Under this year’s motto „Get active for a safer Danube“, the DanubeSediment project partners took part in an array of Danube Day events and festivities. During these celebrations, our project focused on increasing awareness about the role and importance of sediments in the Danube. In some countries, the Danube Day events were visited by thousands of people!

In Vienna, Austria, our partner BOKU participated in the Danube Day on 13 July. Besides showing the project video and posters, the team demonstrated measurement devices and a physical model of a hydropower plant. One very popular activity was a game for children, where the kids had to help sediments of different sizes make their way through several barriers from the source of the Danube River to the delta (see top photo). The big question of the exhibit “What happens if too many sediments deposit in a river?” initiated discussions about a “safer Danube” with stakeholders that attended the festival.

Our partner Croatian Waters explained why a safer Danube must be clean and healthy. At the festival in Vukovar, Croatia, where they presented the project, the audience could see how water analyses are taken from polluted, clean and averagely-polluted water. Small animals, which are living in the water, could be looked at through the microscope.

This year’s Danube Day in Germany was split into two locations on July 2nd: LfU presented the project at a press conference celebrating the Joint Danube Survey 4 in Jochenstein at the Austro-German border. Together with TUM, LfU had a booth at the university in Munich. Besides proejct information, the special attraction was the interactive sandbox (see photo in the middle).

The Danube Day in Belgrade, Serbia, took place on 15 June. Our partners JCI and Plovput organised an info desk with postcards, a poster and an interactive workshop for children. They could write messages on stones that were sent downstream on a model of the Danube River. The workshop taught children and other visitors what sediments are, how they are transported, how islands are formed in the river and much more.

On June 22 in Slovakia, Danube Day was held at a wild water sports area near Gabčikovo dam. There, our partner VUVH presented our project and its activities. The audience had the opportunity to get to know different animals that live in the Danube.

At the central Romanian event on June 20th, our partner NARW raised awareness for the project by distributing material and showcasing the project posters. The project was highlighted in the high-level opening sessions. Additionally, children could participate in workshops for water analyses and biology.

You will find more photos in our DanubeDay-Gallery.

Photos: Philipp Gmeiner, IWA/BOKU (top), David Singer, LfU (middle), Ljiljana Marjanović, Jaroslav Černi Water Institute (bottom)