Jelenje is where the Bora wind is born and the Rječina River emerges. What is life like in the largest and most significant water-protection area in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County?

The Day the Levee Broke is a programme that is contextualised by the micro-localities of the Grobnik Alps, the Rječina River and the Jelenje Municipality as the largest water-protection area in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and which highlights the advantages and limitations of community life in this area. The programme is a platform through which the Jelenje Neighbourhood urges us to contemplate the issue of water management.

The activities begin at 4 p.m. with the presentation of the participating Jelenje associations via the Jelenje in 5 Stops programme and continue with the exhibition The Day the Levee Broke by artists who have been participating in the Vitamin D artistic residence programme and have been inspired by the vistas of the Grobnik Alps and the Rječina Canyon, and by water in general. The following artists who stayed in Jelenje will showcase their works: Marc Rader (DE), Jasenka Bulj (HR) and Sandra Ružić (HR), whose work won the OKiZA – Culture and Green Activism in Opatija competition, which was held last year as part of the Opatija Neighbourhood programme. In addition to the art programme, scientists from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Rijeka, including Lado Kranjčević, EngD, will demonstrate the natural disaster scenarios of the Rječina delta flooding by simulating the breaking of the levee. Global Water Partnership Mediterranean, the programme’s Athens-based Greek partner, which obtains its know-how from the community and traditional rainwater harvesting methods, will also be introduced as part of the programme.

PRE-PROGRAMME
Living Room
Jelenje in 5 Stops – presentation of activities undertaken by the Jelenje Neighbourhood associations and civic initiatives and a guided tour of the Jelenje Municipality – guide: Ada Maršanić
time: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Starting stop, Dražice town centre, bus stop
Departure: 4 p.m.
Spaces on the bus are limited – sign up at: info@visitjelenje.hr by 12 p.m. on Friday 11 September.

Stop 1 Dražice, next to the Dražice Reading Hall – hosts: Jelenje women bingo players;
Time: 4.05 p.m. – 4.25 p.m.
Programme: Margareta Krstić, an artist from Jelenje will introduce the Margareta CroArt association
A jewellery- and clay tablet-making workshop will be held at the Dražice Reading Hall as part of the Living Room programme. The Living Room is open to the public from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Stop 2 Lukeži, next to the Lukeži Reading Hall – host: Rječina Sport Fishing Association
Time: 4.35 p.m. – 5.05 p.m.
Programme: the programme centres on the Rječina and features a photo exhibition of Rječina’s underwater life on the premises of the Rječina Sport Fishing Association and the winning artwork of the 2019 OKiZA – Culture and Green Activism in Opatija competition, the sculpture “Regatta” by Sandra Ružić.
The Lukeži Living Room is open to the public from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Stop 3 Dubina, host: Mayor Robert Marčelja
Time: 5.20 p.m. – 5.25 p.m.
Programme: Dubina is a local settlement, which until recently had been considered Jelenje’s grey zone due to the non-regulated waste dumped there, but which has now been successfully rehabilitated. Here Jelenje Municipality Mayor Robert Marčelja will present Jelenje as a favourable location for raising a family in a healthy surrounding – so close, yet so rural.

Stop 4 Podkilavac, next to the Podkilavac Reading Hall, host: Obruč Mountaineering Club
Time: 5.30 p.m. – 5.55 p.m.
Programme: the Obruč Mountaineering Club will host as a guest speaker Emil Mandarić, a blind mountaineer and artist, who will talk about his extraordinary mountain-climbing feats, which he has accomplished despite his disability, and who will present his statue of the Milk Maid and other statues.
The Podkilavac Reading Hall Living Room is open to the public from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Stop 5 Dražice, Mlikarica Square, 6 p.m.
Time: 6 p.m.
Programme: the end of the Jelenje in 5 Stops tour of associations from Jelenje and the beginning of the main programme;

MAIN PROGRAMME – THE DAY THE LEVEE BROKE
Time: 6.00 p.m. – 10.00 p.m.
Venue:  Mlikarica Square Dražice, Dražice Cultural Centre – 64 Dražičkih Boraca, Dražice

6 p.m. – Zvir Culture and Arts Association – performance

6.15 p.m. – Opening ceremony – Protocol and handover of the time capsule from the Praputnjak Neighbourhood – the programme will be opened by representatives of the Jelenje Municipality, Jelenje Tourist Board, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the City of Rijeka and Rijeka 2020

6.45 p.m. – The Day the Levee Broke – panel discussion and opening of the exhibition

Panel discussion participants:

  • Jasminka Matrljan – Presentation of the European Neighbourhood – Global Water Partnership Mediterranean, Greece
  • Lado Kranjčević, EngD, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Rijeka in the Department of Fluid Mechanics and Computational Engineering
  • Mark Rader (DE)
  • Jasenka Bulj (HR)

7.30 p.m. – further socialising at the reception with a special programme and easy-listening live music

Venue: Dražice Cultural Centre

ABOUT THE EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD

Global Water Partnership Mediterranean is a global action network with over 3000 partner organisations in 179 countries. GWP’s action network provides knowledge and builds capacity to improve water management at all levels: global, regional, national and local.

Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) was established in 2002 as the Mediterranean branch of the intergovernmental organisation Global Water Partnership (GWP). It operates at the local, regional, national and transboundary levels. GWP-Med promotes action, facilitates dialogue on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and brings together almost 100 water institutions and organisations. GWP-Med extends its human resources to 7 Mediterranean countries, with the Secretariat being based in Athens.