DIJALOGIJA: educational programs of the Festival of Tolerance was originally developed as an interactive project for extra-institutional learning of young people. It was developed by The Jewish Film Festival Zagreb Association, which has been conducting similar education activities since 2009. More than 55,000 young people have participated in the programs implemented so far. Dijalogija began operating as a digital platform in 2020 and today it represents a unified name for the educational programs developed since 2009. Faced with a lack of content aimed at informing and educating young people, and with the purpose of creating competent, educated as well as socially sensitive members of society, Festival of Tolerance, in cooperation and support of numerous institutions, has launched a series of initiatives with goal of developing a widely accessible and carefully designed cultural and educational programs. If civic education as an individual subject within the school curriculum does not yet exist, its implementation must be encouraged.
The problems such as media literacy, basic civil society knowledge, social issue awareness, insistence on finding solutions that are humane, tolerant, inclusive and democratic, all constitute a summary of how the Dijalogija project is and will be conceived and conducted. The program was developed on the basis of 10 developed for youth original programs focused on direct contact and communication with students through lectures using modern tools – primarily film. Using films and related content, students are given a context for intellectual and emotional engagement and inquiry into specific topic, which is then further elaborated through communication with experts and people who share their personal experiences of it. Diversity can be understood only if we talk about it. That is why the project encourages dialogue on topics that are (often) not talked about or are talked solely for the sake of fulfilling the norm. The project goals can be achieved by developing innovative interactive content in digital and physical format that is of interest to young people.
Dijalogija activities are conducted in annual cycles, centered around the school year. New content, topics and collaborations are prepared for each individual cycle. The project will be conducted from September 2024 to August 2025 in cooperation with several associations and partner schools from different parts of Croatia. The project has received support from the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Zagreb and UNHCR Croatia.
The programs are intended for seventh and eighth grade elementary school students as well as high school students. All interested teachers are invited to contact us at: filip@festivaloftolerance.com. Dijalogija currently encourages discussion on the following topics: the Holocaust, refugee integration, integration of people with disabilities, combating peer violence in schools and Roma integration.
You can follow the activities of this project on the association's website and on our social networks: Facebook and Instagram.