Experts are optimistic about the further development on the Danube
The Danube and its tributaries are valuable natural areas and, at the same time, the backbone of the European economic area as a mode of transport and a transport network. The fact that environmental and economic interests must not be mutually exclusive, but – on the contrary – can complement each other, was illustrated by the Danube Awareness Day, organised by viadonau, on 13 September as part of Austria’s EU Council Presidency.
On the basis of practical examples and experience, international experts from business, science and politics demonstrated in the Vienna International Center how the ecological and economic future of the Danube region can be secured by linking sustainable nature conservation projects with proactive waterway management.
The Danube Awareness Day – organised by the partners of the EU-funded project Danube STREAM and supported by the DANUBEparksCONNECTED project and the ICPDR – highlighted the good practices that have been achieved over the past few years in terms of environmentally sustainable waterway management. In addition, urgent topics for further common future on the Danube were also discussed.
Experts such as Ivan Zavadsky (Executive Secretary of the IKSD), Horst Schindler (Chief Engineer Danube Commission), Jasna Muškatirović (Plovput, Serbian Waterway Administration), Željko Milković (Deputy Secretary Save Commission), Désirée Oen (DG MOVE), Florian Ballnus (Coordinator for Priority Area 6 of the Danube Region Strategy), Vera Hofbauer (Head of Marine Inspectorate of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology) and Helmut Habersack (BOKU) let the trade visitors see common challenges, both in the past and in the future.
The lectures and the subsequent panel discussion dealt with and still faced challenges that were clear: The successes already achieved – for example within the framework of the international project FAIRway Danube and the Europe-wide implementation of the River Information Services – provide optimism for the further development of the Danube. At the same time, there is consensus that there is still much to be done – the next joint steps will be crucial.
While Désirée Oen and Florian Ballnus emphasised on the need for cross-border cooperation and the importance of closer co-operation between partner countries for the sustainable development of the waterway, Zeljko Milković underlined the different financial conditions in Eastern European countries. The shipping expert from the Save Commission, for example, said that in view of integrative development approaches, clear priorities and a focus on the essentials would have to be set. Nonetheless, good results have been achieved in recent years, both together and beyond EU borders, as Jasna Muškatirović has shown with the example of Serbia. National action plans with clear goals for the most diverse interests on the Danube can contribute and co-ordinate the development along the entire Danube.
In this context, Vera Hofbauer referred to the Danube Action Program of the bmvit as an important basis for a tailor-made integrated development strategy on the Austrian Danube. Ivan Zavadsky and Helmut Habersack emphasised that the sustainable development of the Danube natural and economic area is particularly important for achieving a balance between meaningful measures for the environment and for shipping.
The goal of the experts assembled in Vienna is clear: the economic development of the Danube region with the greatest possible ecological sense of responsibility. Particularly important in this regard: transnational cooperation and early involvement of all stakeholders – viadonau is currently working together with seven partner countries in the EU-funded Danube STREAM project to improve international cooperation between the waterway administrations along the Danube and to support the further harmonisation of waterway management.