Danube Watch 1/2016 - A virtual river where the lessons are real

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Image text: DANUBE WATCH

A virtual river where the lessons are real

Ten years after the success of the Danube Box, a new online adventure game lets children explore the Danube River, learning about its treasures and the pressures it faces through a clever combination of quiz and skill challenges, all from their smartphone or computer screen.

a person using a laptop computer
 
a screen shot of a computer

The Danube Adventure online game is an initiative of the Green Danube Partnership between the ICPDR and the Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Hellenic. The game transfers the Green Danube Partnership's success with programmes like the Danube Box to a new medium.
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Although sturgeons no longer migrate from the Black Sea all the way to the Upper Danube, mine did. He made stops along the way – at Vidin, the Gemenc Floodplain and Immendingen – answering questions that earned us enough points to unlock a bonus game. The sturgeon, like my trip up the Danube, was digital.

The Danube Adventure online game launched this February, as an initiative of the Green Danube Partnership between the ICPDR and the Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Hellenic. The Green Danube Partnership has gained recognition not only for raising public awareness for the Danube’s treasures by hosting annual Danube Day events, but also for its multi-layered approach to involving stakeholders and its continued education of teens through the Danube Box programme for schools. Danube Adventure transfers this success to a contemporary medium.

“We are committed to sustaining our outreach, focusing on those that hold the future of Danube – young people”, says Petya Djoneva, Group Community Affairs Director at Coca-Cola HBC Group. “Danube Adventure has been designed especially for them, and we believe it provides an exciting learning opportunity to share essential knowledge about the river while capturing attention through a game," says Sofia Kilifi, Public Affairs & Sustainability Manager at Coca-Cola Central & Southern Europe.

Diving into the fun. Although I’m older than the targeted age group of 12–14-year-olds, it’s easy to see the appeal. It is a fast-paced game that will keep players coming back for more.

Players select an avatar – a sturgeon, a pelican or a ship’s captain – and start their journey along the Danube. They make several stops in the lower, middle and upper Danube where they answer questions about the river systems and the plants and animals living in the basin, as well as the pressures water bodies face.

Correct questions earn points which can unlock additional avatars and bonus skill games. Those skill games vary from easier tasks such as the Bubble Catcher Challenge – where players have to remove plastic bags, broken bottles or other objects that shouldn’t be in the river – to a Memory Challenge that adults will find especially tricky.

Teaching with technology. Danube Adventure is a great example of a so-called 'smart games', which relies on popular game designs to both entertain and educate. Danube Adventure can be played on any platform on computers or phones, and is suitable for slower internet connections.

By collecting points, completing challenges and answering questions, payers can receive badges showing how much knowledge they’ve gained about the Danube. And registered users can create or join a group to collect points – perfect for a classroom setting. Furthermore, these badges and challenges encourage return visits, increasing the players’ knowledge of the river.

A real win-win scenario. For players, the biggest takeaway from the game is the view of the river as a whole. Although the game organises rounds into river segments, the continuity of the river across national borders is emphasised, and the questions are cross-disciplinary and draw on topics from hydrology, ecology or even the history of cooperation in the region.

But at the end of the game, the Danube is the real winner. As children gain an understanding for the complexity of rivers and ecosystems while they’re young, they will grow up to become adults committed to protecting these precious resources. “We believe Danube Adventure will help more young people to gain awareness about environmental protection," says Kilifi. “We are also enthusiastic to see how this game will inspire youngsters to come up with practical ideas of preserving the precious gifts of the nature along the Danube," adds Djoneva.

For more information – and to play the game yourself! – visit
www.danubeadventure.org

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