The River Elbe project - our common Elbe

Water is life and it has been flowing along the various branches of the rivers in our countryside for thousands of years. The Elbe and its many tributaries stands out in this catchment area which extends across international borders through Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Rivers either bring water in or take it away, flood or drain, they don’t stop at borders, they inspire us, and last but not least, they provide a home for a wide variety of plants and animals. But they are severely threatened by building development and pollution, and are worthy of particular care and attention.

The “River Elbe” project aims to give school age children the opportunity develop an awareness of the flowing water in their surrounding area. German and Czech environmental educators work together on a cross border basis and develop educational programmes for mobile laboratories, or mobile environmental units.

Within these programmes, schoolchildren from year 3 to 12 can analyse, evaluate and investigate ecological connections in the flowing water in the area around their school. The following question is at the heart of everything: Exactly what’s in the river? This encompasses everything from European guidelines, and chemical examinations to the plants and animals in and on the rivers of our home. With a pencil, magnifying glass, net and a microscope, children can really track down everything in the water.

In addition, a number of German / Czech school partnerships are planned for the period of the project, with joint events to get to know each other and discover together. The project partners on the German side are the Verein Landschaf(f)t Zukunft e.V.(Countyrside (makes) Future Association), alongside the State Foundation for Nature and the Environment, and on the Czech side, the environmental organisation SEVER and the town of Leitmeritz.

Funding:

The project “River Elbe” is supported by European Union resources as a Ziel3/Cíl3-Project.

Project timing:

November 2010 to October 2013

The educational programmes developed in the project can be booked at the National Park Centre.