All across Europe, thousands of people will be jumping into rivers and lakes at the same time on Sunday 8 July:

○…to show their love for the continent's waterways;

○... and to call on their politicians to protect them by becoming serious about implementing the EU water law, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for the benefit of people and nature;

○… because rivers, wetlands, streams and lakes are amazing: Big Jump is a celebration of the ecosystem and of what is protecting it;

○… this year, they are jumping because the WFD is crucial to protect our freshwater ecosystems and our future as humans - the WFD should not be changed.

Looking back: the history of Big Jump in one sentence: started in 2002 and founded by European Rivers Network (ERN). Around 200,000 people have taken part before in over 2000 events in 34 countries.

This year we are hoping for a record number of events. Big Jump will see people jumping, diving, wading, kayaking in countries from Spain to Serbia.

Three partners within coop MDD are participating in this year’s Europe-wide Big Jump – the European River Swimming Day support river protection and restoration.

The events within TBR MDD are taking place on Mura in Austria, on the Drava in Croatia (more info on a website soon), and on the Danube in Serbia.

Conclusion: protect our freshwater systems to ensure we will still be able to have free-flowing rivers we can swim in, clean, living rivers, for future generations. Jump into action and join one of your local Big Jumps - or organise a Big Jump yourself: www.bigjump.org