General Terms and Conditions (GTC) of the Eco-Social Forum Austria & Europe

These General Terms and Conditions become part of the contract between event participants or speakers or purchasers and the Ökosoziales Forum upon registration (for participants) or confirmation (for speakers) for an event or upon ordering a publication. Participants, speakers, or purchasers agree to these General Terms and Conditions.

1. Scope of application of these T&Cs

The terms and conditions apply to events and publications of the Eco-Social Forum Austria & Europe.

2. Event Registration

Registration can be done online via the website, by email or, depending on the event, by telephone. Further information can be found in the respective event details. The registration deadline is visible in the respective event details.

3. Payment of the participation fee for events

Should a participation fee be payable, please refer to the event details for the exact payment terms.

4. Cancellation of a registration

No course or cancellation fees will be charged for timely cancellations or non-attendance at an event, unless this is explicitly stated in the invitation.

5. Organisational Changes/Cancellations

The organiser reserves the right to make changes to dates, start times, speakers, the programme and venues, and to cancel events if necessary. In the event of cancellations or changes to start times, registered participants will be informed in good time. This does not apply to last-minute cancellations or changes due to force majeure. No claims for compensation may be derived from cancellations or postponements.

6. Conclusion of the contract

An order, which may be placed by telephone, email or via the website, is deemed to be a legally binding offer by the buyer to purchase the goods ordered at the stated price. Upon receipt of the order, the buyer will receive an email confirming the order and the availability of the goods ordered. The contract of sale for the goods ordered is concluded upon dispatch of the confirmation that the goods ordered are available.

Free copies of reports, brochures and factsheets, as well as a subscription to the newspaper *denk.stoff*, can be ordered by telephone, post or email, or – in the case of *denk.stoff* – via the relevant form on the website.

7. Delivery of goods

Goods ordered by buyers will be dispatched immediately, and in any event within 7 days of the dispatch of the order confirmation and confirmation of the availability of the goods ordered. Should one or more of the goods ordered be permanently unavailable, the Ökosoziales Forum may withdraw from the contract in respect of these goods, in which case the buyer will be notified immediately. Available goods will generally be dispatched in a single consignment; however, should one or more of the goods ordered not be in stock (or available at the time of the order), the Ökosoziales Forum is entitled to dispatch the ordered goods to the customer in partial deliveries, in which case delivery charges and fees will be incurred for each partial delivery and may be invoiced per partial delivery.

When you subscribe to denk.stoff magazine, your first delivery will be the next issue following your order. Back issues can be ordered by phone, post, and email.

8. Retention of title

The Eco-Social Forum reserves title to the goods delivered until the invoice amount has been paid in full. In the event of late payment of the invoice amount by the purchaser, the Ökosoziales Forum is, in particular, also entitled to withdraw from the contract after setting a reasonable grace period of 14 days. Notwithstanding this, buyers undertake to treat the goods with care and not to damage them until the invoice amount has been paid in full.

9. Right of withdrawal

Buyers who are regarded as consumers within the meaning of the Austrian Consumer Protection Act have – subject to the restrictions set out below – the right to withdraw from the contract of sale within seven working days (excluding Saturdays) of receipt of the ordered goods by the buyer, without giving any reason. Should the buyer exercise their right of withdrawal, they must:return the delivered goods to the Ökosoziales Forum without delay and at their own expense, and pay the Ökosoziales Forum reasonable compensation for their use, including compensation for the associated reduction in the fair market value of the goods.

You can cancel your subscription to our newspaper at any time by telephone, post or email, without giving a reason.

10. Price

All prices shown include VAT at the statutory rate (unless otherwise stated). In addition to these retail prices, delivery and postage costs will be charged at the actual rate incurred. The Ökosoziales Forum bears the cost of individual deliveries of free printed materials.

11. Disclaimer

The Eco-Social Forum has compiled all the information provided in its publications and on its website to the best of its knowledge and belief. However, it accepts no liability for the timeliness, accuracy or completeness of the information provided, unless the Eco-Social Forum can be shown to have acted with intent or gross negligence.

Furthermore, the Ökosoziales Forum accepts no liability for damage to or loss of participants’ or speakers’ personal belongings. In all other respects, any liability beyond the mandatory provisions of statutory law on compensation for damages is excluded.

The use of equipment and machinery not provided by the Eco-Social Forum is only permitted with its consent. Those bringing such equipment and machinery shall be solely liable for any damage caused by their use.

No claims for damages may be brought against the Eco-Social Forum arising from the application of knowledge acquired at the Eco-Social Forum. Participation in events organised by the Eco-Social Forum is, as a general rule, at one’s own risk. The Eco-Social Forum’s liability is limited to cases of wilful misconduct and gross negligence.

