Among the prominent lecturers was a representative of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, who spoke about the contemporary identities of Croatian emigrants and the role of education in preserving ties with the homeland.
Organized by the Education and Teacher Training Agency (Rijeka Branch), a four-day International Professional Gathering for Educators and Teachers, Members of the Croatian National Minority and Diaspora Communities was held, which brought together participants from 14 countries
From July 21 to 24 of this year, Pula is hosting the International Conference for Educators and Teachers, Members of the Croatian National Minority and Diaspora Communities, whose theme this year is “Cultural Heritage and Identity of the Istrian Region”. The gathering brought together about seventy participants from 14 foreign countries and about thirty students of Croatian language and literature from Istria and Dalmatia. Lectures and workshops were held in the halls of the Pula Student Center and in the premises of Pula’s “Dr. Mijo Mirković” Faculty of Economics and Tourism.
The opening ceremony and introductory plenary presentations were attended by experts from the City of Pula, Istria County, the Central State Office for Croats Abroad, the Ministry of Demography and Immigration, the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth, and Katarina Milković, M.Sc., Director of the Education and Teacher Training Agency, who opened the meeting with a speech emphasizing the importance of teachers for the preservation and development of Croatian identity among young people of Croatian descent who are educated in local communities on five continents.
A special cultural program was performed by children and youth from the Uljanik Folklore Ensemble. The first plenary lecture on “Istria Through the Centuries: Historical Development and Multi-Layered Identity” was held by Assistant Professor Alen Tafra, PhD, from the Faculty of Educational Sciences, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula.
The second lecture entitled “Networked Identities: The Croatian Diaspora Between Homeland, Culture and Education” was held by Vesna Kukavica, M.Sc., Editor of the Croatian Emigrant Almanac and Head of the Publishing Department of the Croatian Heritage Foundation. Her lecture focused on Croatian diaspora communities throughout the world (emigration, minority), which increasingly show the stratification of heterogeneous identities with a mixed migrant background. This was followed by a brief chronology of emigration and a description of the near and distant destinations where our emigrants have settled over the centuries. Discussed were the ways of organizing a new life in migrant circumstances in the field of culture and social action, with a focus on the cultural and educational network of one’s own youth. Children and young people from Croatian emigrants gather from early childhood around diaspora cultural organizations, adopting the linguistic and cultural heritage of their ancestors and religious and traditional customs. This form of gathering encourages in children the use of the native speech of their ancestors, and the development of positive attitudes towards Croatian culture, traditional heritage and the native values of their grandparents, while at the same time encouraging an irresistible interest in contemporary Croatian cultural unity at the global level, the lecturer concluded.
The program of the International Professional Conference for Educators and Teachers, Members of the Croatian National Minority and the Croatian Diaspora ends on July 24, 2026.
Text: CHF / Photo: Hrvatska riječ
