The Big Jump during the International Tiber Descent

Once they arrive in the beautiful waters of the reserve, strictly on rowboats, it's time to become children again, get the momentum going and dive into the water. Elegant dives, improbable jumps, funny poses: anything goes to celebrate the beauty and joy of meeting the river. Yes, because the purpose of this event is not purely playful, but also symbolic. The message is about reappropriation of river environments, the call for water quality improvement, and custodianship of the river. The Big Jump initiative is an annual event held simultaneously throughout Europe to demand better quality of all waterways and to safeguard the natural ecosystem and human health. In essence, the Big Jump is a flash mob, established by the European Rivers Network in 2002, that seeks to reconnect citizens with their rivers, lakes, and wetlands, symbolically uniting them in a big plunge, and that attempts to stir the public's spirits toward the consequences of climate change and environmental pollution.

Big Jump at the Nazzano Tevere-Farfa Nature Reserve

Since 2002, about 200,000 people have participated in this event in 34 different countries. In this way, the Big Jump seeks to support those who, every day, work to protect and restore the freshwater systems found within the European Union. Many rivers, lakes and wetlands, in fact, are in urgent need of protection because they are threatened by the presence of large infrastructures or heavily polluted. From the 1990s to the present day much has fortunately changed: rivers used as dumps, accesses banned, levees and beaches disappearing have created a catastrophic situation, which has seen regulation as time has gone on. But this clearly has not been enough, and so it is the people who need to make their voices heard and embrace the important concept of "sustainable development." Sustainable development-according to the Brundtland Report-is defined as "that development which enables the present generation to meet its own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs." It was, in this way, emphasized the importance not only of environmental protection but also of social respect for generations to come.

Did you ever think that a "simple" dip could tell so much?