More than 70 students and adults came together under the theme "Feeling Danube, Celebrating Danube", for the 6th European Youth Parliament for Water.

The 6th European Youth Parliament for Water issued a call for mobilisation to local authorities and European institutions on the lasting management of water. The document, drafted by participants to the parliament held in Romania in May, condenses their ideas to add the voice of youth in the basin to the international conventions concerning the Danube. "I can assure you that we, the youth, are truly here and ready to join you in your work towards a better Europe," said Andrei Mehedintu of Romania, President of the 6th European Youth Parliament for Water.

Youth Parliament groups also added their unique voices to Danube Day this year, organising local events in Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova. Students in Austria focused on education, while Romanian groups brought songs and dances about ecology to villages along the Siret River, and Bulgarian youth staged a show about living with the river. In Ukraine groups were organised to explore the Danube Delta and participants in Moldova focused on access to drinkable water. The Youth Parliaments plan to encourage more activities for Danube Day 2006, and next year's festivities should include a number of local parliaments.

"We, the youth, do not have the experience of adults," said Mehedintu, "however, we have one advantage: the desire to learn and to do better than those who came before us."

Kirstie Shepherd
is a freelance journalist living in Vienna
and has called the Danube River Basin home since 2000.