Dr Michal Kravcik

The Goldman Environmental Prize is the world's largest prize for grassroots environmentalists. Each of the winners, chosen from the planet's six inhabited continental regions, demonstrate exceptional courage and commitment, often working at great risk to protect our environment. In the process, they inspire the rest of us to do the same.

Michal Kravcik, a hydrologist from Slovakia, succeeded in galvanizing community participation to stop a proposed large dam -- an environmentally destructive project conceived during the Communist era of central planning. Using democratic principles, he presented effective alternatives that included the creation of small dams, decentralization of water management authority and restoration of agricultural lands. Kravcik helped reinvigorate the local economy by introducing sustainable development projects and has successfully encouraged increased voter participation in the country.