The Waterford Greenway has struck silver at the European Greenway Awards in Valencia Spain.
Out of 31 other European Greenways, it came in second place for Excellence with representatives from Waterford Council presenting the popular cycle and walking trail to the judging panel.
The prestigious award ceremony, which is organised annually by the European Greenways Association, recognises best integration of characteristics that define a greenway and the strengths that make them exemplary amenities.
Present at the ceremony were Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. Joe Kelly and Richie Walsh, Waterford Local Enterprise Office who travelled to Valencia for an International Conference on Greenways, Mobility, Leisure and Tourism. Speaking from Valencia, Joe Kelly says it is a substantial accolade.
"The winning entry was from Wallonia in Belgium and they have developed their Greenway over the past number of years which is excess of 110kms long - that's the standard you're up against.
"You have other countries like Spain, Germany and France and we beat all of them by achieving the second-place award in the Excellence category," Cllr Kelly said.
The Waterford Greenway was analysed by judges from the European Commission and European Regional Tourism sector and Waterford's Mayor said this award will hopefully bring more international tourism to the area.
"It was a great opportunity to promote Waterford in its totality and although it was concentrated on the Greenway we also mentioned the mountains, and the beaches and invited the European participants to visit Waterford.
"They are very much into cycling and trekking across Europe and many people at the event said they cannot wait to visit, so we hope this award will be a further tourism boost," Joe Kelly said.
Waterford Greenway was internationally recognised last night as it came second in the Excellence Category at the 10th European Greenways Award Ceremony, which was held in Valencia, Spain.
Michael Walsh, Chief Executive Waterford City and County Council also congratulated the Waterford Greenway team on the award saying, “It’s testament to vision of the Council’s Greenway team that developed and manage this wonderful amenity.
"Great credit must also go to the local communities, stakeholders and other state agencies that have helped create something unique in Waterford”, he said.
Johnny Brunnock, Trails Officer, Waterford City and County Council added that the combined efforts of locals and the business community had helped to create a publically accessible amenity that the county can be very proud of. Mr. Brunnock went onto add that ‘the value of Waterford Greenway was particularly apparent as we have navigated our way through the challenges presented by the pandemic.’
Fiona Monaghan, Head of Product Development – Activities at Fáilte Ireland said, “The Waterford Greenway is a best-in-class example of how infrastructure and orientation can create outstanding experiences for domestic and international visitors that can benefit the local community.
"The Waterford Greenway has proven to be a great amenity for visitors and we are pleased that it has been awarded second place in the Excellence Category at the prestigious European Greenways Awards. I would like to congratulate our partners at Waterford City and County Council on their hard work in developing this wonderful amenity,” she said.
Established in 2003, the biennial European Greenways Award is presented to greenways that stand out for their excellence and demonstration of best practice. Another objective of the Awards is to support the replication of the best practices on other greenways all over Europe.
The European Greenways Awards are only granted to greenways under the Lille Declaration, as well as to initiatives already in existence.
