Last week, from September 28 to October 5, 2024, our dear partners from the VolonTERRA project, from the Regional Center for Sustainable Development – RUZ Hollen, visited us. If you remember, back in May, we had the opportunity to visit their center in northern Germany, specifically in the small municipality of Ganderkesee, and you could read more about that experience here. Now it was time to introduce the Germans to the charms of Dalmatia, and what we visited and their impressions can be found below.
Let’s recall, the goal of the VolonTERRA project is to empower elementary schools in Split and its surroundings to establish volunteer clubs focused on sustainability. Therefore, we used this visit to give our partners a glimpse of the state of volunteering in our schools and the various opportunities for education on sustainable development offered by our community, as well as by nature itself. From a sustainable tour of Split, an essential walk around our Marjan hill, visits to exemplary elementary schools, to mesmerizing trips to ecological olive groves and river springs, from Sunday, September 28, to Saturday, October 5, our partners had the opportunity to truly experience the sustainable and volunteer-oriented side of Dalmatia
School volunteer clubs, school botanical gardens, and eco-schools – our golden examples
During their visit, we were hosted by three elementary schools in and around Split – Elementary School Skalice, Elementary School Brda and Elementary School Lučac, as well as Elementary School Ostrog from Kaštel Lukšić – each of which shared part of the story that makes these schools unique.
Elementary School Brda gets its outdoor classroom
Elementary School Brda, also a partner on the project, recently achieved official International Eco-School status in Croatia, though it has long been involved in nature and environmental protection activities. During our visit, the school presented various ecological initiatives of the Mendula Student Cooperative, their solar roof, and showcased the garden they actively use with students.
At Elementary School Brda, each lower-grade class has its own garden bed where they practice basic plant care skills. In addition to the beds, there’s a composter and various plant species: grapefruit, pomegranate, olive trees, and a variety of herbs like rosemary, sage, myrtle, and more. As part of the VolonTERRA project, in partnership with the Permaculture Dalmatia association, it is planned to build an outdoor classroom for this school in their garden. The teachers who warmly welcomed us emphasized how much this classroom would mean for organizing lessons outdoors. To ensure the classroom meets the needs of both students and teachers, as well as the climate and other factors in the garden, Permaculture Dalmatia will conduct a site analysis, interview teachers and students, and jointly create a plan for the construction of the classroom. A similar process was undertaken through the Mediterranean School Botanical Garden project, which transformed part of the outdoor space at Elementary School Skalice into a school garden, which was presented to our guests by Marko Ban from Permaculture Dalmatia and Lina Vuletić, a former Sunce employee and the project leader at the time.
The only school botanical garden in Croatia is hidden in Kaštela
Not far from Split, in Kaštel Lukšić, lies a hidden gem of this area – the only school botanical garden in Croatia. Namely, Elementary School Ostrog’s garden achieved its botanical status based on three criteria: the number of staff working in the garden, the number of plant species, and the size of the garden, which spans about three hectares. The story began back in 1976, when the school itself was built. At the time, teacher Ivna Bučan decided to transform the school’s neglected exterior into a rich green oasis. To make this happen, she engaged all the students, colleagues, and the local community – plants were brought from home, from far-flung journeys of local sailors, and from Ivna herself. The effort and perseverance paid off, and today, the garden contains around 1,000 plant species and is a protected monument of park horticulture. The garden is mainly used by members of the Maslina Student Cooperative, who take care of the olive grove and medicinal plants and use the garden’s produce to make various special products.
The school volunteer club shapes active citizens of Split
On the other hand, Elementary School Lučac tells a different but equally important story. This school is one of the brightest examples ofbest practices in school volunteering. The founder of the school’s volunteer club, who also hosted us, Mrs. Ines Ivanovski, was the first recipient of the “Davor Belaić” annual award for outstanding work with children and promoting youth volunteering. Established in 2018, the club has been engaged in volunteering much earlier.
