Danube Day 2013
Danube Day 2013
The tenth Danube Day celebrated solidarity, diversity and positive change, providing a platform for action to revitalise rivers and communities. Tens of thousands of people took part and millions more followed along in the media in thirteen countries and seven capital cities. Overseen by the ICPDR, 914 government agencies, businesses and NGOs organised events in 2013, the UN International Year of Water Cooperation! The undisputed stars of the show were the Danube sturgeons, especially belugas – considered one of the most endangered species in the world. Spectacular, uplifting and poignant, events left an enduring message: working together we can achieve a sustainable future.
The ICPDR would like to thank all the organisations involved in Danube Day 2013. Visit www.danubeday.org to find out more about events and organisers.
GERMANY
Floods in the area in June did not prevent Danube Day from becoming a success in Germany: 2000 visitors enjoyed Baden-Württemberg’s ‘Danube Experience’ in Sigmaringen; a weekend of eco activities and music celebrated Immendingen’s new riverside park. In Bavaria, the Danube Art Master contest and Ingolstadt Swim brought cheer to the region.
© Vinzenz Ritter, Wasserwirtschaftsamt Deggendorf
AUSTRIA
the air with a challenge to slack-line the width of the Vienna Danube, accompanied by flying fish, living sturgeon and a bubble show organised by the Environment Ministry and the city of Vienna. More than 1500 teens joined the ‘Danube Challenge’, digging mini-models of the Basin in the Donau-Auen National Park.
© Danube Day Austria / Matthias Hombauer
CROATIA
Thousands enjoyed spectacular hi-tech celebrations at a joint EU accession- Danube Day party in Vukovar. While in Slavonski Brod, age-old sights, sounds and smells wafted over the Sava at the international ‘Fišijada’ fish stew festival, attended by Croatian Minister Tihomir Jakovina.
© Zeleni Osijek
THE CZECH REPUBLIC
With 750 Czech pupils entering artworks depicting what the Danube rivers mean to them, Moravian children continued to show their creative streak. Some 70 of the top artists and their friends enjoyed celebrations in Olomouc and a canoe adventure through Litovelské Pomoraví.
© ICPDR
HUNGARY
Over 11,000 people took part in events throughout the summer: river and city festivals, sturgeon stroking, dragon boat races, a tango flash mob, the Danube Box contest, sturgeon focused Children Iceland and evening jazz concerts were just a few highlights led by the Rural Development Ministry, MindSpace, Coca-Cola, GWP, Danube Muzeum, Budapest Waterworks and others.
© www.kormany.hu / Árvai Károly
SLOVENIA
National contests encouraged 800 children to become Art Masters, Water Detectives and comic-book writers! In the Agriculture Ministry/ Coca-Cola’s ‘My River.si’, kids created river superheroes: ‘Super Water Purifier’ helped the Drava by building invisible flood walls, while hardworking ‘Mimi the Octopus’ had a filtering system that zaps rubbish!
© ICPDR
MONTENEGRO
‘Sunny Colours of Nature’ won top prize in a contest run by Friends of Tara River Society. Part of the basin-wide ‘Art Master’ contest overseen by GWP, the artworks share common messages of environmental concern: basin-wide solidarity, anger at rubbish dumped and wonder at nature’s beauty.
SLOVAKIA
Festivities organised by the Ministry of Environment and Vodohospodárska výstavba drew children from all along the Danube. Led by radio and TV’s Roman Bomboš, highlights included dancing, river trips, kayaking, sterlet releases, interactive exhibition, environmental games and photo-shoots with a water-sprite! Komárno pupils were crowned BROZ’s Art Masters for ‘Heart for the Danube’.
© Vodohospodárska výstavba
UKRAINE
Eye-catching actions reached 17,000 people. High in the Carpathians, Borzhava river communities gathered to celebrate restoration of the river’s source; downstream, 125 m3 of plastic and 15 tonnes of glass were cleared from a stretch of Borzhava at Kvasovo village; and in Uzhgorod, Ukraine’s longest photo exhibition displayed startling images of Transcarpathia rivers: both beauties and problems.
© Andriy Bublik / Coca-Cola Beverages
ROMANIA
Some 128 organisations inspired Romanians to kayak, sing, run, create and collect rubbish! All 11 Danube regions went sturgeon crazy, but Galati was most affected with five days of ECCG-led fun. The Ministry hosted a high-level Danube Environmental Forum, where major NGOs petitioned officials over sustainability in the Delta.
© ICPDR
MOLDOVA
A thousand people took part in workshops and festivals: traditions were rekindled at Valeni’s festival; journalists attended a climate change workshop; academics consulted over the Danube Strategy; and Criuleni students, winners of the Ecological Movement of Moldova’s Danube Art Master contest, attended the international final in Budapest.
© ICPDR
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
At the Bosna source, ICPDR President, Deputy Minister Ermina Salkičević-Dizdarević, presided over a festival of arts and culture enjoyed by children, embassy and ministerial officials, Centre for Development and Support, Ekotim and water stakeholders. Applauding sustainable river management successes, the Minister’s sentiment was echoed by EU Commissioner Hahn in a video message to the region.
© Ekotim
BULGARIA
Danube Competence Centre’s ‘Blue Danube Week’ saw an arts festival in Vidin and Serbian and Romanian cities. Regattas in Ruse and Silistra, festivals in Baykal and Nikopol, water sampling, Bulgarian-Romanian emergency planning, a design competition and funding workshop were among highlights across northern Bulgaria.
© DRBD
