On 17 October 2018 the Managing Authority organized the ECD celebration with two children’s homes from Croatia and Serbia in our very own cross-border art project in Sombor, Serbia.
The European Cooperation Day marked its seventh edition in 2018. The ECD is foreseen as a showcasing event dedicated to successful cooperation between neighboring regions of two or more European countries. The European Cooperation Day is organized around September every year in order to demonstrate the successful outcomes of Interreg projects to the local community.
During previous ECD celebrations of the Interreg IPA CBC programme Croatia-Serbia 2014-2020, we had a chance to learn about the traditional cuisine, explore natural sites and enjoy music performances unique to regions of Croatia and Serbia. This year our idea was to help create a cooperative Europe by letting the children lead the way and paint our future together in a form of a cross-border art project.
The event gathered children from SOS Children’s Village Ladimirevci and Home for Children Miroslav Mika Antić Sombor. The program started with a theater show performed by professional children facilitators, who delivered an important message to be caring, kind and considerate. After the show, the event moved outdoors and made the coloring and painting activities more fun.
Groups of children from Croatia and Serbia decorated the T-shirts branded with this year’s logo, painted canvases with natural and cultural elements of our programme area and helped a professional street artist in painting a wall mural. In addition, a face-painting corner was set up and provided lots of fun disguises.
A wall mural, with images of Sombor’s city house and Osijek’s secession bell and bridge over Drava, was painted by a street artist with the help of children coming from these two cities. At the end of the event the homes for children were given gifts to remember the fun times spent in Sombor.
Why have we chosen an event dedicated to children? We believe it’s the best way to highlight the role of children and young people in building the Europe they want. We believe it’s the best way to tell the story of cooperation between Croatia and Serbia as well.
The event in Sombor was organized by the Managing Authority of the Interreg IPA CBC Croatia-Serbia 2014-2020, in cooperation with the National Authorities:
- Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia and
- Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia.
