2nd meeting of partners
Croatia
CULTURAL HERITAGE
17th-23rd October 2021
Ekonomsko-birotehnička škola - Slavonski Brod
Monday, October 18th 2021
18th October 2021 was the first day of mobility in Ekonomsko-birotehnička škola, Slavonski Brod, Croatia. This is the second mobility in the Erasmus+ KA2 project S.T.E.P.+. The topic of the mobility is cultural heritage as a tourist product. 27 students and 7 teachers from France, Italy and Poland, and 17 Croatian students and 4 teachers participated in project activities during this mobility.
This was the perfect date to start working on the topic of cultural heritage, since 18th October is the World Tie (Cravat) Day and Slavonski Brod is the place where the tie was born.
On the first day, students presented the rich cultural heritage of their countries - customs, festivals, traditional costumes, dances and songs. They also took part in some traditional children's games, and marked the World Day Tie with a photo, wearing ties.
In the welcome party, local students and teachers prepared numerous traditional dishes, and guests brought some food from their countries, so this was a chance to get to know bits of other countries' gastronomy.
The first day was a
combination of serious work and socializing with student partners from other
countries.
Thursday, October 19th 2021
The second day of mobility was full of various activities. It started with a lecture "Good climate for tourism", held by Ms Lidija Vukojević from Eko Brezna. Since ecotourism is one of the 4 topics of the project, the lecture was and excellent addition to project activities. Students had a chance to see how climate changes tourists' expectations, tastes and demands, and tourist offer.
After that, two workshops were organized for students, in which they had a chance to get to know cultural heritage of Slavonski Brod a little bit closer. In one workshop, they tried glass bottle painting with traditional motives. In the other workshop, they learned how to make traditional leather decorations. Students enjoyed making their own souvenirs which they took home as a nice memory and reminder of this mobility.
In the afternoon, accompanied by school principal, all mobility participants were welcomed by Deputy Prefect of Brod-Posavina County, Marko Šimić, in the county headquarters building. They discussed the project itself, its topics, activities and future plans.
After the visit, students attending hotel and
tourism program took over the role of tourist guides and showed to partners the
landmarks of Slavonski Brod.
Wednesday, October 20th 2021
A one-day trip was organized, in order for all students to get the first-hand experience of Slavonian cultural heritage and tradition, hospitality, crafts and foot.
First, we visited Eco-ethno village Stara Kapela, where students could see a country estate with a restaurant and rooms for rent. The rooms are decorated in traditional Slavonian style. They could also see a room with old weaving machines, where weaving workshops are organized. A complicated weaving process was described to students - from the thread sorting to the weaving itself.
The next stop was a visit to Mr Krunoslav Paun, a shoemaker who makes opanci, traditional footwear for folklore dancing groups. He demonstrated the entire process of making such footwear - from leather cutting to the finished product. It was a very interesting presentation of craftsmanship.
Lunch at a rustic Slavonian restaurant consisted
of traditional Slavonian dishes. Students had a chance to see the yard with
animals, coaches and lake, all of which make tourist offer interesting and
appealing.
Tuesday, October 21st 2021
The fourth day of the mobility included hard work on project tasks. Students were divided into 7 international teams. 5 teams had to create tourist products for various groups of tourists (people with disabilities, children, fashion designers, wedding party, interactive cultural heritage museum), while 2 teams had to start a small company (and make a business plan) which produces souvenirs based on cultural heritage which students did not identify in the souvenir shops. The task was based on everything the students had seen in the first three days of the mobility and places they had visited. One teacher was assigned to each team to help them when necessary.
A teacher training session was held by Mirta Kos Kolobarić, on collaborative teaching and learning methods, such as: CLIL, the jigsaw method, problem learning and station learning. Teachers exchanged their experiences on those methods.
Slavonski Brod Tourist Board organized the guided tour of the Brod Fortress for all mobility participants, with several scenes from the Living History program. Students also had a chance to visit the unique museum in the world - The Museum of Tambura.
At
the end of the day, 4 coordinators and several students visited a local radio
station, Radio 92 FM, and talked about the project and the mobility in
Slavonski Brod. We also discussed problems that people with disabilities have
as tourists, since the radio station actively and regularly cooperates with
them.
Friday, October 22nd 2021
Students continued work in international teams to complete their tasks. They also rehearsed their oral presentations, with the help of teachers assigned to their teams.
They presented their work to other teams, explained what the logos of their firms and travel agencies presented, why they chose certain destinations, how cultural heritage can be exploited in a sustainable way, etc.
Project coordinators held a meeting in which they discussed the details of the following mobility in Poland. If the epidemiological measures should allow, the mobility should be held in December 2021.
After students had presented their work, they were awarded certificates of participation in this mobility.
Saying goodbye was difficult for everyone, since new friendships developed during the mobility, for which we hope will last a lifetime and connect our countries and cultures.