12. Compensation

The Ökosoziales Forum’s inventory, premises, media and equipment – or those hired by the Forum – must be used and treated with care. Participants and speakers are liable to pay compensation for any damage caused.

13. Photos/Videos

Photographs and video recordings may be taken at the events on behalf of the Eco-Social Forum. The photographs and/or videos taken may be used by the Eco-Social Forum for publication and dissemination in connection with the event, without any time or geographical restrictions. By attending the event, participants consent to the publication of such material free of charge, without the need for an explicit declaration by the individual concerned. This consent includes, in any case, the publication of the material in print media, on social media, on the Ökosoziales Forum’s websites, and its distribution via the Ökosoziales Forum’s mailing lists as part of a post-event review.

In the case of photographs or videos in which the focus is on individual people, participants have the right and the opportunity at any time to inform the photographer or videographer that they do not wish to be photographed or filmed. Should this not be possible or should this request not be taken into account (or cannot be taken into account), the Ökosoziales Forum undertakes to prevent publication upon receipt of a written notification to that effect, which must be submitted no later than two days after the event.

Speakers consent to the taking of photographs and video recordings, as well as their publication on social media, on the Ökosoziales Forum’s websites, and their distribution via the Ökosoziales Forum’s mailing lists as part of the event recap. They have the right to prevent such publication, provided they give valid reasons.

14. Copyright Compliance

By submitting/providing presentations, the speaker confirms that no third-party rights are infringed upon for any content/photos/graphics/illustrations used within the presentations and that the usage rights lie with the speaker or their company. These rights are also transferred to the Ökosoziales Forum for the use of the content/photos/graphics/illustrations in the context of the event review.

15. Data Protection

Login system/Webshop

All personal details provided by those who have registered or by participants will, as a matter of principle, be treated as confidential. Participants and speakers accept the automated processing of personal data for the purpose of processing their registration and consent to being contacted for confirmation and in the event of any queries. The contracting parties agree that personal data such as name, address and email address may be stored and consent to receiving further information or invitations. This consent may be withdrawn at any time by telephone, post or email.

By participating in a sponsored event and providing their LFBIS number, participants agree that personal data (first name and surname, older/younger than 40 years, LFBIS no.) will be stored for 10 years and transmitted upon request of the responsible federal ministry, the EU and other funding bodies for proof purposes. For events that receive recognition as an animal health service (TGD) continuing education and plant protection specialist qualification, participants agree that data (first name and surname, date of birth, address, LFBIS no., TGD no.) will be passed on to the responsible authorities solely for the purpose of clarifying whether the compulsory continuing education hours have been met.

Our range of events incorporates features and content from the pretix service, provided by rami.io GmbH, Markgräfler Straße 16, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany. This includes the ticket shop, which is integrated via a JavaScript widget. When you purchase a ticket, pretix uses a technically necessary cookie to facilitate the ordering process and to remember which shopping basket belongs to you. The cookie is set as soon as you interact with the widget. pretix does not store IP addresses, browser information or other unnecessary metadata beyond the duration of your request. Further information on data protection in our online shop can be found here: https://pretix.eu/about/de/privacy

Zoho

Personal data that you have provided to us via the contact form, in registration for an event, or via email, will be processed and maintained by us with the help of a customer relationship system.

For this purpose, we use the CRM system and the Campaigns tool provided by Zoho GmbH, Trinkausstr. 7, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany (hereinafter „Zoho"). The data transmitted to Zoho is used for the purpose of establishing the requested contact and for processing or initiating the business relationship, and will only be used for these purposes. The legal basis is our legitimate interest, pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, in managing your customer data and in responding to your enquiries.

Further information on Zoho's privacy and cookie policies
General Zoho Cookie Policy: https://www.zoho.com/de/privacy/cookie-policy.html
General information about GDPR: https://www.zoho.com/gdpr.html
Zoho Campaigns Cookie Policy: https://www.zoho.com/campaigns/cookie-policy.html

Plugins and tools

Vimeo

Our website uses plugins from the video portal Vimeo. The provider is Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA. When you visit one of our pages featuring a Vimeo plugin, a connection is established with Vimeo’s servers. In doing so, the Vimeo server is informed which of our pages you have visited. Vimeo also obtains your IP address. This applies even if you are not logged in to Vimeo or do not have a Vimeo account. The information collected by Vimeo is transmitted to the Vimeo server in the USA. If you are logged into your Vimeo account, you allow Vimeo to link your browsing behaviour directly to your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your Vimeo account. Further information can be found in Vimeo’s privacy policy: https://vimeo.com/privacy

Google Maps

This page uses the Google Maps service via an API. The provider is Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. In order to use the functions of Google Maps, it is necessary to store your IP address. This information is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. The provider of this website has no influence over this data transfer. The use of Google Maps is in the interests of presenting our online services in an appealing manner and ensuring that the locations specified on our website can be easily found. This constitutes a legitimate interest within the meaning of Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. Further information can be found in Google’s privacy policy: https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/

Social media plug-ins

We use so-called social media plug-ins on the website, which are interfaces to social networks. When you visit the website, the system automatically establishes a connection with the respective social network due to the integration of the social media plug-ins and transmits data (IP address, visit to the website, etc.). The data transmission occurs without the involvement and outside the responsibility of Ökosoziales Forum. We point out that you can prevent this data transmission by using appropriate browser extensions.

