The fact that the whole Croatia was covered in snow did not discourage our teachers and associates, who are participating in Start the Change project, to come to Zagreb on February 22nd, and share their experiences about the projects they implement with young people in their schools.

Thus, we had the opportunity to hear how 15 primary and secondary schools all around Croatia implement activities aimed at promoting connectedness and acceptance of diversity. Some of the important topics that participants have worked on with students through various activities, workshops and research include creativity, emotions and interpersonal relationships, approaches to conflict resolution, human rights, democracy, stereotypes and prejudice, volunteering and media literacy.

Various volunteering activities have been initiated in many schools that have encouraged students to gather and work together on improving their school and local communities. Many students got engaged in peer learning support, co-operation with various NGOs has been initiated, others have been encouraged to get involved in similar activities through radio shows; new volunteer clubs have been established, and existing ones have continued with new activities… Some teachers have found ways to incorporate the topic of acceptance of diversity into the curricula of different subjects, such as Croatian language and Mathematics, and thus encouraged students to approach the lessons and this important topic differently.

Although they come from different schools and different environments, these teachers and associates have a common wish to encourage students to accept their diversities and to reduce divisions, thereby positively affecting the school atmosphere and interpersonal relationships.

We look forward to their new ideas and activities, and more will be published about their individual projects on the Forum’s Web and FB page.