Danube Guides Action 2

Brief information

"Danube Guides Action 2" is a follow-up project to the "Danube Guides Action" project and is funded by the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg. It serves to consolidate the Danube Guides network, integrate new project partners and partner countries, train further Danube Guides and provide further training for active Danube Guides. The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine as new partner countries are at the centre of the network expansion. New project partner organisations are coming on board in Croatia, Bulgaria and Slovenia. Cooperation with partner organisations from Romania and Serbia, which have been involved from the outset, will continue. 

Danube Guides are specialised nature and culture guides for the Danube region. Their aim is to convey the valuable natural and cultural heritage of the Danube region to various target groups (tourists, schoolchildren, the local population, children, people with disabilities, etc.) through suitable programmes. In this way, they contribute to environmental protection and awareness-raising in the Danube region. Needs-based training in the form of webinars and network meetings support the trained guides in developing their own high-quality educational and adventure programmes. An important part of the project is also the cooperation between the now eight project partners (PP) in the field of environmental education.In order to expand, stabilise and further develop the Danube Guides network at regional and transnational level. To this end, various network meetings are organised along the Danube as part of the project. In order to lead the Danube Guides concept successfully into the future, a follow-up project is also to be developed as part of the project.

Project partner
8 project partners from 8 countries
Promoted by
State Ministry Baden-Württemberg
Co-financing
197.454,75 €
Official website
Lead partner
Danube Office Ulm/Neu-Ulm
Project duration
01.01.2024 - 31.12.2025
Total budget
263.273,00 €

Project measures

Danube Guides Network/Cooperation

  • Kick-off event to integrate the new partner organisations and get to know them personally.
  • Network consolidation workshops: 2 face-to-face, transnational meetings of the project partner organisations to strengthen the network and develop a sustainable structure with clear tasks, goals and expectations.
  • Regional network meetings of the Danube Guides with the project partner organisations in the partner countries for network maintenance and exchange.

Follow-up project development

  • Joint development of a follow-up project proposal with the project partner organisations within the framework of a suitable funding programme and taking into account the results of the network consolidation.

Qualification

  • Onboarding training: Online training of Danube Guides, especially for the new partner countries and project partner organisations. The curriculum and training concept was developed in the previous project.
  • Transnational intensification courses: 2 personal, transnational meetings, which serve the practical training of the participating Danube Guides, further professionalisation, exchange and transnational networking.
  • A further transfer of knowledge on current topics also takes place in webinars.

Communication

  • The Danube Guides training model is presented at regional and transnational level. The Danube Guides website is updated and further developed.

Project goals

Empowering Danube Guides to independently develop integrated environmental education programmes and to improve those already in place.

  • Establish sustainable cooperation between partner organisations, Danube Guides trainers and Danube Guides at regional and transnational level.
  • Further qualification and professionalisation of the Danube Guides through regional intensification courses for competence and knowledge enhancement (capacity building).
  • Raising awareness among different target groups for the Danube as a lifeline and a connecting natural and cultural space worthy of protection.

Project partner

Danube Office Ulm/Neu-Ulm

Comana Nature Park Administration

NGO Podunav

Centre for Sustainable Rural Development Kranj

National Tourism Cluster "Bulgarian Guide"

Green Osijek

City of Bilhorod Dnistrovskyi

Association of Environmental Journalists and Ecological Tourism from Moldov

Germany

Danube Office Ulm/Neu-Ulm

Serbia

NGO Podunav 

Romania

Comana Nature Park Administration

Slovenia

Centre for Sustainable Rural Development Kranj

Bulgaria

National Tourism Cluster "Bulgarian Guide"

Croatia

Green Osijek

Ukraine

City of Bilhorod Dnistrovskyi

Moldova

Association of Environmental Journalists and Ecological Tourism from Moldov

Media library

News about the guides

New Danube Guides on board 

October 2024
In the Danube Guides Action 2 project, the Danube Office certified 18 new Danube Guides at the beginning of October. Guides from seven different Danube countries took part in the onboarding training for Danube Guides. The onboarding training is an online training programme for nature and culture guides that was implemented as part of the Danube Guides Action 2 project, in which participants learn about the Danube region as well as content and methods for sustainable, inclusive tourism. In their final project, they develop two different tours based on what they have learnt and are certified as Danube Guides upon successful participation and completion of the exam.

"I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for the training. It was not only meaningful but also useful. I firmly believe that the knowledge and skills acquired will enhance our ability to work effectively in our role as guides."

Feedback from a Danube Guide

The new Danube Guides and their programmes will soon be available on the Danube Guides website. We are delighted that we were able to inspire Martha Weggenmann in Ulm to train as a Danube Guide. Weggenmann describes herself as a "Danube child" and, as the daughter of a river master, knew from an early age how many kilometres she would have to swim to the Black Sea.

Now in its third project, the Danube Office is coordinating the Danube Guides Network with partners from Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Serbia, Slovenia and Romania. The long-term goal here is to establish an international network of competent nature and cultural guides along the Danube and its tributaries, whose offers place a special focus on the natural and cultural heritage of the Danube and thus contribute to the environmental education of travellers and the local population.

News in the media

Report in agzente plus magazine

September 2024
In seven countries along the Danube and its tributaries, Danube Guides guide visitors through the special natural and cultural heritage of the Danube region. The Danube Office Ulm/Neu-Ulm is the coordinating partner of the Danube Guides Action 2 project, which is dedicated to the further training of nature and cultural guides to become Danube Guides in cooperation with 7 partner organisations.

The Danube Guides are trained to present the Danube as an exciting, sustainable and environmentally conscious experience for various target groups. In the current and previous projects, more than 150 Danube Guides from 7 countries have been trained in a specially developed programme that focuses on sustainable and inclusive tourism.

Read more here