The 44th IAD conference will be held under the patronage of the Austrian committee of the IAD at the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Krems, situated in the beautiful landscape of the Wachau, next to the Danube River. This young university (founded in 2013) has a strong research focus on water quality and health, being a key player in this research field in the Danube River Basin. Here, health is considered in a holistic, transdisciplinary way under the “One Health” concept of the WHO, combining human, animal and environmental health in an ecological context. Thus the conference shall bring together scientists and experts from different disciplines for discussing the present and future environmental challenges of our Danube riverscape.