The navigability of the Drava River as a space for sustainable tourism and cooperation

It was intended to present a cross-border approach to the development of a sustainable tourism product on the Drava River and to discuss establishing conditions for sustainable and nature-friendly use of the river for sports and recreational activities.

All those present were addressed by the mayor of the host municipality, the municipality of Radlje ob Dravi, Dr. Alan Bukovnik . This was followed by a presentation of good practices in the tourist use of the navigable Drava River from neighboring Austria. On behalf of 2G Sport & Freizeit and Karnten Werbung, Daniel Rebernik presented them. In the continuation of the event, we also listened to a presentation of the SI-AT project Nature Friendly Rowing, which brings the development of a sustainable, innovative, cross-border tourist product on the Drava River. It was presented by our director Uroš Rozman . In addition to the Regional Development Agency for Koroško , which is the lead partner of the project, the partners are 2G Sport & Freizeit GmBH, Karnten Werbung GmBH , the Development Social Institute Radlje ob Dravi and the Regional Development Agency for Podravje - Maribor .

This was followed by a round table discussion, which we addressed with the basic question - How to establish conditions for sustainable and nature-friendly use of natural resources for carrying out sports and recreational activities on and along the Drava River?

The discussion was attended by Dr. Alan Bukovnik (Mayor of the Municipality of Radlje ob Dravi), Mag. Mateja Klaneček (Directorate of the Republic of Slovenia for Water), Andrej Tumpej (Dravske elektrarne Maribor), Borut Rojs (Drava Center) and Martina Verčkovnik (GO tourism). It was moderated by Uroš Rozman (RRA Koroška).

The meeting reminded us once again how important cooperation is – between municipalities, professional institutions, tourism stakeholders and the wider community – if we want to develop sustainable, nature-friendly stories that will have long-term value for the space and people. The ideas and good practices exchanged are certainly a good incentive for further steps, for connecting and for finding solutions that will enable the Drava River to remain a place of experiences, inspiration and responsible use for future generations.