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(c) Photo: Marko Markovic

Scouting mission Fužine, Croatia

Art & Science Department

As part of the European Cultural City Rijeka 2020, within the program of 27 Neighborhoods, representatives of Art and Science department, Virgil Widrich, Bernd Kräftner, Valerie Deifel, Brishty Alam and Marko Marković, went on the scouting mission to Fužine municipality in order to meet local community and visit the localities of rural, natural and historical sites.
 
Fužine is a municipality in Gorski Kotar, in Primorsko-Gorski Kotar County, situated in the western part of Croatia. It is located on the southern shore of Lake Bayer. On the west side is Benkovac Fužinski, northeast is Vrata and Belo Selo, eastern lake Potkoš, south Banovina and Lič. The altitude of the settlement is about 720 m and in the county, there are approximately 1500 to 1600 inhabitants.
  
We have visited different locations in Fužine municipality and talked with people from the local community to hear their experience of every day life and situations, which they encounter in localities of Fužine, Lič, Mrkopalj, Vrata, Matić Poljana and City of Rijeka.
 
Art and Science will propose a collaborative project (2019/2020) trough exploration fieldwork activities, education, and knowledge exchange between the local population, scientists and artist.
 
The program will deal with topics of ecosystem protection, environmental observation and preservation of nature in urban and rural areas.
 
The social aspect will focus on present life circumstances in range of local and wider international relations, historical background and cultural heritage in Fužine municipality and Gorski Kotar County, Croatia. 
 
Major concerns of the local community of Gorski Kotar is the use of the natural resources which are governed by the state policies and state companies who are selling public good to multimillion companies. This economical model causes a chain reaction, and Gorski Kotar is facing the “white plague “, the term used in demography as the name for a lower birthrate of mortality in some region, leading to a decrease in population.

Photos by Marko Markovic

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Photos by Virgil Widrich

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Scouting mission Fužine, Croatia
May 13, 2019
Location
Fužine, Croatia