Awards

Belleuropa Award

Belleuropa® was born in Italy in the late 1990’s thanks to the initiative of Giuseppe NATTA, a leading environmental figure. It was spearheaded by Gruppo Ecodeco®, a leading Italian firm in the environmental sector.

It is based on the principle that in Europe, the rural territory is highly degraded, and a quality environment is thus a scarce good upon which much value should be placed. The Belleuropa Award will reward an agricultural company or a rural property, which has realized an important example of “Third Generation Agricultural Production” using agri-environmental measures, achieving significant results from an environmental point of view.

Eligibility criteria:

The Belleuropa® Award is intended to recognize recovered and managed natural habitats whose value was recognised, which have been constantly maintained in a close collaboration with local authorities, associations and volunteers, in order to improve the rural landscape, enhance biodiversity, and create a new kind of rural tourism based on typical, biological products, traditional cuisine and on the environmental and historical assets of the territory.

Selection criteria:

• Environmental impact in line with the EU Policy
• Economic impact by creation of activity and employment in rural areas
• Sustainability of actions
• Innovation and creativity
• Reproducibility of initiatives

Prize description:

The Belleuropa® Award will recognize outstanding tools and management practices to recover and manage natural habitats, contributing to the protection, conservation and sustainable management of land.

Belleuropa® Award 2008

The Belleuropa Award 2008 was given to Mr Hardegg for the rehabilitation of his estate located in Lower Austria, another important example achieving significant results from an environmental point of view.

Deadline: Call for proposals is open until 15^th October 2009.

Please find the application form HERE and send it to the following address:

Belleuropa® Award
RISE Foundation
Rue de Trèves 67
BE - 1040 Brussels
Tel: + 32 (0)2 235 2004
Fax: + 32 (0)2 400 7709

AND by email to rise@risefoundation.eu

Anders Wall Award

Since 2002, the Anders WALL Foundation (Sweden), Friends of the Countryside, DG Environment and the Royal Agriculture Academy of Stockholm have given an award each year to encourage and promote efforts made by creative entrepreneurs who have contributed to creating a « positive rural environment »: landscape preservation, biodiversity enhancement, cultural heritage conservation and contribution to the rural economy within the European Union.

Eligibility criteria:
Importance at local, national and European level is expected, use of quality instruments and management practices which contribute to the improvement of the quality of the environment.

Selection criteria:
Their achievements should preferably include the following elements:
Preserving and enhancing the landscape;
Providing biodiversity;
Preserving the countryside’s cultural heritage.

The landowner/manager of the selected project will receive a prize of 10,000 €.

Deadline: Call for proposals is open until 30th November 2010.

Please find the application form HERE and send it to the following address:

Previously know as Euroducks International, the ELO Water and Habitat Found created an award dedicated to the development of initiatives by private land managers, companies or institutions for the protection, conservation and sustainable management of water resources and water shaped habitats. The 2004 Award was given by MEP Michl EBNER to Grupo Empresarial ARICAM (Spain) for the elaboration of a water-saving industrial process and the sustainable management of a quarry in a sensitive environmental area.


Up to date the prize has been awarded to :
1998 - Laguna El Taray, Toledo (Spain) - D. José Luis Oriol

1999 - Complejo palustre de Veta de la Palma, Sevilla (Spain) - D. Telesforo and D. Antonio Hernández Barrera

2000 - Cabildo Insular de Fuerteventura, Canarias (Spain)

2001 - Brazo Muerto of the Guadalhorce river, Málaga (Spain) - Confederación Hidrográfica del Sur

2002 - La Cassinazza , la Cassinazza di Baselica, Pavia (Italy) - Ing. Giuseppe Natta

2004 - El Castillo, ARICAM Group (Spain)