Welcome to Danube Day 2023

Danube Day 2023 will mark the 20th annual Danube Day celebration, bringing together citizens from more than a dozen countries to celebrate their shared river waters. The event’s longevity attests to the important contribution of rivers towards the economy, environment, and culture of the region.

While the 2020 and 2021 Danube Day celebrations had to accommodate COVID-19 safety restrictions by holding online events, since 2022, we have seen the return of outdoor events throughout several Danube countries! This year’s theme is “Keep the Danube Blue,” inspired by the 4th Joint Danube Survey (JDS4), one of the world’s most comprehensive surface water monitoring efforts. The findings of JDS4, first published in 2021, have been disseminated throughout the Danube River Basin to inform the public about vital data on water quality across the Danube River and its major tributaries.

The Danube Day poster design for 2023 features the motto Keep the Danube Blue”, this time against a blue background. Like every year, our signature Danube Day branded bags have been sent out to our partners throughout the Danube River Basin to distribute to the public.

Planned Activities

Austria

• Clean up along the Danube with rubber boats
  • Boat trip on the Danube with students
  • Waste collection on the Danube
  • Learn about the Danube and the Donau-Auen National Park and to avoid waste
  • Location: Donau-Auen National Park, Fischamend - Haslau
  • Date and time: June, 19th, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Programme to discover and explore the Danube in the Visitor Center of the National Park Donau-Auen
  • Primary schools from Vienna and the National Park region are invited to join the Danube Day at the Visitor Center in Schloss Orth
  • Information desks and programs: Donau-Auen National Park, via Donau, Generation Blue, Jump, Wiener Gewässer, Ramsar
  • Different programs to learn about the Danube, the animals, and how to clean the Danube
  • Location: Schloss Orth National Park Center, Schloss Orth, 2304 Orth
  • Date and time: June 20, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
     

Bulgaria

• Danube Day celebration in the town of Nikopol
  • Interactive educational models, concerts, competitions, and exhibitions
  • Actions to clean the banks of the Danube and its tributaries
  • Danube Day informational campaign
  • Location: Town of Nikopol
  • Date and time: 26 June – 2 July
• Danube Day celebration in the village of Baykal, Dolna Mitropolia municipality
  • Interactive educational models, concerts, competitions, and exhibitions,
  • Cleaning the banks of the Danube from waste
  • Danube Day informational campaign
  • Location: Village of Baykal
  • Date and time: 26 June – 2 July
• Danube Day celebration in the town of Belene
  • Danube Day festival with interactive educational models
  • Representation of the Danube countries and traditional Bulgarian customs
  • Danube Day informational campaign
  • Location: Town of Belene
  • Date and time: June 26 –  July 2
     

Croatia

• TBA
   

Czech Republic

• Open Day at the Water Research Institute, Prague
  • Guided tours of Institute premises, including large-scale models of riverbeds and dams, aquariums, experimental waste-water treatment plant, etc.
  • Workshop for children with games, worksheets, art
  • Location: T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute, Prague
  • Date and time: TBC
• Field Visit to Křivé jezero Natural Reserve
  • Preserved natural floodplain with valuable ecosystems
  • Important bird and beaver habitat
  • Organized by the Nature Conservation Agency – steward of National Parks and Protected Areas
  • Location: Křivé jezero Natural Reserve, Pálava Protected Area, South Moravia
  • Date and time: June 3-4
     

Germany

• Migration in the Danube Basin – cultural and natural
  • Four artists (all have been artists in residence in Regensburg with the motto “heritage today/tomorrow”)
  • Lecture from the regional water agency biologist Dr. Jörg Brandner about “Biodiversity in the Danube River.”
  • Talk with Tonka Malekovic about her installation “Compositions of Flow” and Sophia Freidhoff about migration in Regensburg from people from the Danube area.
  • Location: Regensburg, diverse locations in the town
  • Date and time: June 29, 11 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
• Groundbreaking ceremony: Revitalization of the Danube at Gögglingen near Ulm
  • Danube-Revitalization between km 2592+550 and 2593+200 at Ulm-Gögglingen in Baden-Württemberg.
  • Location: Ulm-Gögglingen (Exact location to be published)
  • Date and time: July 5, 1:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
• Aktionsnachmittag zum Thema Donau – kids Danube activities for kids
  • Activities for children 5 years and up in cooperation with the bookstore Aegis
  • Reading of children’s book "Danube" by Michal Hvorecky
  • Location: kokoschinski Café Ulm
  • Date and time:  June 29, 3 p.m.
     

Hungary

• Danube Day Children’s Island 
  • Large variety of activities and games organized related to Danube water, flora, and fauna
  • Children will receive a Danube Passport that will guide them in discovering all activities
  •  Special emphasis on introducing the Danube Sturgeon to the participants.
  • Location: Margaret Island  & Óbuda Island
  • Date and time: June 17
• Danube Day Celebration by Water Management Sector
  • Celebrating words
  • Sport competitions
  • cooking competition
  • Location: Visegrád
  • Date and time: June 30
• Györkőc Kid Festival
  • Event to draw the children’s attention to the importance of rivers through games and crafts, to deepen and strengthen the responsibility and sensitivity for waters and the environment.
  • Location: Győr
  • Date and time: July 1 – 2 
     

Moldova

• TBA
   

Romania

• Press releases
  • Location: Websites and mass media channels
  • Date and time: June 2023
• Special Danube Day celebration meetings
  • Each of the 11 Water Basin Administrations will organize special meetings of the River Basin Committees dedicated to the Danube Day celebration under the slogan “Keep the Danube blue.”
  • Location: Each Water Basin Administration Level
  • Date and time: June 2023
• Local events at the riparian Danube Water Basin Administrations levels
  • Riparian Danube Water Basin Administrations, with the support of the local authorities (county prefectures, schools, city halls, municipalities, and local NGOs), will organize local events for children and the public to raise awareness about the Danube
  • Date and time: June 2023
     

Serbia

• Riverbank clean-up organized by Public Water Management Company “Srbijavode.”
  • It was agreed that this year's theme for the celebration would be based on ecology, raising public awareness about river conservation
  • Location:  Belgrade
  • Date and time: June 2023
• Environmental awareness school workshops
  • Educational lectures for children in primary and secondary schools
  • Thematic workshops in kindergartens
  • Painting workshops
  • Sports games and other accompanying activities
  • Location: TBA
  • Date and time: June 2023
• Regatta organized by Public Water Management Company “Vode Vojvodine.”
  • PWMC Vode Vojvodine aims at promoting the navigation potential of Vojvodina, navigation itself, and nautic tourism
  • Location: Along the DTD canals and Danube River on a circular route
  • Date and time: June 2023
     

Slovakia

• Expert seminar - event outside Slovak Hydro-meteorological Institute
  • Event outside SHMÚ, presentation of the hydrological station Propeller on the Rázus embankment in BA and in Devín
  • Measurement of water quantity in the Danube, demonstration of groundwater sampling, demonstration of measurements from a boat on the Danube
  • Location: Rázus embankment in BA and Devín
  • Date and time: June 29
• Solstice on the Danube – Slovak Environmental Agency
  • Combining activities for World Environment Day and International Danube Day - networking of community groups in the Danube Region, presentation of the activities of SEV Dropie
  • Open day, international event European Weekend of Gardens, guided excursion in the Protected Landscape Area Ostrovné lúky (Ostrovné meadows)
  • Location: Slovak Environmental Agency, Protected Landscape Area Ostrovné lúky
  • Date and time: June 23 – 24
     

Slovenia

• TBA
   

Ukraine

• TBA

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