Danube Day 2012
Danube Day was a superb celebration of everything achieved in the 18 years
since the signing of the Danube River Protection Convention. Whether you
were one of the hundreds of thousands who participated; one of millions who
heard about it; or work for one of the 900 organisations involved, you helped
spread Danube solidarity through more than 350 individual events. Bridging
national and institutional boundaries, the 14-country festival demonstrates
that the region is strongest when it works together. It reminds us of the
value of rivers, renews our resolve to look after them and, with so many
events focused on enjoying rivers, helps us reclaim them!
GERMANY
For the 1500 visitors to Bavaria’s
Action Weekend, the Danube
swim and riverside rock concert
provided some relief from soaring
daytime temperatures. Baden-Württemberg‘s ‘Heimattage’,
marking the hand-over of the
Wolterdingen Dam, attracted an
estimated 30,000 people and an
international line-up entertained at
Ulm’s festival.
SLOVENIA
Over 1000 pupils used their artistic
and scientific skills in three competitions,
vying to become national ‘Art
Masters’, ‘water detectives’ and top
journalists. Rapper Zlatko performed
at the Environment Ministry’s ‘You
Are My River’ final, where young
eco-reporters investigated water’s role
in food production.
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Ekotim, organisers of Bosnia’s ‘Danube
Art Master’ contest, relayed Danube
Day messages to thousands via radio
interviews. Three Sarajevo friends
won first prize for their colourful and
innovative bird feeders made from
bottles found along the river.
AUSTRIA
The MS Negrelli brought
Danube Day to 5000 Upper and
Lower Austrians and featured
in Linz’s river festival. A big hit
was having your photo taken
to form part of a giant salmon
mosaic! The ‘fish of faces’ was
unveiled by Minister Doris
Mures and Vienna Councillor
Ulli Sima. Over 1500 teenagers
took up the Lebensministerium-Coca-Cola ‘Danube Challenge’.
CROATIA
Cross-border and cross-sector
cooperation took centre-stage. The
Sava Commission Youth Parliament
involved Croatians, Slovenes, Serbians
and Bosnians. Kopački rit hosted talks
between navigation and environment
sectors, as well as a Croatian-Hungarian
youth expedition.
THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Here, the 14-country ‘Danube Art
Master’ contest is especially popular:
Moravian pupils entered 221 of this
year’s 1400 artworks. Run by the Union
for the Morava River, the top artists
enjoyed celebrations in Olomouc and
a canoe adventure through Litovelské
Pomoraví.
HUNGARY
Media coverage reached around 2.5 million
people, and featured the Rural Development
Ministry’s hand-over of the ‘Danube United’
flag to Slovakia; the GWP/Coca-Cola/
Ministry ‘Danube Box Contest’ involving
450 schools and Budapest’s ‘Danube Flow’
festival: a riverside feast, a flashmob,
concerts and a stone-skimming contest.
SERBIA
Festivities were the biggest in the Basin:
150,000 people; 150 events; 28 locations!
Media coverage reached up to four million
people. Commissioner Hahn joined 100
donors and government and civil society
representatives to mark 29 June. At
Belgrade’s ‘Ada Huja Festival’, work began to
transform the landfill site into a ‘natural oasis
in the city’.
SLOVAKIA
Marking the Gabčíkovo Dam’s 20th
anniversary, the Ministry of Environment,
Slovenske elektrarne, BROZ and Coca-Cola
Hellenic joined forces for the 6th Gabčíkovo
Open-Day. Over 2000 people enjoyed free
boat trips, plant tours, performances in the
park and the final stage of the Slovakia Tour
cycle race.
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 or wonder at nature’s beauty.
UKRAINE
The Tisza Festival in Kvasovo reached
up to the skies and down to the water,
with hot air balloon trips; homemade
kites to send aloft messages of
solidarity and the release of fish into
the Borzhava river. Music and green
actions brought together children from
the Tisza and Danube Delta.
ROMANIA
Some 192 organisations energised the Danube
spirit with discussion, culture and sport. Rovana
Plumb signed a joint project with Bulgaria
at the Danube Conference. The Environment
Ministry, Save the Danube & Delta NGO and
others brought the Delta’s hospitality to the
capital at the 4th Danube Gastronomy Festival
and thousands enjoyed 15 regional festivals.
MOLDOVA
Minister Salaru joined festivities
in Valeni, where tradition and
novelty combined to showcase folk
choirs and a teen fashion show
of ingenious outfits crafted from
recycled rubbish. Mr Salaru joined
local officials, NGOs and civil
society to discuss cooperation on
the River Prut.
BULGARIA
Action and awareness were central at
conservation, sport, science and art
endeavours. Thousands celebrated
at Persina Nature Park and in Vidin,
Montana, Vratsa, Pleven, Ruse and
Silistra. WWF surveyed birdlife on
the border with Romania. Clean-up
actions took place in Baikal and Lom,
where Neptune pronounced “plastic
waste is killing our rivers!”
The ICPDR would like to thank the more than 900 organisations involved in Danube Day 2012. See www.danubeday.org to find out more about the events and organisers.
