Project leaders
CROATIAN PARTNERS
The Museums of Hrvatsko zagorje, Gornja Stubica
The Museums of Hrvatsko zagorje (MHZ), with its headquarters in Gornja Stubica, is the leader of the project. The Museums had been established in 1993 by the integration of five specialised museums of the Krapina-Zagorje County. The Museums of Hrvatsko zagorje are a national museum, its founder being the Republic of Croatia. The "Old Village" Museum is one of the organisational units of the MHZ and the centre of activities that are to be carried out in Croatia within the Craftattract project. The coordination of the project will be based in Gornja Stubica, the MHZ headquarters. The Project Manager is the Museum's director Goranka Horjan, also the author of the project proposal. The MHZ, in addition to caring about the museum materials situated on the museum premises in permanent museum displays and exhibitions, organise occasional exhibitions, events, museum workshops and educational programmes. A special attention is devoted to international cultural cooperation and they are also active in the International Council of Museums (ICOM), particularly in the International Committee for Regional Museums (ICR) and the Association of European Open-Air Museums.
The Krapina-Zagorje County, Krapina
The Krapina-Zagorje County is a regional self-government unit of the area which represents natural, historical, transport, economic, social and self-governing unity within the Republic of Croatia, and is established for the purpose of performing activities of regional interest.
It is a separate geographic unit which extends from the edges of the Macelj Mountain and Ivančica in the north, to Medvednica in the south-east. The western border of the County, at the same time the state border with the Republic of Slovenia, is the River Sutla, and the eastern border is a watershed of the Krapina and Lonja basin. Within the framework of the EU INTERREG III A Programme, the Slovenia - Hungary - Croatia Neighbourhood Programme, the County has applied for a total of eight projects during the Call for Proposals, among them the CRAFTATTRACT project in which the County has the status of national partner. Through this project, the Krapina-Zagorje County is conveying a message,, saying that it cares about its own identity, and that it will preserve traditional crafts in Zagorje. Since the goals of the Krapina-Zagorje County are the preservation of cultural heritage and of traditional values, as well as the encouragement of their development, the involvement in the CRAFTATTRACT project is yet another example which will show young people how it is possible to implement a valuable project through a joint effort.
Among other things, with the aim of preserving and developing such activities, the County awards grants to traditional crafts, primarily for the improvement of the working conditions of workshops, organization of exhibitions at specialised fairs and the making of promotional materials.
SLOVENIAN PARTNERS
The Bistra Ptuj Scientific Research Centre (SRC)The objective of this centre’s activity is promoting the improvement of local community development in Podravje at the international level, enabling the connection and the transfer of knowledge from the faculties and scientific institutions onto the economy, and the joint realization of ideas on development of these institutions, and their subsequent transfer onto research institutes. The activity of the Bistra SRC is based on project work, which primarily influences the local community development. The institution participates in both national and international projects. Within the Craftattract project, the Project Manager on the Slovenian side is Mr Aleš Gačnik, a scientist who has been doing research related to traditional heritage and development for a number of years. He is the author of numerous works regarding this topic and a notable lecturer at institutions of higher education and various university faculties.
The Regional Museum of Murska Sobota
The leader of the project for Pomurje is the Regional Museum of Murska Sobota, a central institution for the protection, the study and the presentation of movable - tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Pomurje, which consists of 27 municipalities of Prekmurje and Styria. The Museum is a partner on the Slovenian side in this project. It already has experience with similar projects (such as Artisan workshops and home activities, Hetes County fabrics and embroidery, East in Eden, Miller's trail). The centre of activity – the organisation and holding of craft workshops - is organized on locations outside the museum itself– most notably in the field, at the following craftsmen workshops: Velika Polana, Filovci, Beltinci.
The Regional Museum of Ptuj
The Regional Museum of Ptuj is a general museum holding collections and departments in the fields of archaeology, history, cultural history, ethnology, restoration workshops and other services.
After 1945, the castle complex was placed under the management of the museum, and so it acquired most of its present facilities. The museum continued to extend its geographical scope of its activities, and in 1963 it was named the Regional Museum of Ptuj. At present, the museum covers the wider area of Ptuj and Ormož, famous for its rich prehistoric and antiquesites (Roman Poetovio), the period of large migrations, medieval and modern age monuments, which bear witness to the cultural and economic importance of Ptuj and its surroundings, as well as to its rich folklore traditions.The Regional Museum of Ptuj is the project leader for the Podravje region.
