As part of the 13th Danube Festival Ulm/Neu-Ulm 2024, a partner meeting of the international education network Danube-Networkers and other Danube stakeholders will take place from 11-13 July 2024

Active members of the Danube Networkers educational network and guests from other EUSDR networks will be invited. The thematic focus will be on the importance, tasks and forms of cooperation between civil society organizations and between citizens in the Danube region and in Europe.

At the conference on 12 July, the participants will use keynote speeches and working groups to address the question of how stable cross-Danube networks based on European values can be established and further developed in various areas of society through a combination of digital cooperation and analogue meetings, strengthening the feeling of togetherness in and shared responsibility for Europe.

Participation and networking are to be strengthened through thematic workshops in the areas of culture, social affairs, environment, new technologies and poster presentations with “Markt der Möglichkeiten” (engl. market of opportunities) during the lunch break. Special consideration will be given to the introduction of digital possibilities of cooperation and digital methods of public relations, analysis of organisational and communication structures.

A poster session and information stands will illustrate the power of various existing civil society-oriented networks in the Danube region and invite organizations and citizens to participate.

Using the example of the multifunctional online platform ViMA danube, new ways of civic engagement through self-organized „online networking beyond borders“ will be presented and tested and materials will be made available.

As part of the partner meeting, there will be a training session for VIMA volunteers, a working meeting of ViMA stakeholders and the partners in the intergenerational project „Taking little Steps towards Change“.

The partner meeting will include participation in the Danube Conference of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation on July 11, 15:00-19:00.

Organizer is ILEU e.V. as coordinator of the network „Danube-Networkers“, in cooperation with partners from different Danube countries and the international NGO Danube-Networkers for Europe (DANET) and the EUSDR-Network Baden-Württemberg. The partner meeting is sponsored by the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg and the Baden-Württemberg Foundation.

Around 80-100 guests from all countries in the Danube region are expected to attend – representatives of NGOs, Danube networks, educators and multipliers of all age groups

The conference with its pre- and post-conference activities will use ViMA-danube, come-together-online sessions and public relations work to make arguments and examples for a common Europe based on solidarity understandable and tangible for a broad public.

An exhibition in the Edwin Scharff Haus presents the results of the „Traces of Europe in my Town“ competition. People of different age groups and ethnicities from all Danube countries present traces of Europe in their town/place of residence in the form of texts, photos and videos. The aim is to arouse participants‘ interest in geographical, historical, political, cultural and social dimensions and comparisons and to help citizens better understand the Danube Strategy and the European Union as a whole.

Here you have the program for the Danube Festival: https://donaufest.de/programm/

More Information about:   „Sing and Swing along the Danube“

More Informations about:  Strengthening civil society in the Danube region for a joint Europe

About the conference