Past winners
2010 Prof. Maciej Nowicki and Prof. Marek Gromiec, Poland In recognition of their respective efforts to reduce the Polish nutrient loads to the Baltic Sea.
2009 Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), Finland HELCOM works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental co-operation between Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. HELCOM is governing the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area" (the Helsinki Convention) and has shown exemplary commitment to improving the Baltic Sea through the adoption of the Baltic Sea Action Plan.
2008 Prof. Krzysztof Edward Skóra, Hel Marine Station at the University of Gdańsk, Poland Professor Skóra received the award for his research which exposes the impacts of new invasive species on the sensitive coastal water ecosystems in Poland. Among Professor Skóras achievements is also the establishment of the Hel Marine Station at the University of Gdansk. The marine station generates, facilitates and spreads research on the ecology of fish and marine mammals and the protection of rare species in the Baltic. It also educates and engages the public through study visits, specialist courses and seminars.
2007 Ecodefense, Kaliningrad, Russia Ecodefense received the award for its efforts to increase knowledge on and awareness of the Baltic Sea water environment. One of the most notable successes has been the ”Clean Rivers – Clean Baltic Sea” campaign. Since 1999, this highly appreciated Ecodefense effort has aimed to protect water resources, limit pollution of the water system from industry and educate young people and teachers in Kaliningrad. This has involved, among other things, education and broadening of knowledge among the general public, government departments, authorities, politicians and companies by means of reports, hearings and campaigns – and all in a region with severe environmental problems.
2006 Mr. Björn Carlson, Sweden Björn Carlson received the award for his great commitment to improve the Baltic Sea marine environment. He has shown his commitment by, among other things, donating 500 million Swedish crowns to the Baltic Sea Foundation. To ensure the scientific quality of the Foundation’s work, he has appointed The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as trustee of the donation. Through this large donation, he wishes to encourage politicians, authorities, companies, fishing societies and other sectors around the entire Baltic Sea to dare to try new methods and to take unconventional measures in the work to improve the sea’s marine environment. This exceptional contribution will likely increase pressure for coordinated and powerful measures for a cleaner Baltic Sea, to the delight of future generations.
2005 Vodokanal St. Petersburg and its General Director, Mr. Felix Karmazinov Vodokanal, which is the municipal water utility for St. Petersburg, and Mr. Karmazinov have been the driving forces behind completion of the Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant (SWTP), which will be inaugurated in September 2005. Once it does, 1.5 million citizens of the city will no longer on a daily basis send 330,000 cubic metres of untreated wastewater – enough to fill 330 Olympic-size swimming pools – straight into the Neva River and from there, the Gulf of Finland and thus the Baltic Sea.
2004 Nature Management and Water Environment Division of Fyn County, Denmark The Nature Management and Water Environment Division of Fyn County, Denmark, received the award for its monitoring and analysis of the water environment and pollution discharge and long-term efforts that have laid the foundation for cost effective point and non-point source pollution prevention measures in pursuit of an improved Baltic Sea marine environment.
2003 Frantschach Swiecie SA, Poland Frantschach Swiecie SA, a pulp and paper industry in Poland, received the award for contributions which have had a clear and positive effect on the environment and the Baltic Sea. Through facility improvements utilising best available technologies (BATs), Frantschach Swiecie achieved considerable reduction in pollutants discharged to the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea.
2002 The Lithuanian Housing and Urban Development Foundation The Lithuanian Housing and Urban Development Foundation was honored for its innovative programs and projects that have contributed to a considerable reduction of Lithuania’s organic pollution to the Baltic Sea. The overall approach can serve as a model for other regions in the Baltic Sea area.
2001 Mr. Leonid Korovin from St. Petersburg, Russia Mr. Korvin was honored for his commendable contribution to the development of a series of activities aiming to safeguard the water environment in the part of the Baltic Sea nearest to the St. Petersburg area, which emits very large amounts of pollutants into the Baltic Sea.
2000 The City of Gdansk, Poland The City of Gdansk was honored for being the driving force behind the establishment of the Wschod wastewater treatment works, which receives and cleans wastewater from Gdansk and four other Polish cities and populated areas. The Wschod works has had a very clear, positive effect on the water quality in the Bay of Gdansk, a part of the Baltic Sea.
1999 PURAC of Poland PURAC of Poland won the first Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award by building several new, advanced wastewater and water treatment plants along major rivers running into the Baltic Sea. These projects have helped to improve the marine environment in the Baltic Sea.
The Baltic Sea is a mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, northeast Germany, Poland, Russia and the North and Central European Plain.
Lithuania is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. The most populous of the Baltic states, Lithuania has 262 km (163 mi) of coastline consisting of the continental coast and the "Curonian Spit" coast. Lithuania's major warm-water port of Klaipėda (Memel) lies at the narrow mouth of Curonian Lagoon, a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad and separated from the Baltic sea by Curonian Spit, where Kuršių Nerija National Park was established for its remarkable sand dunes.
