Activities

  • 2014 – Awarding of Austria’s first scientific UNESCO Chair to BOKU and founding of the Center for Integrated River Research and Management.
  • 2014 – Approval of the World’s Large Rivers Initiative (WLRI) by the 21st Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s IHP.
  • 2014 – 2nd WLR Conference: Manaus, Amazon River, Brazil.
  • 2017 – 3rd WLR Conference: New Delhi, India.
  • 2018 – Full integration of WLRI into the work plan of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP).
  • 2018 – Participation in the annual meeting of the Austrian UNESCO Commission.
  • 2018 – Participation in the IHP national representatives’ meeting in Slovakia.
  • 2018 – Participation in the 23rd session of the IHP Intergovernmental Council.
  • 2018 – Participation in the IHP Region I meeting in Delft.
  • 2018 – Representation of the center/chair at the 8th World Water Forum through a UNESCO Water Family exhibition stand.
  • 2018 – Keynote lecture at the 6th Particles in Europe Conference (PiE-2018) in Lisbon, Portugal.
  • 2018 – Online keynote lecture at the ICCE Symposium: Climate Change Impacts on Sediment Dynamics in Moscow.
  • 2018 – Presentation at the Great Rivers Forum in Wuhan, China.
  • 2019 – Launch of the World Bank-funded RiBaM Project, examining the role of sediments and hydropower in river basin management.
  • 2019 – Presentation at the Sediment Management Workshop during the World Hydropower Congress in Paris.
  • 2019 – Keynote lecture at the NCR Days Conference – Land of Rivers in Utrecht, Netherlands.
  • 2021 – 4th WLR Conference: Held digitally.
  • 2021 – Keynote lecture at the Lifeline MDD Conference: Science as Basis for the 5-Country Biosphere Reserve Mura-Drava-Danube Management (online).
  • 2022 – Completion of three status reports on the Danube, Niger, and Mekong Rivers.
  • 2023 – Opening of the BOKU River Lab, one of the most advanced hydraulic engineering laboratories, featuring a free flow capacity of up to 10 m³/s.
  • 2023 – Vienna Waters Conference.
  • 2023 – Appointment of Prof. Habersack as Chair of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP).
  • 2023 – Launch of the Horizon Europe project DANUBE4all to develop a restoration action plan for the Danube River Basin.
  • 2023 – 5th WLR Conference: Vienna, Danube River, Austria.
  • 2024 – Launch of another Horizon Europe project, with the center playing a key role.
  • 2024 – Approval of four EU Interreg projects, ensuring long-term funding for IC-RIVERS.
  • Scientific Excellence – Successful supervision of 9 doctoral theses and 63 master’s theses.
  • International Knowledge Dissemination – Publication of over 500 research papers in 12 special issues of high-ranking SCI journals.
  • 2025 – Feasibility study for the establishment of a UNESCO Category 2 Center.