The volunteer club includes not only students but also teachers, professional associates, parents, and external collaborators. The diversity of the members of the volunteer club is amazing, and even more so the intergenerational connection that we witnessed ourselves. Our small tour of the school was led by Ivan, a former student but still an active volunteer, even though he left the school long ago and is now studying medicine. Ivan was also the first recipient of the Volunteer Ambassador Award, presented by the MI Association’s Regional Volunteer Center in Split on International Volunteer Day. Along with Ivan, we were joyfully welcomed by volunteers ranging from first to eighth graders, as well as staff members who are also volunteers at the school. Mrs. Ivanovski passionately presented the various activities through which her club has helped the local community. Her teacher colleagues especially thanked her for her dedication and highlighted how she essentially does the work of an additional person beyond her official duties. It’s no wonder, as Mrs. Ivanovski’s motivation is clearly evident when you meet her.
– Not every child can excel in math, music, or geography, but every child can learn how to be an excellent citizen and help others through small deeds, – pointed out Ines, and with that even brought a few tears from us visitors.
The natural beauty and gifts of Dalmatia
In addition to visiting schools, we prepared a range of activities to showcase the beauty of our region to our partners. To start, we took them on a tour of Split, the unmissable Marjan hill, and advised them on where the best swimming spots are and which ice cream they should try. They also learned about the plant and animal species native to our area and more about the geographical features of our region during a guided tour at the “Hidden Dalmatia” Visitor Center. To ensure it wasn’t all theory, we took our guests on a typical Sunce Green Trip to the sources of the Ruda and Grab rivers, where they could buy flour from a traditional mill, and visited Nove starine, an ecological project where they saw permaculture principles in action.
To introduce them to our cultural heritage, we also visited Klis Fortress and the Sinjska Alka Museum, where they learned more about Dalmatia’s rich history. We also visited the Stella Croatica Ethno and Agropark and their Olive Museum, where we learned how to recognize extra virgin olive oil through tasting. We expanded this knowledge further at the ecological olive estate of the Pensa family, where spouses Ivan Vicenco and Ana Pensa passionately introduced us to the three olive varieties they cultivate: Oblica, Levantinka, and Lastovka.
– You give a new meaning to the word enthusiasm, – said to our hosts an amazed Martin Brinkmann, commercial director of RUZ Hollen.
This estate of 2,500 trees was planted by Ivan with his father 30 years ago, and since he himself and his family are users of their products, ecological production was extremely important to him. Ivan and Ana hosted us in their home and allowed us to taste their oil, and the real discovery for the palate was the combination of Levantine olive oil with vanilla ice cream.
Strengthening the bond with our German partners
At the end of everything, the impressions of our German guests were more than excellent – but this was well-deserved after the wonderful reception they gave us in Germany back in May. We concluded our time together by opening the first workshop of the VolonTERRA project for educational staff, where they presented their work to other project participants. They emphasized how this visit allowed them to truly understand our environment and culture more deeply, as well as the challenges we face as an association in our journey to create positive social change. This visit strengthened our bond as partners and enabled a higher-quality and more comprehensive collaboration on the project in the future, and we believe in other projects that may await us as well. We sent them off with symbolic gifts and, most importantly, traditional recipes for ravioli, kroštule, the traditional Klis cake, and pašticada – dishes that delighted them.
And to capture their experience, they expressed their gratitude through a poem written for Sunce:
From Hollen to Split, our journey took flight,
With many Ivans who guided us right.
They showed us olive groves vast and grand,
And permaculture where new ideas stand.
In schools, volunteer clubs full of zeal,
What we witnessed there felt truly real.
Sunce, the organization, so bright,
Gave us a week of pure delight.
Delicious food, extra virgin olive oil refined,
In tasting it, we became experts, entwined.
Barbara was captivated by the fragrant tree,
While Martin spoke his closing words wisely and free.
Marina admired Marjan’s and Klis’ view,
Korinna improved her English, as she grew.
Claudia cherished each talk, so sincere,
And the Ka Doma breakfast was a highlight, so dear.
We thank you from the bottom of our heart,
For your warm hospitality and every part.
In Split, we learned, we laughed, we thrived,
With memories that keep our spirits alive.
The whole organization would not have been possible without the help of our collaborators and partners, so we would like to extend our special thanks to the association Permaculture Dalmatia, especially members Marko Cvrlje and Marko Ban, professor Mila Bulić from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split, Zrinka Banić for her professional guidance in Split, and the teachers of Elementary School Brda Danijela Radić and Vedrana Šilović.
Follow us in the future because the workshops for educational workers and all the accompanying project activities with which we will step by step change the situation with school volunteering in Split and its surroundings have started!
