The Danube Box extends its reach

The basin-wide tool, based on the principles and objectives of sustainability and environmental education, will now be assisting teachers in four more Danube countries to bring the Danube River to class.

At Europe’s biggest Education Fair, the ‘didacta 2008’ in Stuttgart, the German Ministry of Environment presented the German version of the Danube Box – the Donau Box – to teachers.

This spring, children in Germany, Hungary, Serbia and Romania will learn more about how they can protect the Danube, save water or explore the river through translated and adapted versions of the Danube Box. ‘Donau Box’, ‘Duna ismerettár’, ‘Dunav Box’ and ‘Cartea Dunarii’ are ready to help teachers engage young people with water and river-related issues.

The basin-wide educational kit, accompanied by promotional and educational activities, is made possible through cooperation with The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola Hellenic and the ICPDR under the framework of the Green Danube Partnership. The Danube Box includes quizzes, exhibitions, teacher training, online competitions, interactive web journeys and many more inviting activities. Already in use in Austria, the national versions of the Danube Box for Germany, Hungary, Serbia and Romania will be presented to teachers during upcoming weeks.

Three thousand Donau Boxes were produced for distribution in all German provinces by 2008, in time to support teachers planning water education lessons for the ‘Year of Water’ within the UN Decade ‘Education for Sustainable Development’.

“Water is one of our most previous resources,” says Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister of the Environment of Germany. “Especially at this time, in the ‘Year of Water’ within the UN Decade of ‘Education for Sustainable Development’, the issue of water protection should be emphasised in schools.”

Bringing lessons to life. In Hungary, the ﬁrst round of a nationwide online competition began in March. Students are invited to test their Danube knowledge and their skills in river-related topics in the online group quiz.

“The ‘Duna ismerettár’ offers us a wide range of activities to bring the school curriculum to life,” explains Monika Jetzin from the GWP Hungary, which is working together with the Hungarian Ministry of Environment and Water, the Ministry of Culture and Education and Coca-Cola Hungary on the implementation of the ‘Duna ismerettár’. “With this tool kit teachers will have the right material for Danube-related lessons or programmes. And students will have fun and exciting lessons,” says Jetzin.

Ongoing teacher resources. Introducing the comprehensive materials is a long-term initiative. Teacher training sessions took place last year in Serbia, and teachers in Romania are engaged in a two-year programme to introduce the Danube Box materials. Teachers there are working on local aspects of river ecology and on three additional workshops – the ﬁrst in the mountainous region of Dobreta Turnu Severin – teachers from 22 ecologically based schools will be trained in methods of education for sustainability, interactive teaching methods as well as the ecological topics of the Danube Box. “The teachers are working intensively on the implementation of the Danube as a regular topic in their schools,” says Miruna Ralea, project coordinator in Romania.

For more information, please visit www.danubebox.org, www.machnewelle.de or www.danubebox.hu.

Doris Gfrerer is an environmental education consultant and works on the implementation of the Danube Box in the ICPDR Secretariat.

Next: Kopački rit – wetland paradise in limbo between ongoing threats and future protection

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