Danube Watch 2/2017 - Bled Water Festival - Water is life, don't waste it!

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Bled Water Festival -
Water is life, don't waste it!

Bled, one of the most beautiful places on earth. A lake, an island, a castle, and the perfect location to celebrate and raise awareness of the value of natural resources.

a man talking into a microphone

Anyone who would also like to contribute to a better future and a better world for our children and grandchildren is welcome to join this socially beneficial project.
You can read more about our work at:
www.bledwf.com
or follow us on our Facebook page
Bled Water Festival.
You can also contact us at: vasb@oyrqjs.pbzmoc.fwdelb@ofni

text, whiteboard

In 2014 a group of enthusiastic volunteers created a wonderful project called the Bled Water Festival. Its mission is to change and improve people’s habits and to enhance and support the economy and business sectors. The objective of these volunteers was to emphasise the value of natural resources, especially water, and for this reason they created an international project for water related issues.

The main purpose of the Bled Water Festival is to raise public awareness of water issues, not only in Slovenia, but also in other parts of the world. Its primary aim is to provide solutions and promote water resources management. To achieve this, the volunteers have developed partnerships with ministries for the environment in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia and launched an annual competition with regional awards in several categories in each of the participating countries. They have also started regional competitions in primary schools. This year's topic was Water Waste.

In 2016 the award ´Responsible towards water´ was created (with the categories corporate, national and individual). This is awarded for examples of good practice and innovative projects in water management, and in 2017 the award was held at an international level.

The Bled Water Festival is a non-profit organisation that connects water organisations, international water experts, activists, film-makers, business people and the general public by raising awareness of water issues and promoting good water management practices.

During the course of the Festival, many famous people from the participating states take part in supporting these environmental issues. Great actors such as Rade Šerbedžija, Boris Cavazza, Dunja Klemenc, Čedomir Kolar, Nikola Kojo, and Vanessa Redgrave are just some of the celebrities who attend the festival. Experts in the field of water and the environment including Dr. Mihael Jožef Toman (Professor at the Biotechnical Faculty in Ljubljana), Dr. Mitja Bricelj (General Secretary for the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment) and Dr. Janez Potočnik (Co-Chair of the UN International Resource Panel) also actively support the Bled Water Festival.

Hélène Masliah-Gilkarov is Technical Expert for Public Participation & Communication in the ICPDR Secretariat

Marko Gajić is CEO at Prevekso Languages, and CEO of the Bled Water Festival