More than 500 guests of honour gathered for the event, among them Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich, Heinz Hufnagl (3rd President of the Vienna Landtag), Wolfgang Anzengruber (CEO of Verbund) and Alfred Riedl (Vice-President of the Austrian Association of Municipalities). Another celebration highlight was the final of the ÖWAV young professionals contest “Future Lounge – Zukunft denken”. ÖWAV President Roland Hohenauer reminded the audience in this context that even back in 1909 the former hydropower interest group in Austria-Hungary had promoted young professionals – and is still doing so today.
The first Future Lounge invited people to send in their waste and water management visions for the year 2050. 200 hope bearers took the challenge and submitted a total of 35 projects. After audience votings in the federal provinces of Salzburg and Vienna, Helmut Kroiss and Paul H. Brunner, two professors from the Vienna University of Technology (TU), awarded the winners in the water and waste categories. The jury was highly satisfied with the quality of the submitted ideas. The final winner of the contest was again selected by the audience.
(Source: aqua press Int. 3/2009, Mag. Christof Hahn)
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