The association for the World Heritage Municipalities Wachau, province of Lower Austria/Nature Conservation department and Blühendes Österreich (Blooming Austria) have made it their goal to support an agricultural business in establishing an extensive sheep grazing regime in the Wachau Valley and in the Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park.

Citizens asked for their opinions. In June 2019, within the scope of a public civic dialogue, the citizens of the Wachau were able to talk to experts about their wishes and suggestions as the basis for the future management of building development in the Wachau World Heritage Site.

Building in a World Heritage site is a topical issue. Historic settlement areas often present difficult challenges for municipalities and owners. With the help of the Wachau Zones, development plans are elaborated which simplify dealing with historic buildings in line with World Heritage requirements.

The Spitzer Graben panoramic hiking trail has a lot to offer. On Sunday, wines, juices and water are served at the Zornberg chalet in the Zornberg vineyard. However, there is no toilet to relieve oneself.

The Nature Park owes its great diversity of plants and animals to its mosaic-like cultural landscape and the extensively used meadows. Global changes are forcing many agricultural businesses to specialise or shut up shop. A consequence of this are meadows that are no longer managed and increasingly turning into woodland. To counteract this trend and preserve diversity in the Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park, a nature park brand is under development. This label stands for management compatible with nature and gives the businesses’ products added ecological value.

In a time when churches are being used less and less as places of worship, adapting them into places of culture and retreat is becoming increasingly important. To mark the 300th anniversary of the painter "Kremser Schmidt", his paintings in Wösendorf parish church were lavishly restored. In order to be able to protect the paintings better for future generations and to make their contents easier to see, a new LED lighting system should be installed.

In recent years, a number of initiatives have established themselves in the region in late autumn and winter which have had a very positive impact on the development of tourism and thus on extending the season. Apart from the long-distance hiking trail “World Heritage Trail Wachau”, which can be easily hiked even in the colder months thanks to the mild climate, numerous cultural initiatives, such as “ELIT” (European literature days), “Wachau in Echtzeit” (Wachau in Real Time - curated by Ursula Strauss) as well as many Advent markets and culinary events have become established. The implementation of the mobility concept (bus connections) means that all municipalities in the region can now also be easily reached without a car.

The municipalities of Mautern, Bergern, Furth, Rossatz-Arnsdorf and Schönbühel-Aggsbach will be intensifying their collaboration over the coming years and focusing on the common positioning of the south bank. Under the direction of Martin Vogg, who was previously responsible for the project Wachau 2010 plus, existing offers should be combined with new ones and wrapped up into bookable packages, starting with the two locations of Maria Langegg and the Aggsbach Charterhouse.

The Management Plan for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Wachau was presented at Göttweig Abbey on 29 March 2017.

Through the provision of a development plan, Wachau Zones enable the municipalities to determine possible development in historically valuable settlement areas more precisely than with conventional methods. The concept of the Wachau Zones is therefore one of the central elements for preserving the building culture typically found in the Wachau as a World Heritage Site.