Stockholm Water Prize

The Stockholm Water Prize is the world's most prestigious water award that is recognized as the "Nobel Prize of Water". It is presented annually to a person or organization for outstanding contributions to the sustainable use and protection of the world's water resources.

It is awarded by Stockholm Water Foundation in cooperation with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Any activity or actor which contributes broadly to the conservation and protection of the world's water resources, and to improved water conditions which contribute to the health and welfare of the planet's inhabitants and our ecosystems, is eligible to be nominated for the Stockholm Water Prize.

First presented in 1991, the Stockholm Water Prize Laureate is announced every year on the UN World Day for Water and honoured each August during the World Water Week in Stockholm at a Royal Prize Ceremony and Banquet in the Stockholm City Hall. At the ceremony, the Laureate receives the prize from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, who is the patron of the Stockholm Water Prize.

The prize, created and financed by the Stockholm Water Foundation and the Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien, includes a SEK1000,000 award and a specially designed Orrefors crystal sculpture.

Over the past three 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 Stockholm Junior Water Prize is also administered by SIWI and awarded during the World Water Week in Stockholm each August.

In 2015, the Stockholm Water Prize received a new design inspired by water. At the same time, it was decided that the Stockholm Junior Water Prize and the Stockholm Industry Water Prize would also receive matching statuettes.

The statuettes are handmade and cast in a sand mold. The optical qualities of the glass reflect shades of blue and green, symbolizing the diversity of water. They are produced at a Swedish glassworks. The material is environmentally friendly crystal glass, free from lead and arsenic, with at least 30–70% of the glass coming from recycled sources. The production energy is sourced from renewable energy.

The Stockholm Water Prize statuette was designed by Jonas Torstensson and Linda Röjås of Torstensson Art & Design, a Swedish design and architecture studio. Torstensson continually strives for sustainable development and reduced environmental impact.