Dr. Michal Kravčík | HR Business Partnering | Best Researcher Award
Researcher | The University of People and Water NGO | Slovakia
Michal Kravčík is a Slovak environmental researcher and hydrologist whose work has profoundly influenced modern thinking on water management, climate restoration, and sustainable regional development. His research centers on the interdependence between water cycles, ecosystems, and climate regulation, forming the foundation of the New Water Paradigm, a globally recognized framework for water and climate recovery. This theory emphasizes retaining rainwater within ecosystems to restore the small water cycle, replenish groundwater, regulate temperatures, and support biodiversity. Kravčík’s approach challenges conventional hydrological models that prioritize drainage and diversion, proposing instead that water restoration is essential to reversing climate degradation and desertification. Kravčík’s initiatives, particularly through the Blue Alternative and People and Water, illustrate how decentralized water management can drive both environmental renewal and community empowerment. His integrated approach demonstrates that water restoration serves as a pathway to ecological stability and economic resilience, especially in regions facing high unemployment and social marginalization. By linking hydrology to social innovation, his work has contributed to broader understandings of participatory governance, sustainability, and climate adaptation. His research publications, including Water for the Recovery of the Climate. A New Water Paradigm , Water for the Third Millennium , Between Floods and Droughts and Water Without Borders provide comprehensive insights into how water retention can serve as both a mitigation and adaptation strategy for climate change. These works have become key references for policymakers, environmentalists, and sustainability researchers worldwide. Kravčík’s research influence is reflected in four major publications, 25 citations, and an h-index of 3. His scholarship continues to inspire global environmental discourse, emphasizing that climate recovery and water restoration are inseparable. By integrating ecological science, community action, and systems thinking, Kravčík’s contributions remain central to shaping sustainable water and climate management.
Featured Publication
Kravcik, M., et al. Costs and benefits of landscape-based water retention measures as nature-based solutions to mitigating climate impacts in eastern Germany, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Land Degradation & Development.