The Danube Box gets high marks in schools

Although water education materials exist in nearly all countries in the Danube, tools focusing on the concept of integrated river basin management have been missing until now.

The popularity of the Danube Box, introduced during last year’s Danube Day celebrations, is spreading across the basin. The Danube Box, an education kit for teachers of children aged 9 to 12, helps students appreciate the Danube River and its challenges.

Hungary was the first to translate the Danube Box, and the Hungarian version will be launched as part of an international ecology camp at the beginning of the school year. A translation for the Serbian Danube Box is under way and teachers hope to have the supporting materials ready this autumn. “This is an extremely interesting programme and it will be great to implement it into many school subjects”, says Budimka Reljin, from ‘Kosta Trifkovic’ elementary school, who participated in the teacher’s workshop in Novi Sad.

In Romania, an integrated education and awarenessraising campaign was launched to promote the Danube Box and to encourage adding the Danube River as a school topic. The kick-off for the campaign, a training session for 30 teachers, was part of Danube Day 2007.

Planning is under way to implement the box in Germany, and discussions are in progress for its use in other Danube countries. The Danube Box is already in use in Austria. The Danube Box was developed as part of the Green Danube Partnership between Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, the Coca-Cola Company and the ICPDR.

For more information, please visit:
www.danubebox.org.

Doris Gfrerer is an ICPDR consultant and works on the implementation
of the Danube Box.