Turning the Danube into a classroom: Danube Challenge 2013

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Image text: DANUBE WATCH

Turning the Danube into a classroom:
Danube Challenge 2013

An innovative programme is combining new media and physical challenges to get teenagers away from their desks and out to the riverbanks to learn about important river habitats and how to protect these valuable water resources.

The Danube Challenge uniquely combines adventure, fun and knowledge transfer on the important topic of water. The Danube Challenge is one of the largest campaigns for awareness-raising among young people in Europe. © Andi Bruckner

In 2012, 56 school classes from all over Austria were invited to leave their classrooms behind to spend the day at the river. Creative challenges waited for them at four locations: Donau-Auen National Park in Stopfenreuth, the Donau-Auen National Park in Lobau, Engelhartszell and the Milser Au, This year, some 1500 students will participate in the Danube Challenge on the Danube River in Stopfenreuth on June 20.

The Danube Challenge was launched in 2007 by Coca-Cola Hellenic and Generation Blue, the youth water platform of the Austrian Ministry of Environment. The aim of the Danube Challenge is to highlight the importance of the Danube and its tributaries and to raise awareness among young people about the sustainable use of water resources. The Danube Challenge offers a day of adventure in the Donau-Auen National Park where students learn about the Danube River as a habitat, and where having fun is a top priority.

“The Danube Challenge creates a sense of enthusiasm that wouldn’t come about in a classroom, because it takes place out in nature,” says Susanne Lontzen, Public Affairs & Communications Director for Coca-Cola Hellenic. “And the teenagers get a new awareness for water as a habitat as a ‘side effect’.”

Putting knowledge into action. The various challenges students face capture their imagination through fun activities related to creating a river course, complete with bridges, ships, towns, plants, dams, etc. To build their river courses, students collect natural materials from riverbanks, in the riverine forests or on the gravel bar. Furthermore, their success on quizzes or action challenges can win them upgrades, in the form of useful tools such as shovels, rakes or buckets.

“The challenge activities were chosen to build water knowledge,” says Susanne Brandstetter of the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, “but also to build complementary skills like teamwork and cooperation.”

It all starts with drinking water. To qualify for the Danube Challenge, students took part in the ‘Aktion Trinkpass’ initiative in spring to look at their own water consumption habits in a playful way. The Trinkpass campaign was launched by Generation Blue and Römerquelle, bottled by Coca-Cola Hellenic Austria. For two weeks, participants kept track of their water consumption in their Trinkpass, to learn about how important it is to drink enough water and to contribute to improving the daily diet of school kids.

Participants submitted their completed Trinkpass along with an original artwork – this year’s creative task was to draw a fantasy fish. Winners, selected by a jury, were invited to participate in the Danube Challenge with their entire class.

The Trinkpass initiative and the Danube Challenge as a whole has been an overwhelming success, with teachers across the country requesting over 32,000 Trinkpass packets. “The strong cooperation and vast experience from both Coca-Cola Hellenic and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management make this initiative a special one, and one of the largest awareness-raising campaigns for young people in Europe,” says Brandstetter.

Building an online fan base. The Danube Challenge has relied on the successful youth platform Generation Blue (www.generationblue.at), which provides the possibility to share relevant information as well as pictures, videos and other content. Incorporating social media was an important part of the programme, and a clear communication has been a target from the beginning. “It is important to use modern tools to reach out to our target group and use social media to mobilise and connect young people with water issues,” says Brandstetter.

Participating classes will present their self-designed ecosystems to a wide community through the programme’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/danubechallenge) and that online community will choose the overall winner.

Last year’s winning class with over 550 fans, the 4C class from HS Pöchlarn, met Austrian Federal Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich and were treated to a trip down the Danube River on a police boat. The class was also rewarded a supply of Römerquelle water from Coca-Cola Hellenic. “My pupils loved the day in nature; they were really enthusiastic,” said Rosemarie Fasching, teacher at HS Pöchlarn. “During the last four years, our class has been carrying out a project on the Danube, since we all live close to the river. The Danube Challenge and our victory has been a great highlight.”

In the end, the greatest success of the Danube Challenge is that it’s putting the power into the hands of young people. “Students are the decision makers of tomorrow and will be responsible for our environment in the future,” says Lontzen. “We see it as part of our social responsibility to impart knowledge about the environment and resources to them.”

Kirstie Shepherd is a freelance journalist living in Vienna and has called the Danube River Basin home since 2000.