The European Ramblers Association and Foundation GDF SUEZ, a company which demonstrates its leadership by emitting among the lowest CO2 per KWh produced in Europe, annouced 8/10 2011 the winners of their first annual Eco Award.　 The Awards ceremony took place during the great opening evening of the paneuropean walking event Eurorando 2011 in Almeria, Spain and was sponsored by the GDF SUEZ Foundation in partnership with ERA.

"Today marks an important milestone in the fight for environmental protection and conservation efforts," said Lis Nielsen, the President of the ERA　 "All the 17 projects submitted by our member organizations demonstrate the potential the walking community has in developing innovative solutions that are good for the environment and the nature, as well as for the economy.　People need to embrace the fact that there does not have to be a trade-off between the economy and the environment, and these awards among many other things prove also that fact."

The Eco Award Prize is the top recognition bestowed by the ERA and Foundation GDF SUEZ, which is designed to inspire and challenge walkers community to make a difference to environmental and natural protection and European sustainability.　

The four Eco Award winners included:

The selection of winners was made by an independent jury, comprised of presidents of ERA member organizations and a representative from Foundation GDF SUEZ, and was based on demonstrated leadership as well as quantitative measures.