International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development is celebrated every year on 5 December. The aim of this day is to increase visibility of the activities of volunteers and their volunteer work at the local, national and international levels.
This year, 66 volunteers passed through the volunteer programme at Krka National Park. The long-standing interest in this type of activity has stimulated the park to construct accommodation facilities as part of the Krka Eco Campus in Puljane. Individuals have obtained the opportunity to get involved in activities in the protected area, through four volunteer programmes: market researcher, Krka riverbank cleaner, archaeological assistant, and educational and creative assistant. The volunteer programme is a step forward in valorising the Krka Eco Campus in Puljane, where the Public Institute of Krka National Park has developed a significant educational and accommodation complex to facilitate the development of volunteer activities in the Park.
The Titius volunteer centre is a modern, polyvalent facility with a fully equipped laboratory for scientists and archaeologists, and hostel type accommodations with 38 beds. The laboratory is on the ground floor, the common room, bedrooms and disabled-access bedrooms are on the first floor, while rooms with bathrooms are on the second floor. The volunteer centre also includes a dining hall and internet café.
In the past year, students participating in volunteer programmes have stayed here. These were students of the Archaeology Department of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb; Geotechnical Faculty, University of Zagreb; Faulty of Philosophy, University of Split; Department of Teaching, Department of Early Childhood Education and Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Split, and students from Šibenik College. The volunteer programme is directly linked with the volunteer study programmes, allowing students to expand their knowledge, while contributing to the implementation of activities in the protected area. Volunteers had the opportunity to get to know the local area and the cultural and historical sites of Krka National Park. Cooperation between the National Park and volunteers contributes to their better understanding of the protected area, the scientific and educational progress in the Park, and conservation of the environment.
The Public Institute of Krka National Park implemented volunteer programmes prior to this, and it also has broad experience in educational work. In 2016, Krka National Park joined in the volunteering project designed and implemented in national and nature parks by the then Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy through an integration project in the EU Natura 2000 (NIP). These volunteer programmes enable the systematic inclusion of interested individuals and groups in the activities implemented by these institutions in protected areas.
Humans today need nature, both in the spiritual and physical sense. They need to experience water, forests or mountains as a meditative oasis that liberates the spirit and gives the body strength to work to give back to nature for the gift of beauty, with gratitude. The experience of volunteering in Krka National Park returns us to those values, connecting us with nature in the way we have always been connected, but have only forgotten.
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