Entry #9: Riverwalk 2017: Walk the Inn!

Organisation:

WWF Austria: www.wwf.at

Generation Earth: www.generationearth.at

Riverwalk: www.river-walk.eu; Facebook

Dates: 14 July – 6 August, 2017: 24 days

Place: 500 km of mobile action (hiking, canoeing, rafting, biking) along the Inn river from Maloja (CH) to Passau (D)

Description of the activity:

Riverwalk 2017 brought together 20 young people (15-30 years old) from Switzerland, Austria and Germany to hike, bike and raft 517km for 24 days all the way from the spring to the mouth of the Inn river and explore sustainable development opportunities along the longest river of the Alps. The project aimed at increasing awareness of the importance of free-flowing rivers, develop participants' leadership skills, expand a growing international network of young environmental leaders and form personal connections to unique and threatened river systems.

What was the environmental problem:

Riverwalk 2017 drew attention to the Inn river, often referred to as "the lifeline" of the Alps, which has been almost entirely straightened, dammed and thus degraded over the past decades. According to a study by WWF, only ca. 1% of the entire river is still in its original shape. While 24 hydropower plants had caused the decline of the river's bed load and biodiversity, several renaturation initiatives have been trying to preserve the flora and fauna in the wetlands.

Riverwalk 2017’s objectives were to develop participants’ personal connection to nature and rivers, explore topics of renewable energy, nature conservation, sustainability and eco-tourism, as well as develop competences such as leadership, team building, project management and active citizenship. At the same time, participants were invited to learn how to live and work together with youth from different backgrounds, resolve conflicts in a productive manner, and co-create a supportive, participatory, open-minded, communicative atmosphere and thus improve intercultural understanding.

The result of the activity:

We hope that many of this year´s Riverwalk participants will continue getting active for rivers. Our message occurred in several local and national newspapers and we hope that will not only have an impact on locals but also politicians and other stake holders that will hopefully manage to come up with a sustainable river management plan.

Please, have a look at the media coverage and different newspaper articles about the project here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3Izv8nF9k6iamRuNFZXcUFlQUk

Video about the project:

Environmental challenge accepted - Public vote

Main page of the project