August 21, 2018 – The Association of Local Zagora Action Groups, established in 2015 by joining representatives of the public, economic and civil sector from the 5 districts of Inland Dalmatia (Dicmo, Dugopolje, Klis, Lećevica and Muć) has been trying to strengthen the rural area in which it operates with the EU LEADER methodology. For one of these projects aimed at young people from the area, LAG Zagora has supported the Mobility Agency implemented ERASMUS + project called “Game of Stones”, worth EUR 16,000.
The local action group Zagora based in Dugopolje, with its partners on this project – YOUth Connect from Turin (Italy), The Yellow House from Liverpool (UK), LAG LEADER Sepra from Hamina (Finland), TDM 2000 from Naxara (Malta) – has been preparing a youth exchange project since January 2018. The youth of the ‘Game of Stones project’, held from August 16 to 23, 2018, in the LAG area of Zagora, brought together a total of 30 young people aged 18-30 from 5 European countries. During this week, the group will gain unique experience in intercultural dialogue and multilingual environments in a way that the methods of informal learning will expand their basic knowledge of the mode and modalities of creating a short film and/or video clip.
During their stay in the LAG area of Zagora, a selected, mixed, international group of 6 members will be introduced to the main topics of film art: the history of the emergence of the seventh art, the basic concepts related to film art,and basic technical terms related to film and the process of its creation. They will also learn to write a script, record the material and present it to the public. A common theme for all short films will be the stone with which Inland Dalmatia is abundant in.
For the purpose of making these films, the group will be introduced to the natural and cultural values of the LAG Zagora area (and especially the protected natural heritage – Vranjača cave and Mosor, cultural heritage such as Klis fortress, and UNESCO-protected non-material heritage – eating and the Mediterranean diet) and will choose some of these values that will become the themes of their movies. As the LAG Zagora area, as well as all of Inland Dalmatia, has been marked by the strong development of rural tourism in recent years, the assumption is that the young people from Europe can show the value of this area, their experiences, and what we can learn from such interaction, all in order to encourage young people from the LAG Zagora to affirm their thinking and action through nurturing values such as openness, multiculturalism, tolerance, dialogue and cooperation.
