Public engagement – LIFE+ Alte Donau

The Alte Donau is bordered by two of Vienna's most populous municipal districts, Floridsdorf and Donaustadt. New urban centres such as the Donau City, the UN City and Kagran have grown up on their major thoroughfares, providing housing, jobs and hotels for thousands of people. The Mühlschüttel, Donaufeld and Kaisermühlen neighbourhoods are also experiencing growth.

The Alte Donau's importance as a local recreation area for city dwellers will increase in the coming years. With leisure activities such as swimming, boating and sailing, a range of restaurants, cafés and bars and the natural beauty of the surroundings, the Alte Donau is an attractive spot for Viennese and visitors alike.

To educate people using the Alte Donau about its great ecological importance and the necessity of long-term measures to protect this sensitive urban body of water, a large number of communication and information measures have been put in place as part of a comprehensive public engagement package. These included targeted measures for specific age brackets and visitor categories.

Public engagement measures

• Information work: Six large LIFE+ information boards at hotspots around the Alte Donau
• New signage system: 20 wayside information pillars on the roads and paths around the Alte Donau help visitors find their way around and provide useful info about the respective locations.
• Printed materials: Project leaflets and reports as handouts and as downloads on the website
  
  • Brochure: "The LIFE+ Alte Donau project - A partnership for the Alte Donau": 5 MB PDF
• Video documentary: Two films showing the most important measures and projects.
  • Documentation (long version): Projects realised from autumn 2014 to summer 2016: LIFE+ Alte Donau, Together for the Old Danube - Video
  • Final documentation: LIFE+ Alte Donau Alte Donau - a project with long-term benefits - Video
• Experience-based activities for schools, families, children and teens provided by the environmental education organisation Umweltspürnasen
  Umweltspürnasen-Club (German)
• Expert-led guided urban walks and boat trips on the Alte Donau (2014, 2015 and 2016)
  Alte Donau Urban Walks (German)
• Presence at events on and around the Alte Donau; own events such as the 2015 Vienna Biodiversity Day co-organised with Municipal Department MA 22 – Environmental Protection
  Events
• Mobile info stands publicising the LIFE+ project at hotspots around the Alte Donau; interviews with members of the public and recreational users as part of a study on socio-economic effects of the LIFE+ Alte Donau project
• Wiener Wasserweg walking trail: An app featuring some 21 stopping points around the Alte Donau provides walkers and other visitors with fascinating facts about the urban lake's history, flora and fauna, water resource management measures and sport and leisure facilities, as well as outlining the activities of Municipal Department 45 - Water Management (MA 45).
  Wiener Wasserweg app (German)

The LIFE+ Alte Donau project was funded under the LIFE+ Programme of the European Union as part of the "Environment Policy and Governance" strand.