Danube:Future, achieving integrated sustainable development in the Danube River Basin
Danube:Future, achieving integrated sustainable development in the Danube River Basin
Rivers are neither cultural nor natural spaces; they are socio-natural sites, where the interplay of humans with the environment has taken place over long periods. A new white paper aims to develop interdisciplinary research and education in the basin as a basis to solve pressing environmental issues and secure a sustainable future for the region.
A humanities’ perspective on the effects of global climate change and mitigation options is urgently needed, as legacies of the past play a crucial – but currently underestimated – role in the study of possible sustainable futures.
© Mair/ICPDR
In the Danube River Basin, environmental challenges such as pollution, interventions into natural cycles or invasive species are connected to economic and social inequalities leading to a brain drain of much-needed expertise, among other things. Sustainable development is key to the prosperous future of the region, and the basic requirement for this future is a balanced integration of environmental, economic and social needs. Such integration is underdeveloped and hampered by conflicting environments.
In July 2015, the ‘Danube:Future White Paper on Integrated Sustainable Development of the Danube River Basin’ was published. The white paper, which deals with the future of research and education in the Danube River Basin, was prepared in a bottom-up process that involved an interdisciplinary group of researchers from most of the Danube countries. In the Danube River Basin, sustainable development can build on a diverse natural and cultural heritage, natural resources and on tertiary education excellence. It can exert a basin-wide positive impact on migration, reduce brain drain and foster environmental, economic and social justice. But a long-term perspective is indispensable. Such a perspective can shed light on how societies and their environments have interacted and co-evolved in past centuries and offer perspectives for alternative ways of action.
Transitioning to sustainability. Interdisciplinary cooperation in research is required to support a transition to sustainability. In particular, the humanities have not been stimulated enough to bring their expertise to the needed portfolio of knowledge. The authors of the white paper identified the integration of cultural and natural heritage and legacy challenges between and across disciplines as the most promising avenue to improve the sustainability of the Danube River Basin macro-region.
Civil society and independent media – but also governments – have key roles improving sustainability. University study and training based on regional strengths can support economic development and societal integration. The white paper introduces key topics and principles of research and education and offers policy recommendations at the national and European levels. Cross-discipline approaches combined with a long-term perspective will contribute to better understanding and help tackle present and future challenges. The EU Strategy for the Danube Region and the objectives of the European research agenda have been accounted for in the recommendations, encompassing sub-regionally defined sustainability training and education, the bridging of diverse and often conflicting cultures, and multi-disciplinary investigation of biodiversity, protected areas and ecosystem services.
Looking ahead. Horizon 2020 challenges can and should be tackled in a form adapted to the specific challenges of the macro region as identified in the Danube Strategy. All Horizon 2020 challenges exhibit emergent properties, resulting in a fundamental unpredictability; risk management involving stakeholders becomes key. Decision making under conditions of uncertainty has always been a major challenge for all societies and research has to tackle the non-linearity of complex and interrelated human-ecological systems. Long-term socio-ecological research is necessary to deal successfully with the legacies and raise the value of heritage for sustainable development. Due to the diversity of potentials and challenges characterising the Danube River Basin, the macro-region can become a laboratory for forward-looking, international research and education.
The White Paper
The white paper is an activity of Danube:Future, a flagship project of Priority Area VII of the Danube Strategy, and aims to support the member universities of the Danube Rectors´ Conference and the Alps-Adriatic-Rectors´ Conference in their efforts to promote a sustainable knowledge society. Danube:Future can offer a range of services to institutions active in the Danube River Basin. It can connect scientists from different domains and offer contacts to a variety of networks acting in the region, which helps to increase awareness of ongoing activities. Danube:Future can also provide access to new knowledge, supporting the protection of the Danube Basin as an ecological system while at the same time ensuring ecosystem services and maintaining the diverse cultures of the region.
For more about the Danube:Future project, please visit: www.danubefuture.eu. To download a copy of the white paper, visit:
www.danubefuture.eu/sites/default/files/DanubeFuture_WhitePaper.pdf.
