• 15-06-2024 09:11
• Velizar Petrov

Initial conference of the Mystical Danube project: Kolanjska gusterna part of the mystical and green Danube route

Antenna Zadar Published: May 15, 2024 1:17 p.m

Zadar County Rural Development Agency

 The Zadar County Rural Development Agency AGRRA is hosting today and tomorrow the Initial Conference of the Mystical Danube project , which opened this morning in the new Student Dormitory of the University of  Zadar .

 

The goal of the Mystical Danube project is to develop a coordinated joint transnational approach in the valorization of natural and intangible cultural heritage as a tourist asset in rural and less visited areas of the Danube program region. In particular, a common strategy for the valorization of natural and intangible cultural heritage in the rural and less visited areas of the Danube region, which covers the area from the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in the west to Ukraine in the east, and the creation of a new thematic route, "Green and Mystical Danube Storytelling Route”, with a mobile application that shows the route and its features in terms of locations and available tourist services and contact points at the pilot locations.

 

In Zadar County, where the project starts and whose Rural Development Agency is the leading partner, the story will be related to the Kolan riverside, which in the past were places where people came to get water, but were also places for socializing, telling stories, creation of myths and legends.

 

The first contact route will be the mountain in Kolan, where people used to gather and talk. Through the project, we will buy equipment that will help tell the story of it and train the local population, especially the elderly and all vulnerable groups, to present their traditions and generate additional income. The ultimate goal is the promotion of the green and mystical Danube route as a new thematic route in the Danube region and the retention of people in rural areas, said project manager Matej Mikulić from  Zadar's AGRRA.

 

Director of AGRRA Ivica Pintur wished the participants successful work, expressed his pride that this institution is the project holder and his belief that in June 2026 we will witness excellent results. Ivan Lajtman, National Contact Point from the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, greeted the participants via video link, stressing the importance of the social component of the project.

 

The Danube region consists of 14 participating countries, covers the area from the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg to Ukraine, and consists of nine 9 EU member states and five accession countries. This morning in  Zadar , the representative of the Management Body of the Danube Program, Natalia Liholot, wished the participants successful work and overcoming all the challenges that arise in such projects.

 

In addition to AGRRA and the REDEA institution as Croatian representatives, the project includes institutions from Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Montenegro, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

 

The Mystical Danube project with a total value of 1,974,034.48 euros,  with EU co-financing of 1,579,227.58 euros, is co-financed through the Transnational Cooperation Program of the Danube Region 2021-2027.