Save the date! Next nominations on 21 May 2025
This year’s River Party, at which the next candidates for the “River Pearl PLUS” quality label are to be nominated, will be held in the Alte Cigarettenfabrik in Zurich from 4 to 7pm on Wednesday, 21 May 2025.
The celebrity jury* chaired by Christa Rigozzi has selected another ten untouched Swiss rivers to be nominated for the “River Pearl PLUS” quality label. These waterways and the people behind them will be honoured at this year’s River Party on 21 May. Free-flowing streams and rivers have become something of a rarity in Switzerland, but they are extremely valuable for nature and humans.
As in previous years, Christa Rigozzi will present the event in her usual professional style. Further exciting panellists and keynote speakers are expected. For the first time, the nomination ceremony is being staged in the Alte Cigarettenfabrik on the banks of the Limmat in Zurich, and is being co-hosted pro bono by events agency The Happening. Programme details see below.
The nomination is an invitation to the relevant municipalities, cantons or associations to have their own natural rivers certified with the label. This entails a technical review of the certification criteria and a development plan that is drawn up by the sponsors in collaboration with all stakeholders in a participatory process. It sets out how the local population wishes to maintain their River Pearl and make it fit for the future. The certification process is co-organised and generously co-financed by WWF Switzerland. Certification can be sought even without a nomination.
A total of 18 Swiss rivers have been nominated over the last two years. In the case of 5 of them, the relevant municipalities have decided to have their river certified and are in ongoing discussions with other local authorities. Six Swiss waterways (Beverin GR, Chamuera GR, Goldach AR, Mässerbach VS, Breggia TI, Roggenhausenbach AG) currently bear the “River Pearl PLUS” label, and a total of 7 are working towards it.
*The Water Pearls jury consists of:
- Christa Rigozzi, moderator
- PD Dr. Christopher Robinson, Head of the Watercourse Ecology Research Group, Eawag / ETH
- Joos Sutter, chairman of the Board of Directors of Coop Schweiz
- Julia KĂĽng, former co-president of the Young Greens
- Julien Perrot, founder and editor of “La Salamandre”
- Roger de Weck, publicist
- Sandro Viletta, ski racer
- Valentin Stocker, Swiss footballer
- Jacqueline de Quattro, FDP National Council member
Further information about the label and certification process: Link
