Preface by the Governor

The 4th NEW MOBILITY FORUMis just around the corner and again it will attract experts from across Europe to Carinthia. The past three years have demonstrated that this expert congress around e-mobility and renewable energy systems has developed into a platform of international renown that gathers representatives from business, industry, research & science to provide us with an insight into the current state-of-the-art and to discuss the future of these important sustainable issues.

The NEW MOBILITY FORUM 2012, which is organised in cooperation with the Institute of Technology and Alternative Mobility, will bring our province again into the focus of Europe as a model region for electric mobility and sustainable energy production.

However, apart from the NEW MOBILITY FORUM, "Lebensland Kärnten" is taking other measures, too, to pave the way for Carinthia into an energy-autonomous and electro-mobile future. More than 100 test drivers have already experienced that noiseless and emission-free driving feel conveyed by our Mercedes E-Cell fleet, which is tested in a cooperation project in Carinthia, and many enthusiastic test drivers will follow in the next months. In this way, we change the way our Carinthian citizens perceive mobility and demonstrate that there are eco-friendly alternatives to conventional motor vehicles. Moreover, "Lebensland Kärnten" supports the solar power plant in St. Veit an der Glan, which has been feeding "green" electricity into the grid since August 2011, thus making St. Veit energy-autonomous step-by-step.

These initiatives prove that we are acting very purposefully to turn Carinthia into an energy-autonomous and environmentally-conscious province.

I am looking forward to meeting you at the NEW MOBILITY FORUM 2012 and to being updated by our international experts on the latest findings and developments.

Yours truly,
Governor Gerhard Dörfler