January 8, 2022 - By organizing various programs and activities, developing and encouraging reading literacy, and increasing the availability of books, the Zadar City Library continues to monitor the National Strategy for Encouraging Reading in 2022.

The network of the Zadar City Library includes five city districts (Central Library and branches Aleksandar Stipčević - Arbanasi, Bili Brig, Crno and Ploča), the islands of Olib and Silba (library hospitals), a library station in the city district Bokanjac.

Considering that the library has the status of a county main library, the wider continental area of ​​Zadar County has been covered, since 2007, by a mobile library, Bibliobus, and includes 67 settlements with 77 stops.

As reported by eZadar, by organizing various programs and activities, developing and encouraging reading literacy, and increasing the availability of books, the Zadar City Library (GKZD) in 2022 continues to monitor the National Strategy for Encouraging Reading for the period from 2017 to 2022. Emphasis is on the continuation of the project for young people Get involved with books and start working on new premises - Youth Department and connecting the Library with the Youth Center building, the City Branch within the Providur Palace, and the beginning of the library station in Kožino. 

In the area of ​​the Providur Palace on the ground floor, a department of the City Library will be formed, whose book fund will be oriented to the heritage and culture of the city.

''In the especially challenging times of today, we are adapting to the digital world, promoting new technologies, new ways of accessing knowledge, promoting literacy, and reading in all forms, among which the classic paper form still plays a very important role. As our predecessors throughout history have created works in various materials and forms, librarians are finding solutions to provide knowledge in the environment of technology development and offer verified and reliable information to all users'', said director Doroteja Kamber-Kontić.

The Zadar City Library also deals with home delivery of books, performs the activity Ask Librarians (online reference service), helps children from low-income families learn, conducts a volunteer program Mentors for reading, promotes reading through the Croatian Book Month, and holds a computer course for retirees.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

January 8, 2022 - In a year of great tourism numbers across the country, where hotels, private accommodations, restaurants, and more in the industry benefited, ferries were no exception. Thus, the Croatian company is preparing for another successful year, as Jadrolinija presented its sailing schedule for 2022.

The first weeks of the year have served to look back on the positive results in the tourism sector in 2021. The state ferry company, Jadrolinija, can also boast of a successful year, as they transported 10.5 million passengers and 3.1 million vehicles, which is 85 percent of what was achieved in the record-breaking 2019 and 40 percent more than in 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

As we have entered 2022, HrTurizam.hr reports that Jadrolinija presented its sailing schedule for ferry lines in Croatia, as well as for international lines, such as lines connecting the Italian and Croatian coasts in 2022 through the lines Dubrovnik - Bari, and Split - Ancona.

As the islands directly depend on ferry sailing, everyone in the tourism industry has been organizing and planning according to these developments.

You can check the sailing schedule for all Jadrolinija ferry lines in 2022 here.

Additionally, this year Jadrolinija joined the Maritime Innovation Cluster in Kvarner. Croatia wants to return to the map of the strongest maritime countries, and one of the main goals is to establish a global center for innovation and smart skills in the maritime industry in Kvarner. You can find out more about this topic here.

Jadrolinija now has 54 vessels, of which 10 are catamarans, four classic passenger ships, three ferries for international lines, and 37 ferries for local lines.

While we update the schedules for 2022, you can still take a look at our complete guide to ferry travel in Croatia in 2021, where you will find everything you need to know from tips, facilities on board, recommendations for bringing vehicles and pets, locations from ports, and much more in Total Croatia. Available in 8 languages!

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.

ZAGREB, 8 Jan 2022 - In the last 24 hours 8,817 coronavirus cases, out of 19,865 tests, and 36 related deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Saturday.

There are 42,242 active cases, including 1,820 hospitalised patients, of whom 249 are hooked on to ventilators, while 19,150 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 758,272 coronavirus cases to date and the death toll is 12,841.

To date, 55.87% of the total population has been vaccinated, including 66.55% of adults, of whom 63.55% fully.

ZAGREB, 8 Jan 2022 - As of Monday, the duration of a negative COVID-19 test for entering Slovenia without quarantine will be shorter, according to a government protocol aimed at curbing the spread of the Omicron variant.

The validity of a negative PCR test will thus be 48 hours and that of a rapid antigen test 24 hours.

As of Monday, only persons who have been vaccinated, have recovered from COVID or have a negative test will be able to use public transport.

According to unofficial data, 4,468 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Slovenia in the last 24 hours, almost 3,000 more than a week ago. Epidemiologists fear the daily new cases could jump to 10,000 due to Omicron.

ZAGREB, 8 Jan 2022 - A public procurement procedure for the post-earthquake reconstruction of the government building has been paused because a complaint has been filed against project documentation, Jutarnji List daily said on Saturday.

This will slow down the HRK 155-million-worth seismic retrofitting and reconstruction project co-financed by the EU Solidarity Fund. The EU money must be spent by the end of June, unless the European Commission makes an exception and extends the deadline.