The social media platforms integrated into the website are:

Instagram – Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. Privacy Policy: https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy

Facebook – Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. Privacy Policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy

LinkedIn – Provider LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy Policy: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy

Flickr – Provider: Flickr, Inc., 67 E Evelyn Ave, Ste 200, Mountain View, CA 94041, USA. Privacy policy: https://www.flickr.com/help/privacy

Holding online meetings

For conducting virtual meetings and virtual events, we use the online meeting tools Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc., 55 Almaden Blvd, Suite 600, San Jose, CA 95113, USA) and Teams (Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399, USA). The purpose of processing is communication via a video conferencing and web conferencing platform for conducting telephone conferences, online meetings, video conferences and/or webinars.

Zoom Privacy Policy: https://explore.zoom.us/de/privacy/
Data Protection Declaration Teams: https://privacy.microsoft.com/de-de/privacystatement

The legal basis for data collection is our legitimate interest pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. If any recordings are made during the meeting, the consent of the data subjects will be obtained beforehand pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR. Your personal data will be deleted by us as soon as the purpose for storage and processing ceases to apply, provided that there is no statutory obligation for longer retention.

Your rights

In connection with the processing of your data, you always have the rights to access, rectification, erasure („right to be forgotten"), restriction of processing, data portability, objection or withdrawal (in the case of consent) as well as to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority.

16. Links

This website contains links to other sites. The Eco-Social Forum Austria & Europe assumes no responsibility for the data protection practices or content published on other sites.

17. Cookie Policy

Like most other websites, oekosozial.at also uses so-called cookies. This cookie policy applies to all websites, as well as to our presence on third-party platforms (such as LinkedIn or Instagram) and to applications that are accessed via such websites or used through them. By clicking on „Agree" in the cookie banner on the website, you agree to the use of cookies and website analysis tools.

What are cookies?

Cookies are pieces of information that a browser stores when you visit a website. On a subsequent visit, this information is made available to the website again. This allows the website, for example, to recognise a logged-in user or to display interest-based advertising.

Using Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google Inc. Google Analytics uses so-called „cookies", which are text files stored on your computer and enable an analysis of your use of the website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services related to website use. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You can prevent the installation of cookies by adjusting your browser software accordingly; however, we would like to point out that in this case, you may not be able to use all the functions of this website to their full extent.

Google Privacy Policy: www.google.at/intl/de/policies/privacy/
Disable Google Analytics tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de

Reject cookies

Most internet browsers are configured to accept cookies by default. You can change the settings to reject cookies or to notify you when cookies are sent to your device. Information on how to adjust your browser's settings can be found in your browser's user manual or help screen.

18. Exclusion of Events

If this is necessary to guarantee the course or event objectives, the Ökosoziale Forum Österreich & Europa is entitled, for objective reasons (e.g. disrupting the event, aggressive or destructive behaviour towards other course participants or speakers/lecturers), to exclude participants from the event without refunding any participation fee. Exclusion includes denial of access to or removal from an event.

19. Membership

Membership of the association is open to: private individuals, legal interest groups and professional associations, organisations or associations of employers and employees, environmental organisations, agricultural and forestry cooperatives and their associations, federal states, regions and municipalities, universities, higher education institutions and their facilities, legal entities in agriculture and forestry, credit and insurance, industry, trade and crafts and their organisations, professors, lecturers and assistants at universities, higher education institutions, universities of applied sciences and academies, employees of public administration, interest groups and organisations related to the eco-social model of society, village renewal associations, associations and initiatives for the promotion and implementation of the eco-social market economy.

Membership commences upon acceptance by the board of directors. Membership ends through resignation, exclusion, non-payment of membership fees for two years despite reminders and a further period of two weeks, or dissolution of a member organisation, and in the case of natural persons, death. Resignation must be declared in writing to the board of directors at least three months before the end of the financial year. It takes effect at the end of the financial year. The board of directors decides on exclusion. The financial year is the calendar year.

Members may attend general meetings and have the right to vote and to be elected in accordance with the provisions of the Articles of Association. Members are obliged to pay their membership fees.

20. Jurisdiction

For any disputes arising from these Terms and Conditions, Vienna shall be the agreed place of jurisdiction.

As of: April 2024