The Danube is the world’s most international river. From the Black Forest to the Black Sea, she flows through ten nations; her catchment area spans twenty countries total, connecting regions, cultures and habitats like few other waterways. More than 80 million people live along her banks and tributaries. Four capital cities lie directly on her course, while she carries water from six more – a capital river in many ways.
Yet, the Danube is far more than a human habitat. She is a mountain river, a lowland stream, an urban waterway, and a sprawling delta. Her catchment area is home to over two thousand plant and five thousand animal species. Her floodplain forests and delta remain the last continental refuges for white-tailed eagles and pink pelicans. The European beaver, once nearly extinct, has returned to her shores.
This multiplicity is especially vivid in Vienna, the largest city along her course. Here she includes the inner-city Donaukanal (Danube Channel), the Old Danube, as well as wide-ranging floodplain forests. On the anthropogenic Donauinsel (Danube Island) alone live over 130 species of wild bees and around 40% of all Austrian dragonflies. The Declaration of the Rights of Citizen Danube is a scientific and artistic initiative conceived and led by Katja Schechtner and Alex Putzer, developed in partnership with KlimaBiennale Wien, and publicly introduced in Vienna on 11 April 2026.
As of now, the project is being further developed in collaboration with Vienna Design Week, with the aim of bringing the Danube’s seven citizen rights before the Viennese parliament – as well as finding ambassadors willing to champion them.
