From July 1st to 4th, the DANUBEPARKS partners met in Mohács (Duna-Dráva National Park, Hungary) at the occasion of the Danube Festival.
The first day of the festival started off with exhibition openings: On July 2nd, the artwork “A Sound Map of the Danube” by Annea Lockwood was opened in the White-Stork Museum of Kölked. This special exhibition, consisting of a map of the Danube region and a sound & story collection from all along the river, lets the visitor travel along the nearly 3000 km river length: While sitting in comfortable chairs, people are invited to experience different sounds of the river and surroundings as well as stories of people living by and from the river, thus opening the visitors to the diversity of the Danube region. The exhibition itself travels as well: In 2009, it has been shown in the visitor centre of Donau-Auen National Park (Austria), while for 2011 it is foreseen to be shown in the visitor centre of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (Romania).
The Danube Festival was organized together with the Croatian Minority of this South-Hungarian region, and the second event the same day was dedicated to their culture: A photo exhibition in the centre of Mohács shows their traditions, lifestyle and people.
The main part of the festival took place on July 3rd by the Danube in Mohács, with Croatian music, dances, and a lot of tasty food. The highlight was the the traditional “Washing in the Danube” event, organized by the Croatian people. DANUBEPARKS partners presented themselves on a tourism fair within the festival, where visitors could talk to staff of the protected areas and take with them information brochures, posters, and games. An additional highlight was the local food and handicraft offered by some of the stands as well as the children programmes organized by various DANUBEPARKS partners.
The occasion of the festival was used for two meetings of DANUBEPARKS partners and discussions on past and future activities:
The Steering Committee, formed by the directors of the Protected Areas, had a review on the progress of the whole project so far, as well as discussions on the future strategies. These included possible follow-up projects, the extension of the Network as well as the http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperation/danube/index_en.htm EU Danube Region Strategy. Two main outcomes of the meeting: A new observer partner (Lonjsko Polje Nature Park in Croatia) was integrated into the Network, and Phil Weller (Executive Secretary of the ICPDR) invited the DANUBEPARKS Network to become an official observer of the ICPDR.
The Tourism Task Force had its meeting the same day, discussing some activities to be implemented within the upcoming months. These activities include the development of an online platform for nature tourism along the Danube, the creation of maps showing the touristic possibilities within the protected areas as well as the diversity along the river in general, and the organization of soft boat tourism workshops for the DANUBEPARKS partners.
All in all, the festival and meetings were a great success and once again served to bring the partners closer together, further develop joint activities, and to make the DANUBEPARKS Network known to the people within the Danube region.
