Have you ever wanted to exchange excess seeds from your garden for a rare plant or learn how to preserve local agricultural varieties? Have you ever thought about how a simple exchange can help preserve nature and create a community based on sustainability? The first Green Swap Fair, held in Kaštel Štafilić, offered just that – an opportunity to exchange not only objects but also ideas and contribute to the preservation of biodiversity!
On Friday, November 22, 2024, the first Green Swap Fair was held at the Braća Radić High School in Kaštel Štafilić. As part of the VERA project – Sustainable Agricultural Models for Biodiversity Conservation, Sunce organized this event to enable participants to exchange items, knowledge and experiences related to nature conservation and agricultural biodiversity.
Sunce’s first Green Swap Fair
Visitors brought garden tools, seeds, plants and gardening books and exchanged them for other useful items. But the fair offered more than just a trade – it was a space to exchange ideas and raise awareness about the importance of preserving local agricultural varieties that are increasingly disappearing due to modern agricultural practices and urbanization.
Students from Braća Radić High School, under the guidance of teacher Marijana Bjeliš, actively participated in the fair, bringing their own products and ideas for exchange. Alongside them, the Center for Transdisciplinary Promotion of Sustainable Development – OdRaST from the Faculty of Philosophy in Split, with Dr. sc. Mila Bulić and Assoc. Prof. dr. sc. Ivana Restović and their students, joined the event, contributing with their own knowledge and experiences in the field of sustainable development. Their impressions highlighted the importance of such initiatives.
– I didn’t know that some plant species that our grandparents planted are almost completely disappearing. This opened my eyes and motivated me to learn more about our agricultural heritage. – said one student.
– At the Swap Fairs that Sunce organizes once a month in the Info zona in Split, I collected a lot of vouchers that I didn’t use at the time. I took those vouchers to the Green Swap Fair and returned home with three bags full of plants and plant pots. This is a really great way to contribute to nature conservation. – Renata said.
Nature as an inspiration for climate change adaptation
Part of the fair was dedicated to the presentation of the DesirMED project, funded by the European Union with the aim of finding sustainable nature-based solutions in response to the challenges of climate change. During the event, visitors were given promotional materials made from ecological materials, designed to encourage children and young people to spend time outdoors and bring nature closer to everyday life.
– In order to enable children to learn in a natural environment, the project plans to build school gardens. Those gardens will not only provide children with a pleasant place to relax after school, but will also serve as a tool for adapting to increasingly frequent heat waves, floods and droughts. In addition to beautifying schoolyards, school gardens also have a practical purpose – they help absorb excess rainwater, reducing pressure on city infrastructure. Next year, we plan to organize a competition for all primary schools in Split-Dalmatia County, and the main prize will be a new school garden. – said Maja Jurić, DesirMED project manager in Sunce.
VERA – a step towards a more sustainable future
The Green Swap Fair inspired participants to recognize the importance of biodiversity, act sustainably and pass on these values to future generations. The VERA project, implemented as part of the Interreg Italy-Croatia program, will present its achievements in Split, on December 3, 2024, at a one-day conference.
– In order to contribute to increasing public awareness of the importance of biodiversity conservation, we invite you to a one-day conference at the MedILS Institute. In addition to presenting the project, this will be an opportunity to share inspiring examples that prove the value of cooperation and the conservation of traditional fruit varieties. – concluded Margita Radman, VERA project manager.
Applications are open until November 27th, and you can register here.
