As communities around the Planet gather to celebrate World Rivers Day, the Swimmable Cities alliance welcomes a new round of Signatories to its Charter - a set of common principles have been published to empower decision-makers, actors and grassroots activists in the international urban swimming movement.
 

Swimmable Cities and its community members are taking the opportunity to raise
awareness about - Principle 1. The Right to Swim

    Safe, healthy and swimmable waterways should be accessible to all people.

While during the Olympics the City of Paris inspiringly demonstrated the potential to clean up urban waterways, many cities and communities do not have the possibility. In fact, they may be years or decades off achieving this.

But with 2030 goals like 30 Flagship cities, a capacity building program for 300 Next Gen cities and 3000+ Signatories, Swimmable Cities is primed to support this wave of action.

Our alliance is now made up of organisations across 49 cities and communities, across 21
countries:

AUSTRALIA (Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney), AUSTRIA (Vienna, Zwerndorf), BELGIUM (Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent), BRAZIL (Rio de Janeiro), CANADA (Toronto), CHILE (Patagonia), CHINA (Beijing), DENMARK (Copenhagen), FINLAND (Helsinki, Lohja), FRANCE (Lille, Marseille, Metz, Paris), GERMANY (Berlin, Dresden, Munich), HUNGARY (Budapest), IRELAND (Cork), ITALY (Rome), NETHERLANDS (Amsterdam, Arnhem,
Rotterdam), SLOVAKIA (Bratislava), SOUTH AFRICA (Johannesburg), SOUTH KOREA (Seoul), SWITZERLAND (Basel), UK (Brighton, Bromsgrove, Liverpool, London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Plymouth, Oxford, Swansea), USA (Annapolis, Baltimore, Cambridge, Chicago, Houston, New York, Portland, Washington DC).

This includes the following Municipalities: City of Rotterdam (Netherlands), City of Yarra (Melbourne, AUS), Alsergrund District (Vienna, AUT) and City of Annapolis (MD, USA). 

Swimmable Cities is now working with the City of Paris and other key stakeholders to organise a Summit next northern summer. It will be a 2-day international meeting of experts, actors, activists and decision-makers from cities around the world, working across sectors to share knowledge, discuss challenges, build relationships and exchange innovative solutions.

This article is originally by Regeneration Projects. 

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, led by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its partners, covers terrestrial as well as coastal and marine ecosystems. As a global call to action, it will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration. Find out how you can contribute to the UN Decade. Follow #GenerationRestoration.