Over one million barriers on Europe's rivers have resulted in extensive loss of river connectivity, and 70-90 % of Europe's floodplain areas are ecologically degraded due to human modifications. Despite having an ambitious EU policy framework in place, implementation of freshwater and transitional water ecosystem restoration is lagging behind. Reasons for this lie among others in the lack of knowledge, awareness and participation of local people and business actors. The overall goal of DANUBE4all (a 5-year Innovation Action funded by the EU) is the development of a comprehensive Restoration Action Plan for the Danube River basin developed in an unprecedented co-creation process with stakeholders, integrating citizens' interests to support the EU Mission "Restore our ocean and waters by 2030".