Sunday March 6th 2016

On this day all the teams travelled from their countries to Cakovec. German, Greek, Lithuanian and Polish teams arrived to Zagreb and then they travelled by bus to Cakovec. Portoguese team flew to Budapest while the Italian team flew to Ljubljana and then they both had a long trip by bus to get to Čakovec. Upon arrival to Čakovec, a beautiful town located in northern Croatia, around 90 kilometres north of Zagreb, we were welcomed by the Croatian students and their families. As it had been pre-scheduled in the agenda of our program, during the meeting, all the students from the visiting teams were hosted by Croatian families while the teachers stayed at a hotel.

Monday March 7th 2016

Early in the morning, teachers and students met at Gospodarska škola Čakovec, where Croatian hosts welcomed us warmly.  For starters,  the school's principal Mr. Renato Vinco gave a short speech and then the Croatian students presented us, Medimurje, their region and their school. It was really interesting to find out that due to the agricultural specialty that their school provides, they  own orchards, vineyards and greenhouses! Next, we had icebreaking activities and one of them was about getting to know how to say “apple” in our languages. It was really fun to “discover” each other by discovering that apple is said:

• “Jabuka” in Croatian

• “Apfel”     in German

• “Μήλο” In Greek

• “Mela” in Italian

• “Obuolys” in Lithuanian

• “Jabłko” in Polish

• “Maçã”  in Portoguese

Our morning activities concluded with a tour around the Croatian school and we were shown their classrooms as well as their labs. Then, we left school and we walked to the city park where Zrinski castle is located and we visited the Međimurje County Museum. There we had the chance  to get to know the 7-century-long history of the castle and the important role that it played during the 17th-century.

At noon we went by bus to the north part of Medimurje county, we had lunch and we visited the “Hažic farm” a farm producing apples and apple juice. They toured us around their farm, they demonstrated how juice is produced and they introduced us to the several available options of packaging apple juice as well as the advantages and disadvantages of them. This activity was very interesting for us since not only did we get to know the production of juice but we approached the idea of cultivating and entrepreneurship in the level of family run small industry.

In the afternoon we returned to Čakovec and we had the rest of the day free.

 

Tuesday March 8th 2016

At the third day of our meeting we departed by bus to visit the eco-industry “Tehnix”. We were guided to their facilities and had the chance to see how they convert organic waste into ecological fertilizers and how they are producing equipment such as containers and bins made by ecological, biodegradable materials.

At this point It should be pointed out that before the meeting, all the teams organized activities related to recycling. At our twinspace page: Being Innovative & Creative are available all these activities. The aim of those activities was two folded. By getting acquainted with the recycling is very important for our planet‘s  future but it also involves numerous entrepreneurial opportunities.

We continued our daily activities and our approach to ecological entrepreneurship with a visit to the “Rudolf Steiner” center where we attended a lecture and a presentation of Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy. This philosophy is about biodynamic agriculture combining natural phenomenons  with our own needs in a holistic approach. A review of the lecture is available here at the twinspace of our project.

In the afternoon we returned to Croatian school and we participated in several workshops: sewing to make fabric brooches, making furniture out of wooden pallets, draining apples to snacks and fabricating floral  bouquets. 

 

The evening was free for everyone. Teachers had dinner together while students spend it with their hosting families to strengthen the relations between them and to and enrich their contact.

 

Wednesday March 9th 2016

In the morning we walked to the outskirts of Cacovec towards the school's farm. Croatian students and teachers guided us to their orchards, vineyards and greenhouses and explained us how their cultivation is integrated in their lessons and their curriculum.

In addition we had 2 amazing activities: composting and planting of apple-trees.

 

At noon we walked back to the Croatian school where we had lunch prepared by the school's teachers. It was an excellent chance to chat with each other about the experiences we had so far during the meeting.

In the afternoon, teachers discussed about our partnership reviewing what we have done so far and planning what there is to be done in the future. Students created a video and a presentation about morning activities.

In the evening we visited the nearby city Varaždin. We walked around its  historical center and we had the chance to find out that it fair to be called “the city of baroque” since it was indeed full of splendid baroque buildings. Moreover, we noted how its inhabitants benefited from the baroque atmosphere by setting up business such as several baroque art centers.

 

Thursday March 10th 2016

Early in the morning we departed for a daily excursion. Our first stop was at Krapina Neanderthal museum. It is a unique museum focused on Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis who lived in Palaeolithic age and fossil bones of an entire Neanderthal community were found in caves in Krapina.

 

Later we went to Radoboj and visited the Public Institution for Management of Protected Natural Areas in Krapina-Zagorje County. There we had a lecture about the challenges of ecological production. We were explained that the aim of the Institute is the protection and preservation of natural species and the values ​​associated with nature. To achieve their scope they introduce the management of protected areas by protecting, preserving and promoting them while  ensuring the development of natural processes and the sustainable use of natural resources. Their  lecture introduced us their creative management of natural species through awareness for the  development of our own lives.

In the afternoon we arrived to the capital of Croatia, Zagreb, and we had free time to explore it on our own. In the evening tired but full of new experiences we departed for Cakovec.

 

Friday March 11th 2016

In the morning we all met at the Croatian school where we had a presentation by Pinova company.

Pinova is an innovative company focused on agricultural inventions. They showed us their protective system "Wiesel" which combines the Internet application PinovaDoc with a special weather station. Their idea is putting the weather station in the area where ​​crops are located and combining internet software so that farmers can monitor their corps. In this way farmers are aware of the weather conditions and they can either protect or plan their production.

Later we organized a bazaar where students exhibited and sold the products that we made during  workshops we had on Tuesday.

At noon we had the official closing ceremony of the meeting. The students presented their experiences from the activities during the meeting, we filled in the meeting evaluation questionnaires and we were awarded the participation certificates. We greeted each other goodbye and thanked our Croatian hosts for the hospitality.

However, in the evening we had an “unofficial” closing ceremony. The teacher had a farewell dinner accompanied by traditional Croatian music while the students had their own party, dancing with international hits.

 

Saturday March 12th 2016

On this day all the teams travelled back to their countries. Upon departure from Cakovec there were a lot of touching moments when students farewelled the Croatian families who hosted them. The week spent in Cakovec  gave us all, students and teachers, the opportunity to get to know each other, to collaborate on the issues addressed by the agenda of our Erasmus+ programme, to discuss and share pedagogical practices and to exchange our ideas and beliefs on several up to date subjects.

 

The programme of the meeting is available here at the Croatian school's project webpage

There is also available here a newspaper article about the meeting