The “Łączy nas Wisła” (The Vistula River Unites Us) project is a continuation of last year’s initiative involving a dragon boat trip from Krakow to Gdańsk, combined with testing the cleanliness of our Queen of Rivers. The samples taken confirmed high levels of water pollution, far from the requirements of the Water Framework Directive.
The Business for Climate Foundation (Biznes dla klimatu) has undertaken to organize a series of interdisciplinary events related to the promotion of the Vistula River as our national heritage, in particular: conferences, art exhibitions, and water sports competitions. The overarching goal of the “Łączy nas Wisła” (The Vistula River Unites Us) project is to ensure legal protection for the river by legislators and to restore its waters to good ecological status.
On September 11, 2025, a conference was held bringing together the scientific community, local and national government, non-governmental organizations, the water and sewage industry, and the younger generation to discuss how to realistically improve the condition of the Vistula and how to ensure its rightful place in Poland’s water policy. An important message of the conference was to treat the Vistula not only as a riverbed, but above all as a catchment area, valleys, and the entire biocenosis.
Only a broad, holistic approach to rivers will allow for more effective water resource management, taking into account the ongoing climate change manifested, among other things, by floods and hydrological droughts. A further goal of the project is to develop a model for the protection of the Vistula River by granting it legal personality as a model that can be adapted in the future in European Union countries. Thus, Poland could become the initiator and creator of a model that responds to the needs of rivers in other European countries on the way to full implementation of the Water Framework Directive.
Source: Biznes dla klimatu Foundation