HRK 61.5 million from the Solidarity Fund is envisaged for project documentation and the protection of the government building and a seismic retrofitting agreement has been signed.

The government expects works on the building to begin in a month and that the complaint will not slow down the project significantly, Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek was quoted as saying by the daily, adding that in planning the project, they took into account the possibility of complaints.

She said she was confident the money from the Solidarity Fund would be fully utilised.

The government invited bids for the reconstruction of its headquarters in St. Mark's Square on 19 November. The deadline for submitting them was 28 December but it was extended until 5 January because the procurement documentation was changed on 22 December to include conservation guidelines.

January 8, 2022 - While Croatian tennis player Marin Čilić has been knocked out in the Adelaide semifinal, not all hope is lost, as Ivan Dodig will fight in the Adelaide International doubles final with partner Marcelo Melo. 

Marin Čilić lost in the semifinal of the Adelaide International on Saturday. The best Croatian tennis player lost to Karen Khachanov (ATP 29) 7:6 (3), 6:3. This was the first victory for the Russian in their third meeting. Čilić was better in Cincinnati in 2018 (7:6, 3:6, 6 4) and last year in St. Petersburg, where he beat Khachanov 6:4, 6:7, 6:4 on the way to the title.

It is interesting to point out that Croatian coach Vedran Martić is again the coach of Khachanov after he parted ways with Čilić at the end of last year.

In the first set, the Russian player opened the tie-break with 3:0 and kept that advantage. In the second set, Marin missed three break opportunities at 1:1, and Khachanov used his second break point and went to 3:1, which was enough for him to win. Čilić had a first-serve percentage of 54% (Khachanov 71%), had eight aces and three double faults. He will also play in the Adelaide tournament next week, followed by the Australian Open.

Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo advanced to the final of the same tournament after beating Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador 6:3, 6:7 (6), 10:2.

This is Dodig's 37th doubles final of his career. He played with Melo from 2013 to 2016 and had a lot of success. Among other things, they won Roland Garros in 2015 and were Wimbledon finalists in 2013. They are after their seventh joint title in Adelaide (the first since 2016). Recall, Dodig also won the Australian Open last year with partner Filip Polášek. 

In the final, their opponents will be Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan. The Indian duo beat Tomislav Brkić (BiH) and Santiago Gonzalez (Mexico) with 6:2, 6:4.

Source: HRT

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.  

January 8, 2022 - Meet Darko Bilandžić, the co-founder of Culex, a studio focused on the future through VR, AR, and XR.

Today’s edition presents someone you couldn’t miss if you ever visit eastern Croatia (and not only because of his height). Darko is a young entrepreneur born in Vukovar, studied and played basketball for a while in Chicago and Dallas, lived in Zagreb as well, but came right back to eastern Croatia to establish his business and start a family. He is energetic, outspoken, frustrated with the system just a little bit, but ever so positive with high hopes for the future of Croatia’s east. He is currently the director of marketing for the Vučedol Culture Museum in Vukovar (run, do not walk, to visit this magnificent place), but the reason we spoke to him was for something else.

With Mario Mikić Vučak (right), Darko started a specialised studio developing and producing unique experiences through VR, AR, and XR. This is, in his words, the future of any industry. Even though it took a while for the public to become familiar with the concepts, the general population is starting to appreciate more technologies like this. Here is what Darko had to say about it all.

Tell us about your business; what do you do exactly?

We are a specialised studio focused on developing and producing unique virtual experiences and interactive cinematic 360° video content.

The virtual world is slowly but surely merging with the real one. Diverse forms of extended reality (XR) are being applied in digital marketing, construction, architecture, healthcare, culture, tourism, sports, education, fashion, communications, and other thriving industries.

We believe that it is always a better option to actively participate in creating the future of our surroundings than being a passive bystander. Therefore, our projects thrive towards innovation, process optimisation, and new trend creation. 

Where did you get the idea, and what makes your offer unique?

We always lived in a 3D world; the transition to Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) was the logical next step for us.

We started with a VR arcade playroom back when such virtual or augmented reality content could not be found. Since we were ahead of our time, we transitioned into making interactive and unique virtual experiences.

Our projects are our signature and what sets us apart. The best thing for us is that most of our new projects come to life by word of mouth. As a result, we tend to exceed the expectations of all our clients. 

How was it setting up a business in eastern Croatia? What were the main challenges?

It was challenging, as all new and unknown areas are. It was hard to get people to understand what we do and what these VR and AR things are.

Fortunately, the shift happened, and the way we communicate with our clients today compared to just two years ago is way different, easier. In addition, people are more educated about interactive technologies such as VR and AR.

What is your perspective for the future?

The future will be very interactive.

Virtual and augmented reality are the logical next step for any industry. We can prove that with our list of clients, including marketing, tourism, culture, architecture, museums...

Do you think that the fact that you are located in eastern Croatia affected your success? 

No! Eastern Croatia is more developed than the rest of Croatia regarding the IT sector.