The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: Regional Identity, Safe & Secure Region and Sustainable & Prosperous Region. These three priority areas aim to address the themes of environment, economic development, entrepreneurship, education, culture, civil security, children's rights and trafficking in human beings.
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities. Water bodies include for example lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants are introduced into the natural environment. For example, releasing inadequately treated wastewater into natural water bodies can lead to degradation of aquatic ecosystems. In turn, this can lead to public health problems for people living downstream. They may use the same polluted river water for drinking or bathing or irrigation. Water pollution is the leading worldwide cause of death and disease, e.g. due to water-borne diseases.
The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands.
The Saint Petersburg Flood Prevention Facility Complex, unofficially the Saint Petersburg Dam, is a 25 km (16 mi) complex of dams for flood control near Saint Petersburg, Russia. The dam extends from Lomonosov northward to Kotlin Island, then turns east toward Cape Lisiy Nos near Sestroretsk.
Anders Franzén was a Swedish marine technician and an amateur naval archaeologist. He is most famous for having located the 1628 wreck of the Swedish galleon Vasa in 1956 and participated in her salvage 1959–1961. He also participated in the salvage and exploration of the wrecks after Kronan, Riksäpplet, Resande Man, and Lybska Svan.
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission is an intergovernmental organization governing the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area. A regional sea convention and a platform for environmental policy making at the regional level, HELCOM works for the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. HELCOM consists of ten members - the nine Baltic Sea countries Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden, plus the European Union.
The 'Borders of Poland are 3511 or 3582 kilometers long. The neighboring countries are Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and Lithuania and the Russian province of Kaliningrad Oblast to the northeast. To the north, Poland is bordered by the Baltic Sea.
Presented annually since 1991, the Stockholm Water Prize is an award that recognizes outstanding achievements in water related activities. Over the past two decades, Stockholm Water Prize Laureates have come from across the world and represented a wide range of professions, disciplines and activities in the field of water.
The international Stockholm Junior Water Prize is a competition that encourages young people's interest in water and environment issues. Beginning in 1995, the award is given annually for an outstanding water project by a young person or a small group of young people at a ceremony held during the World Water Week in Stockholm. The first two years the competition was held on a national level in Sweden. From 1997 onward the competition has been held in its current international format. The international Stockholm Junior Prize winner receives a USD 15,000 scholarship and a blue crystal sculpture.
Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is a Stockholm-based policy institute that generates knowledge and guides decision-making towards water wise decisions. Founded in 1991, SIWI performs research, builds institutional capacity and provides advisory services in five thematic areas: water governance, transboundary water management, water and climate change, the water-energy-food nexus, and water economics.
The Baltic Development Forum is an independent think-tank and non-profit high-level and agenda-setting networking organisation with strategic partners and sponsors from large companies, major cities, institutional investors, business associations and academia in the Baltic Sea Region. The network involves more than 8,000 decision-makers from all over the region and beyond.
Baltic Compass is a transnational project which aims to reinforce connection between landuse, environment and agriculture, leading to healthier ecosystems and a more competitive Baltic Sea region. The name Baltic Compass comes from the letters from the whole name of the project: Comprehensive Policy Actions and Investments in Sustainable Solutions in Agriculture in the Baltic Sea Region.
Poland is a country in East-Central Europe with an area of 312,679 square kilometres, and mostly temperate climate. Generally speaking, Poland is an almost unbroken plain reaching from the Baltic Sea in the north, to the Carpathian Mountains in the south. Within that plain, terrain variations run in bands east to west. The Baltic coast has two natural harbors, the larger one in the Gdańsk-Gdynia region, and a smaller one near Szczecin in the far northwest. The northeastern region, also known as the Masurian Lake District with more than 2,000 lakes, is densely wooded and sparsely populated. To the south of the lake district, and across central Poland a vast region of plains extends all the way to the Sudetes on the Czech and Slovak borders southwest, and to the Carpathians on the Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian borders southeast. The central lowlands had been formed by glacial erosion in the Pleistocene ice age. The neighboring countries are Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and Lithuania and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the northeast.
Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992 is an international convention encompassing various measures for the prevention and elimination of pollution of the Baltic Sea.
Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) is a voluntary, proactive network mobilizing the shared potential of over 100 member cities for democratic, economic, social, cultural and environmentally sustainable development of the Baltic Sea region.
Institute for Environmental Solutions (IES) is a non-profit research organization in Latvia that utilises airborne remote sensing technologies and creates multidisciplinary teams to design and develop innovative environmental solutions. IES is a network-based organization which brings together scientists, artists, engineers and specialists from Latvia and abroad.
Mieczyslaw Stefan Ostojski was the second vice-president of the World Meteorological Organization and former director general of the Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management.
The Baltic Sea Science Center in Stockholm is part of the open-air museum Skansen, and showcases the Baltic marine environment and its threats, using aquariums, exhibitions, and educational activities.
