The HERMES association and FabLab invite schools to apply to take part in the "Virtual Art and Culture" project, under which participatory online workshops will be held in schools, covering activities related to the STE(A)M field through the prism of historical and artistic topics. As part of the project activities, we will deliver free workshops with schools on the following themes: sound, water-earth-air, cryptography and forum theatre. The application deadline is 5 September 2021, at the following link.

The Virtual Art and Culture project came about as a response to the simultaneous interplay of various current global processes, most of all those marked by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The global pandemic, however, has only accelerated a process of digitisation that was already under way, both in Croatia and in the rest of the world. In addition, during the pandemic parts of Croatia were hit by a series of earthquakes that seriously damaged the quality and extent of the physical capacities of various organisations and institutions, thereby also reducing the availability of non-formal extracurricular content.

These circumstances have made working from home, online meetings and online teaching an everyday reality for most people in Croatia. Online teaching, although it has many advantages, certainly also entails certain drawbacks compared with classic face-to-face teaching. One of these drawbacks is the lack of the non-formal and the extracurricular in the process of passing knowledge on to pupils. Such approaches to learning play an important role in lifelong learning and in the development of young people’s competences and abilities. Depriving pupils of additional extracurricular content at this sensitive time could disrupt their social life and their sense of belonging, and in the long run may have negative consequences for their psychophysical health.

With the Virtual Art and Culture project we seek to respond to these new circumstances and challenges – and to enable pupils, even in these extraordinary conditions, to have access to non-formal educational content on the themes of culture, science and art.

The aim of the project is to carry out, together with primary school pupils across Croatia, participatory online workshops covering activities related to the STE(A)M field through the prism of historical and artistic topics. As part of the project activities, we will deliver free workshops with schools on the following themes: sound (grades 1-4); water-earth-air (grades 1-4); cryptography (grades 5 and 6); forum theatre (grades 7 and 8). The workshops will be held online with the children and the teaching staff; to take part, the children will need a tablet device, or a device with an online camera, and a stable internet connection. Also, because of our reporting obligations towards the donor, we are required to collect copies or scans of birth certificates and parental consents from the children taking part in the workshops. All documents and consents collected will be used solely for reporting on the implementation of the project and for justifying the funds spent. Before the workshops begin, we will send interested schools sets of the consumable materials needed for the workshops.

You can see an example of what one of the project workshops looks like in the following video:

Alongside the participatory workshops linking history, art, science and skills acquisition through the use of contemporary technology, pupils will also have the chance to develop their creativity and to be (co-)creators in the production of two theatre performances.

The target group of the project is primary school pupils, and the workshops are adapted to different groups depending on age (children in grades 1-4, grades 5 and 6, and grades 7 and 8). At least 500 pupils from 7 different counties will be included in the project activities. The work with schools will take place in the first semester of the 2021/2022 school year.

If you are interested in taking part in this project, please fill in the following questionnaire so that we can get back to you: APPLY NOW

The project is being carried out in partnership between the HERMES and FabLab associations, with the financial support of the European Social Fund from the Operational Programme Efficient Human Resources.

The project promoter is the non-governmental association Croatian Educational and Development Network for the Evolution of Communication – HERMES, founded in 2011 by a group of young idealists with experience in structured dialogue and debate, social activism and youth work. The association was founded with the aim of educating young people, developing their skills and competences, strengthening their communication skills and enabling them to apply these in everyday situations.

FabLab, the association for the promotion of digital fabrication, was founded in 2013 in Zagreb. FabLab is the first association of its kind in this part of Europe and is part of the international association of FabLab organisations founded on an idea from MIT. The goals of the association are to promote digital fabrication through education, scientific and artistic research and entrepreneurial development. FabLab also encourages creativity and the generation of new ideas by involving local communities, supporting their sustainable development while protecting the environment, and promoting the circular economy and responsible resource management.

The Nikola Tesla Technical Museum also plays a major role in delivering the project activities. Through its work, the Technical Museum contributes to the popularisation of science and to the education of its visitors, and it made its museum space and part of its inventory available for creating content within the Virtual Art and Culture project.

We would ask you to complete the cooperation questionnaire by 5 September 2021 so that we can organise the project activities in good time. If you have any further questions, you can contact us at: vuk@fablab.hr.