On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 October, the IVR Colloquium 2023 took place in the beautiful city of Vienna. Located in the heart of Europe and on the river Danube, the Austrian capital proved to be the perfect central location for this successful 10th edition of the IVR Colloquium.

IVR was honoured to welcome a total of 55 participants from 11 different countries at the prestigious Bristol Hotel, in the middle of Vienna’s historic centre. 13 expert speakers shared their views on different current topics related to inland navigation law from different European perspectives. Including a wonderful 4-course seated dinner in the nearby Palais Daun-Kinsky and several other networking moments, the event turned out to be a great success.

Legal Committee and Registration
The event kicked off on Thursday 5 October at the prestigious Bristol Hotel with the meeting of the IVR Legal Committee, after which the registration desk and buffet lunch for all the guests was opened. There, IVR was honored to welcome a total of 55 participants from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia and Switzerland. Amongst them were professionals in law,  insurance, government, and other professionals dealing with or interested in inland navigation law.

The first sessions
During the colloquium sessions in the Salon Schönbrunn of Hotel Bristol, a panel of international expert speakers gave the first presentations on recent developments in inland navigation law. Peter Cskolich (Austria), Zsolt Kovács (Hungary), Vivian van der Kuil (Netherlands), Massimiliano Grimaldi (Italy), Prof. dr. Dieter Schwampe (Germany), and Cherry Almeida (Netherlands) all gave interesting presentations from different European perspectives. These were followed by several discussions with the audience.

Dinner Palais Daun-Kinsky
After the sessions on the first day, the group walked through Vienna’s Old Town for a four-course seated dinner at the beautiful Palais Daun-Kinsky. After a welcome reception in the Herrensalon, the group took seat in the Ovaler Festsaal for a wonderful 4 course dinner. With its red marble, gilt stucco and a beautiful ceiling painting it is an absolute jewel in Vienna’s Baroque crown. 

Second session
Friday 6 October started with the second part of the colloquium presentations and discussions in the Salon Schönbrunn. Dr. Olaf Hartenstein, Dr. Johannes Trost and Daniel Fritz (Germany) delivered the first shared presentation of the day, followed by a joint presentation of Christian Hübner (France) and Dr. Hubert Holland (Germany). Dr. Martin Fischer (Germany) then followed and Ignace Kroos (Belgium) concluded with the final presentation of the colloquium.   

Closing lunch and final remarks
After the last presentation, the participants were able to share some final thoughts during the closing lunch, which was served in the Bristol Lounge. IVR looks back at a very successful colloquium with many inspiring presentations, discussions and networking moments. We would like to thank all speakers, participants, and sponsors for their contributions to the IVR Colloquium 2023 and we hope to see you (again) at our next event.