Martin Albrecht, Chair of the International Riverfoundation, outlines the criteria to be fulfilled by those seeking to win the (national and international) Thiess Riverprize, which is jointly awarded by the Riverfestival and the International Riverfoundation: “The prizes going to Australian and international winners were first launched in 1999 and are awarded every year to identify ‘best practices’ in water management, water protection and restoration of aquatic ecosystems.

The generous prize money enables winners to put their river rescue ideas into action to save our most important waterways.” The winners of this year’s prizes were announced on 4th September during a special award ceremony at the 10th International Riversymposium & Environmental Flows Conference in Brisbane.

The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), with its seat in Vienna’s UNO City, had to assert itself against a number of serious competitors. Among the finalists were several prominent organisations (more closely located to Australia), such as the Yellow River Conservancy Commission (PR China).

Jasmine Bachmann (PR) and Gyula Holló (Head of the Hungarian Delegation of ICPDR), who represented ICPDR at the Riversymposium, were therefore completely taken by surprise when they received the prestigious award. Despite holding an impromptu acceptance speech, Mr. Holló managed to give the audience (including IWA President David Garman) a good overview of their exciting transboundary collaboration for the protection of the Danube and roused further curiosity.

When elaborating on the reasons for choosing ICPDR as winner of the Thiess Riverprize, Martin Albrecht addressed this partnership among the Danube countries and said it was a shining example for other comparably structured international river systems. Albrecht also expressed his organisation’s hope that an adequate transfer of know-how could be established.

ICPDR Executive Secretary Philip Weller said the success his organisation had launched in remote Australia was a reward for all those people and institutions that had been putting all their effort into the Danube Basin throughout the years. Weller has promised to allocate a first part of the prize money to a lively exchange with organisations in other large river basins worldwide, as suggested by the Thiess Committee.

Some of the prize money would also flow into public relations activities in the Danube Basin, he said, such as in the framework of the 2008 IWA World Water Congress in Vienna.
(Source: aqua press Int. 3/2007, Mag. Christof Hahn)