Drop by Drop in Moscow,Paris,Copenhagen

The top ads in the UN European ad competition on water, The Future We Want - Drop by Drop, will go on display in more than a dozen countries as European activities in the run-up to Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil, 20-22 June, kicked off with events in Copenhagen, Paris and Moscow.

In Copenhagen, Italian designer Mr. Daniele Gaspari was declared the winner of the UN European Ad Competition on Water, The Future We Want - Drop by Drop.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Denmark awarded Mr. Gaspari the Nordic Council of Ministers First Prize and a 5,000 euro cash prize at a ceremony in Copenhagen on 5 June, World Environment Day.

 "Are we prepared to commit ourselves, other than with empty words and vain promises," Mr. Jacques Séguela, president of the jury asked, when announcing the winner in the competition of over 3,500 entries from 45 countries.

"It is time to change our habits: think differently, live differently - and fight the only battle which can unite us: the future of the world, our future."

The winner of the competition was also celebrated at a Rio+20 event in Paris on 6 June organized by UNRIC, Club de France and Comité 21.

At the Paris event Turkish designer, Mr. Toprak Onur received the public prize award. 40,000 public votes were cast for his ad on the competition website. "Let us make sue that water does not take the place of oil as a cause for wars in the 21st century", Mr. Onur said when accepting the public prize.

In Russia, a display of ads from the Drop by Drop competition was the central element in the World Environment Day celebration of the UN Information Centre and the UNEP Office in Moscow.

At the Moscow event, Russian Foreign Ministry official, Mr. Victor Zagrekov,  expressed hopes that the final document of Rio+20 would give a "fresh impetus to the development of a green economy". He assured those present that the Russian delegation at Rio+20 would do its utmost to contribute to the success of the Conference.

In her speech at the award ceremony in Copenhagen UNRIC Director, Ms. Afsané Bassir-Pour, emphasized that the choice of the slogan "The Future We Want", was not a coincidence. "For us, for me at least, Rio is not an end but the beginning of a process. That is why the theme of the UN's global campaign is The Future We Want", said Ms.Bassir-Pour.

In addition to Copenhagen, Paris and Moscow a selection of the thirty top ads from the competition will be on display in 22 cities in 13 countries from Greenland in the west to St Petersburg in the east and Rio de Janeiro in the south during the Rio+20 Conference.