The Blue Danube running through the middle of Austria is an essential element to Viennese identity. Not only does the Blue Danube have a whole waltz named after the river but it also connects vienna to other countries in Europe. The Danube is 2,850km long spanning over ten countries. making it an important international connection. One does not have to look far these days to understand that climate change is a global issue requiring international engagement and  collaboration to combat the challenges ahead. Unfortunately, these days the Blue Danube is under many different environmental strains such as pollution and too many tourism boats floating up and down the river.

If we do not act now to protect and conserve the Blue Danube, one of Europe’s longest river’s will be polluted.

As a scientist who has a keen interest in protecting the future environment for generations to come, it is crucial that we ACT now to ensure that the environment can be protected. Vienna has already started taking action alongside the neighbouring countries that also have the Blue Danube running through it. Importantly, hydroelectric power is now being harnessed in Vienna as well as Budapest and Belgrade which is providing water for nearly 10 million people. This is using

n the past, as it does today, the Danube played a vital economic role in Europe and it is now harnessed for hydroelectric power in Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade, as well as providing drinking water for approximately 10 million people. We are heading on the right track but further protection, collaboration and conservation needs to occur.

Erected for a festival at NAME park, this impressive wall mural speaks to notions of peace, community values and the vibrancy that surrounds Viennese culture. Painted by blah and blah after a recent violent event at this park, the painters argue that blah do blah 

What draws me in to this impressive fest is that upon closer inspection little nuances begin to appear. At first, I see the shaking hands linking two souls together and then I remade there are a combination of geometric shapes all with different figures drawn into them. On the very right there is even a quote “blah” 

This particular piece is a little bit off the beaten track and not quite as obvious for the tourist to find. Making it one of those unique pieces you may stumble across when you inevitably become lost trying to decipher the German bus timetable.

While Expedia’s travel guide to Vienna successfully portrays Vienna’s musical, cultural and historical heritage, it also manages to essentialise the country and reduce it down to a neat package that appeals to the tourists. Describing Vienna “as the city of music” ignores the many other places that have too influenced the performing arts world of Vienna. Vienna prides itself on birthing some of the world’s best composers such as Strauss and Beethoven , meaning that its claim over the Waltz, especially the Blue Danube, is representative and symbolic of Viennese and their culture. In an earlier post, I described the importance of the Waltz in Vienna and I now realise that I have fallen into the trap of place essentialism.  I was unaware that by exploring stereotypical features of what might be expected to be “quintessentialViennese” actually fails to recognise the nuances and the multiple identities that too contribute to the development of the Waltz. 

Grand, generalising claims that are often made in tourism videos further the idea that there is an innate and unchanging essence to a particular country. In the Vienna Vacation Travel guide, the narrator claims that Vienna is home to “one of the great opera houses of the world” and that this place “casts a spell over opera and ballet lovers.” What this does it reduce Vienna’s art culture down to singular events and establishments that have contributed to the entertainment business of Vienna. Ensuring that we do not take what we see at face value, we can peel back the layers and obtain a more holistic understanding of how  “what has come together, in this place, is a conjunction of many histories and many spaces.” (Dorren Massey) Obviously, there is more to Vienna’s culture than its artistic scene.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

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