“Green Collective” What is it? In the Rijeka local partnership program, we have joined forces: students and employees of the Education Center and members of the DIP are building a new green inclusive space in the Center together!

The Center for Upbringing and Education, http://www.centar-odgojiobrazovanje-ri.skole.hr and the DIP, www.dip.hr have been implementing the joint project “Green Collective” since the beginning of the summer of 2023.

We joined forces to create an inclusive green oasis in the centre of the city of Rijeka – an urban garden built and cared for by the students of the Center and our members.

It connects persons with disabilities and children with developmental difficulties (students of the school) at the level of the local community, because they are strongly associated with space and people – most of the PWDs were students of this school, and they are especially happy to meet the teachers and students of the school. All these actions have the goal of reducing the gap between the educational system and the world of adults, creating a new circle of support and renewing old friendships among persons with disabilities.

In the Rijeka local partnership program, we have joined forces: students and employees of the Education Center and members of the DIP, so together they are building a new green inclusive space in the Center! The project is co-financed by the City of Rijeka from the Rijeka Local Partnership Program for 2023

How it has been for us so far, see in the pictures:

These activities are part of the program of providing social services, work-occupational half-day stay and psychosocial support in the “Friends Daycare Center”, and are a learning model for the students, as they contribute to connecting several goals from the work programs of both organizations. In the schoolyard, in the previous periods of the school’s operation, an eco-garden was arranged on high flower beds, benches were placed, and it also has the function of a practicum for students who are training to become an assistant florist/gardener.

This space has other important functions as it provides a space for playing and creating new social interactions. Joint activities among younger people, students of the Center and beneficiaries of social services from the Friends Daycare Center in the DIP, create opportunities to strengthen intergenerational solidarity, connect sectors and organizations in the community and strengthen the sense of belonging to the community

The space is enriched with various contents, because in the coming period, new medicinal and herbs, fruits and vegetables will be planted, which will be taken care of by students and beneficiaries of social services from the DIP. Natural materials and autochthonous seedlings and seeds are used for the design of the urban garden in the courtyard of the center, without the use of pesticides.

Therefore, please support our efforts to create inclusive eco-urban oases.

Citizens and companies can donate seedlings of autochthonous plants, herbs, seeds (especially old varieties) and other planting material.

If you want to donate in money, you can do so by making a payment to the DIP account:

Society for Research and Support (DIP), Wenzelova 2/1, Rijeka, Croatia, OIB: 78171364712

GIRO ACCOUNT: ZAGREBAČKA BANK IBAN: HR7123600001102394295

with an indication of donations for seedlings for “Zeleni kolektiv”

Together with the students and members of the DIP, and, if you wish, yourselves, we will choose seedlings for our urban garden. Thank you!