![HER[AI]TAGE](https://her-ai-tage.pou-cakovec.hr/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/logo-1.png){kind=logo}
![HER[AI]TAGE](https://her-ai-tage.pou-cakovec.hr/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/logo-2.png){kind=logo}
Today I miss socialising on the river, which has become impossible because the bank is overgrown. In childhood, we even drank water from the Mura. Climate changes have done their part, and the river is cold throughout the year today. Nevertheless, we used to go into the water as early as the first of May. In winter, the Mura froze. The army had to blast the ice near the bridge all winter. When the ice moved and stopped, a high ice mountain formed, which they had to mine to release the flow.
#ClimateChangeAdaptation #FreshwaterEcosystemManagement #HumanNatureCoexistence #EnvironmentalEducation #RiverConnectivity
Giving a direct observation of climate change adaptation, the narrator notes that the Mura River no longer freezes into huge ice blocks as it did in the past. The story recalls the dramatic blasting of ice jams to prevent flooding, highlighting a history of active danger management. It also mourns the loss of social connection to the river due to overgrown banks, signifying a disconnection from nature and a drop in water quality.
The reduction in river ice is a documented impact of climate change in the Danube basin. The EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change calls for more data on such impacts. The blasting of ice is a traditional flood defence measure. The overgrowth of banks is often due to the abandonment of traditional maintenance, leading to terrestrialisation of floodplains.
Climate change indicator monitoring can track ice phenomena. River revitalisation measures can clear overgrown banks to restore access. Oral history projects capturing weather events help validate climate models. Adaptive river management accounts for the lack of ice jams in modern flood protection planning.
Sources:
https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/eu-adaptation-policy/strategy
https://www.icpdr.org/sites/default/files/nodes/documents/danube_climate_adaptation_study_2018.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2025.1391458/full
The story you have just read is an authentic record of an elder’s experiences who participated in the HER[AI]TAGE project. While the content is original, the text may have been lightly edited for optimal clarity, flow, and readability. The accompanying visuals and audio recording were created responsibly with AI technology to enrich the storytelling experience while preserving the foundational authenticity of the presented story.
AI tools used: Google Gemini via Google AI Studio.