What opportunities are there in our city and region?

Many opportunities! We have already done many exciting projects for Vukovar-Srijem County and Osijek-Baranja county. Mostly in culture and education. There are so many amazing untold stories here in eastern Croatia that we are overwhelmed with all that can be done. So we are negotiating with different towns/cities, tourist offices to implement these modern technologies to tell their stories.

You have done projects for the city of Vukovar before. Can you describe them and tell us about your experience? 

We have done many projects for Vukovar and Vukovar-Srijem County. These are just a few of them:

Project name: Virtual Reality in Bibliobus

Technology: Virtual Reality

Concept: Culex XR Sudio, in cooperation with Vukovar-Srijem County, has set up a virtual reality project called "Virtual Reality in Bibliobus," which aims to popularize new technologies and present the cultural sights and riches of eastern Croatia.

The project uses VR technology through educational workshops in the Bibliobus (bus library), which stops in smaller rural areas and schools.

The user is introduced to 21 interactive scenes that describe cultural landmarks throughout this project.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLY-ghIlob8&ab_channel=CulexXRStudio 

Project name: Virtual Reality project by the University of Lavoslav Ružička in Vukovar

Technology: Virtual Reality

Concept: The project “Virtual Reality project by the University of Lavoslav Ruzicka in Vukovar” has made a significant step forward in modern education, not only in the territory of the Republic of Croatia but also globally. Using virtual reality technology in synergy with Culex XR Studio, the quality of education of both lecturers and students has been greatly enhanced.

Motivated by new technologies in education and learning about virtual reality, this application aims primarily at Physiotherapy and Preventive Physiotherapy students. Therefore, the university also equipped a cabinet with 11 devices.

A professor within virtual reality manages the application. Using their VR kits, students actively participate in the teacher’s lecture and independently manage the application and explore the human body in virtual reality. The app lets the user know the human body/anatomy in detail through virtual reality!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLWhmXUvfy4&ab_channel=CulexXRStudio

Project name: Autonomous aircraft unit VR

Technology: Virtual Reality

Concept: Culex Studio had the honour of participating in creating the first Croatian virtual landmark. Project “Autonomous aircraft unit VR” was developed in cooperation with Memorial Centre Vukovar.

This virtual landmark was built in memory of the unit founder Marko Živković, pilot Mirko Vukušić, and two parachuters: Ante Plazibat and Rade Griva. Unfortunately, all of the members tragically died on their last flight on 2 December 1991.

Autonomous aircraft unit Osijek was one of the first airborne units formed in independent Croatia. They were most active during the siege of Vukovar. Their flights brought medical supplies, food, and ammo to defenders and used improvised explosives to charge enemy territories.

Our virtual simulation is based on the exhibit unit of the “Antonov An-2” model aircraft used for AAU missions. It allows you to fly with the crew on one of the 1991 flights to Vukovar. The simulation starts in the city of Đakovo, and soon after take-off, you can experience the Vukovar war zone first hand. You are in the company of pilots and two parachuters ready to deploy the supplies. At the same time, enemy forces are trying to shoot the plane down with rapid-fire.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXnALMlcLDU&ab_channel=JUMCDRVukovar

So far, we have worked with great people on significant projects in the east of Croatia, and I hope we will continue to do so.

Do you cooperate with other businesses in Vukovar / the east? If so, how has your experience been so far?

Thus far, we have not worked with other companies in Vukovar since our work is based on specific skills that we have not found locally. We did, however, do some outsourcing with people from Osijek. We are delighted with our cooperation thus far. There are some really smart and capable people in the east.

If we were to implement the Vukovar Card, would you take part?

I am sure we can arrange something!

Finally, tell us about life in Vukovar. What is it that you love the most? What would you say to all potential visitors?

Life in Vukovar and eastern Croatia is great. I have lived in Chicago and Dallas in the USA and our capital Zagreb, but I would not change it for what I have in Osijek or Vukovar.

I know people in the east are intelligent, friendly, and great hosts.

I have found all the tranquillity I need here, far from the big city noise.

I would advise everybody to visit the east and get to know our amazing cuisine and our culture. From a business perspective, I strongly recommend people come and work with the amazing talent we have here in the east.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 8 Jan 2022 - Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs said on Friday primary and secondary school students accounted for 8.7% of coronavirus cases and that this was an argument in favour of schools staying open, adding that no county had requested switching to online classes.

Speaking on Croatian Television, he said not even counties with very high coronavirus numbers had opted for closing schools, adding that the impact of online classes "is very hard" on students.

As for a longer-school-days project starting next autumn, Fuchs said it was chosen because the hours Croatian students spent in school was far below the EU average, adding that the project would expand and facilitate the transfer of knowledge.

Speaking of the reconstruction of schools damaged in the 2020 earthquakes, the minister said that in Zagreb the reconstruction of some was put in the remit of the city and that the mayor had said they would be rebuilt by the next school year.

He said new schools would be built in Sisak and Petrinja.