The Croatian Scout Association hosted a Swiss delegation as part of the Civil Society Programme

The project “Crošnjica” funded under the Call “Strengthening of the CSOs contribution to the Education for Sustainable Development” was presented to the Swiss delegation.

The Croatian Scout Association hosted the technic mission delegation consisted of Her Excellency the Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation Beatrice Schaer, representatives of the Office for Swiss Contribution of the Swiss Embassy and the representative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Nathalie Barbancho. The visit was organised within the Civil Society Programme Annual Meeting, during which the donor representatives visited the Croatian Scout Association, one of the Beneficiaries of the a.m. Call within the named Programme.

The project “Crošnjica” including planting urban forests - canopies in the four Croatian cities was presented during the visit. The project promotes the method of dence planting of autochthonous species according to the Miyawaki method, which enables forest growth three to five times faster compared to normal forest growth, according to the executive director of the Croatian Scout Association, Dan Špicer.
 
The representatives of the Technic Mission were especially interested in possibilities of further dissemination of the project results including potential cooperation with state-owned enterprises, as well as the application of this method in other environments. The Swiss partner on the project, Mr. Flavio Gnos from Swiss Foundation There-for-you, was also presented within the visit by video call. He presented the partner Foundation contribution from the project application preparations till the joint activities to be implemented. He also emphasized the importance of the international cooperation in the area of sustainable development and education of children and youth.

The project “Crošnjica” is implementing in partnership with 4 Elementry schools: “Ivan Trnski” from Hrvatska Kostajnica, “Mato Lovrak” from Petrinja, “Sokolovac” and “Nikola Tesla” Mirkovci.
The importance of knowledge transferring to children and youth, as well as creating a sense of responsibility and ownership of forests among the youngest generations, which they acquire by planting trees, as an important step towards sustainable development and environmental preservation, was also pointed out.
Beside the Swiss institutions, presented were the representatives of the National Coordination Unit from the Ministry of Regional Development and EU funds, as well as the representatives of the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs, Civil Society Programme manager.

 

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