FH25 - Living Danube: Our River. Our case
The challenge
To sustain the interest of more than two million people for six years in a project that is invisible, technical, and - at first glance - “too mundane” to inspire anyone.
The solution
Wastewater treatment is not only about the infrastructure we have built, but also about our quality of life, our relationship with nature. From where we approached: about the Danube and the species of fish that once lived in it, which disappeared from there due to pollution.
Living Danube - Our River. Our case.
The logo was designed by Juli Nemes, it was a gift to work with her. Our claim: if the water becomes clear again, fish that were once native to the river can return to the Danube. A technical investment thus became a cause of hope, which was easy to love, understand and support.The strategy marked three main directions: general, public communication and information, professional communication and the future generation. Communication has grown into a living, interactive ecosystem in six years:
🔹 11 public briefings, public forums, 2 roadshows, 11 press events;
🔹 electronic newsletter entitled Clean Slate for professional audience; professional days, tours;
🔹 80 press releases with nearly 6000 appearances;
🔹 project website eloduna.hu, where we have tracked the investment, with films and photos related to important milestones;
🔹 virtual aquarium is the opening event on the World Water Day in front of Parliament - where anyone could “meet” fish species that were once native to the Danube, realistic replicas of Majda fish were also exhibited in museums;
🔹 water ski program with Gyuri Kolonics, with the participation of hundreds of schools and thousands of students;
🔹 press tours, where we showed the real scale of the investment, its engineering feats;
🔹 community events, public communication, traffic information;
🔹 the publication describing the project reached 800,000 households;
🔹 media campaign in connection with the launch of the trial operation;
🔹 Live Danube Parade, with all-day picnic by the water, photo exhibition showing the investment, informative materials.
The result
The supported awareness of the project increased from 29.4% to 78%. 47.6% of those involved had a meaningful meeting with the project (initially: 2.6%). Support for the project was extremely high among the respondents, with 93% expecting an improvement in the water quality of the Danube as a result of the development. 87% were aware of the fact that it was an EU supported project, the project became one of the examples of environmental education in Hungary.
Why did we fall in love with this project? Because it showed what communication is capable of when it really creates a cause. Well, we found out that a beluga can grow up to 8 m.
