Earth Day celebrated at Danube
Earth, 22 April 2013. „Earth Day“ is celebrated all around the World, including many places in the Danube River Basin. Highlighting the responsibility that all people share for the well-being of our planet, many events are also dedicated to the condition of water. The Serbian “Supernatural Festival” demonstrated this.
Earth Day is an annual occasion on the 22 April, on which activities are pursued globally to raise awareness and support for environmental protection. Earth Day is coordinated world-wide by the Earth Day Network, but events are mostly organised locally and autonomously. The occasion is celebrated in more than 192 countries every year, including many in the Danube River Basin.
One such local event celebrating Earth Day in a Danubian context was the 2013 Supernatural Festival in Belgrade, Serbia. The Supernatural park in Ada huja, a former illegal landfill, drew more than 7,000 people to celebrate environmental protection by participating in a large number of environmental programs, workshops and cultural events.
The central theme of the festival was the Supernatural environmental education. In a panel discussion in "Rosa Green Classroom", international and national experts discussed the current activities and future steps to be taken to turn the Ada Huja into a permanent green good for all the citizens of Belgrade. In addition to Dragana Milovanovic of the Serbian Directorate for Water and Serbian ICPDR delegation member and Benedikt Mandl of the ICPDR Secretariat, the panel was attended by the secretariat of environment Belgrade, a representative of Palilula Municipality, as well as representatives from the Coca-Cola system.
"Our secretariat is supporting the Supernatral festival from the beginning and this a milestone. Earth Day is important for all of us involved in environmental protection as our long-term mission is to fight for the survival of the planet and the survival of the people on it", said Goran Trivan, Secretary for Environmental Protection of the City of Belgrade.
Particular attention is given to the music programs, but also educational and environmental activities for children, the youngest to know the values of environmental protection. To link this, children had the opportunity to make musical instruments from recycled materials, learn about the types of birds that live in and around the Danube, and to attend classes in the greenhouse to plant spices and herbs. For impressions from this Danubian “Earth Day” celebration, see the pictures below.
