
City of Dubrovnik Association of Technical Culture presented its first EU project ‘Du STEM’ on Friday, July 16th, 2021 on the premises of Dubrovnik Youth Center. The duration of the project is 24 months. The project will strengthen the capacities of project holders and partners for the implementation of programs in the field of STEM popularization, improve cooperation with the University of Dubrovnik, and will carry out more than 226 activities aimed at popularizing and raising awareness of the importance and achievements of STEM areas among children, youth and general population in Dubrovnik and the county.
The project holder is the City of Dubrovnik Association of Technical Culture. The project partners are the University of Dubrovnik, the Universal Research Institute UR, Dubrovnik-Neretva County Association of Technical Culture, and the IT Club Futura. Collaborators are the Nave Dumins Modeling Institute, Argosy Ship Modeling Society, Aeroclub Nimbus and Maritimo Recycling.

Through this project, modern STEM equipment will be procured, which Dubrovnik children and young people cannot otherwise reach. Workshop participants will be able to learn and work with the latest robots, create their hologram and three-dimensional virtual space, learn the plastic recycling process, and much more. Workshops and activities will be held not only in Dubrovnik, but also in Ploče, Opuzen, Metković, Ston, Vela Luka, Korčula and on the island of Mljet.
The President of the City of Dubrovnik Association of Technical Culture, Ljubo Nikolić, emphasized the importance of the association in the education of children and youth over the past years, and that this project came as a reward for its work so far. He thanked the City of Dubrovnik for the quality cooperation and the premises of the Dubrovnik Youth Center, without which this project would probably not have been approved.
Deputy Mayor of the City of Dubrovnik Jelka Tepšić congratulated the City of Dubrovnik Association of Technical Culture and its partners on the project. She is glad that the City of Dubrovnik has recognized such initiatives through the Youth Center, which are commendable, and that it will continue to invest in the development of youth potential and further development of cooperation with the City of Dubrovnik Association of Technical Culture and partner associations.
Gjino Šutić, President of the Universal Research Institute UR, emphasized the value of this project for the local community in the context of sustainability because, with a rich program that awaits us through two years of the project, it is based as well on capacity development of new young STEM educators.
Du STEM project is funded under the UP.04.2.1.10 Jačanje kapaciteta organizacija civilnog društva za popularizaciju STEM-a with grant in the total amount of HRK 2,660,083.07, of which 85 percent is co-financed by the European Social Fund, and 15% from the State Budget of the Republic of Croatia.
