now is your window to secure early bird rates before fees increase on 13 March.
As always, we’re not just discussing sustainability – we’re putting it into practice. This year, we have the perfect backdrop to emphasize our efforts. With a meeting theme focused on “Innovation for Tomorrow: Progress in Safe and Sustainable Concepts” and a host city committed to eco-friendly practices, SETAC Vienna provides an ideal setting to reinforce our commitment and hit the right note on sustainability. To demonstrate our dedication, we are pursuing a Green Meeting Label to ensure our event aligns with environmentally responsible practices.
Read on to discover what awaits you at SETAC Vienna, including a compelling theme, enticing keynotes and sustainable practices—learn why this is a must-attend event you don’t want to miss.
Our Theme, Your Theme
Publications addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution put a big spotlight on research, policies and practices of scientists in the field of environmental toxicology and chemistry. This year’s meeting theme emphasizes the need for integration of cutting-edge innovations with safety and sustainability considerations, through implementation and expansion of the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) thinking. We should all foster developments that drive the essential transition towards a safe and sustainable chemical economy and environment.
Applying the concept of SSbD goes beyond the development, use and fate of new molecules and products. It serves us as an overarching mindset that can be applied to areas such as designing cities, production and consumption chains, land uses and landscapes. Upon taking this mindset, this year’s meeting program has been carefully designed to recognize the need to bridge the various safety and sustainability topics and fields of expertise under the SETAC umbrella. We must integrate them consistently under the SSbD framework. More than ever before, we can effectively liaise safety and risk assessment with life cycle assessment approaches, and more, if the fields interconnect under the SSbD umbrella at the meeting. Following this approach, the Scientific Committee has designed the sessions and selected keynotes to inspire participants with the mindset needed to drive meaningful change and foster interdisciplinary exchange, ensuring a safer and more sustainable future for both the environment and human health.
The SETAC Vienna keynote line-up reflects this thinking, with John Elkington leading the way. His Sunday opening keynote is scheduled to set the scene for innovative thinking and bridging disciplines. Elkington is one of the founders of the global sustainability movement and has been a visiting professor at Cranfield, Imperial College and University College London. He is the author or coauthor of 21 books, with recent ones covering both the history of developing sustainability approaches over the past decades and an outlook to improve sustainability thinking and acting. Using the Green Swan as a metaphor, he made us already think about the scientific and practical solutions that are needed to forward a safe chemical economy. This opening lecture may thus result in the week-long buzz intended by the meeting theme. Throughout the week, participants have space to re-think their own and known scientific views if needed, react if they can, and build bridges between disciplines.
Katrin Vorkamp, the second keynote speaker, will take the stage on Monday to examine science’s powerful impact on policy and practice, highlighting its relevance in remote environments like the Arctic and Antarctic. Vorkamp’s talk will focus on how climate change affects the distribution, persistence and remobilization of this legacy and emerging chemical pollution and discuss how evolving scientific insights have shaped global policies aimed at eliminating chemical pollution in these vulnerable regions. It is likely exciting to see that, and how, our works matter.
Tuesday’s keynote, Marco Baity-Jesi, will focus on the connection between our disciplines and all relevant issues of the swiftly developing Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence (ML/AI)-methodologies. Baity-Jesi will transfer information, bring the reality of ML/AI on stage for discussion, and focus on specific subjects in the world of ML/AI relevant to SETAC. Can ML/AI help us design SSbD chemicals, even under data-poor conditions? Can ML/AI be the basis for a Green Swan trajectory to a safer chemical economy? There are major opportunities and challenges of working with ML/AI for (potentially) the design and evaluation (fate, hazards) of existing and novel chemicals – including both the benefits and potential dangers of using such innovative technological aspects.
Finally, recognizing that good science needs effective communication in an engaging and compelling way, we turn to our fourth topic: scientific storytelling. For this plenary slot, we will be joined by Yaz Ellis, an award-winning wildlife filmmaker and camerawoman who specializes in Austrian wildlife. In her talk, she will focus on how wildlife in Vienna is adapting to and challenged by urbanization and human impacts, sharing her experiences and observations as a camerawoman in the area. Featuring captive stories and video footage, Yaz Ellis promises to indulge you in the world of Vienna's wildlife and the unprecedented challenges they face in today's modern world.
Let us create unforgettable moments of exchanging ideas and best practices; let us collaborate on actionable insights and practical strategies for implementing innovative solutions in various real-world contexts. SETAC Europe annual meetings may even set the scene for the formation of new collaborations and partnerships to broadly advance safe and sustainable by design solutions.
A Green Meeting in a Green City
SETAC Vienna is not only about advancing sustainability in science—it’s also about practicing it. And where better than in Vienna, a city known for its commitment to environmental consciousness and green living?
SETAC Europe’s 35th Annual Meeting host city, Vienna, is situated between the green surroundings of the Vienna Woods and the Danube wetlands and within reach of the Leitha mountains and Lake Neusiedl. Vienna was ranked first among the “World's 10 Greenest Cities” in 2020. Despite sustainability expectations having evolved since then, Vienna continues to show the way through its investment in green spaces, renewable energy and eco-friendly urban development. We warmly invite you to check Vienna’s sustainability efforts for yourself when visiting the city in May.
Taking advantage of Vienna as the perfect backdrop and building on the sustainable-focused meeting theme, we are taking sustainability actions a step further and pursuing a Certified Green Meeting, organized according to the strict sustainability standards of the Austrian Ecolabel for Green Events and Green Meetings.
While SETAC Europe consistently strives for the highest environmental standards and its commitment to sustainability remains a top priority through the years, achieving this certification required some serious additional efforts beyond our usual initiatives. To make this possible, we have allocated a substantial amount of funding from our reinvestment fund, prioritizing the Green Meeting Certification over certain other event programs. This decision was made thoughtfully, reflecting on our strong commitment to practicing what we preach and ensuring that our sustainability efforts are not just words but actions that can be verified and recognized on an official level.
Having said this, sustainability is a collective effort, and we strongly invite all participants to contribute by making mindful choices for the event. Whether by using public transport, staying in eco-certified hotels, or reducing non-recyclable paper consumables, every little act contributes to making SETAC Vienna an event that truly represents its objectives and promotes sustainability in the way we meet, connect and collaborate. Participants are also welcome to make a small contribution during registration.
When registering, be sure to learn more about our sustainability efforts and how you can help with your actions.
Please join us in Vienna as this is one event you won’t want to waltz past!
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