The Education activities of the Blue World Institute began in 1987 and were developed in cooperation with the local NGO “Green in Blue”. The President of “Green and Blue”, Mrs. Nena Nosalj-Peršić organized the first Dolphin Day in Veli Lošinj in August 1993. That was the beginnin of a long and ongoing tradition of Dolphin Day in Veli Lošinj.
With the founding of the Blue World Institute in 1999 , the three programmes of the Adriatic Dolphin Project – research, education and conservation – were further developed. Between 2000 – 2003 members of Blue World expanded regular visits to schools, kindergartens, children camps and hotels giving numerous lectures. In addition the tradition of Dolphin Day on the first Saturday in August became larger and more diverse with an expanding programme of lectures, workshops, games, projections, exhibitions, sport competitions, and concerts.
Rundek Cargo Trio concert at Dolphin Day
On the 2nd of August 2003 the central event of 11th Dolphin Day was the inauguration of the Lošinj Marine Education Centre as the first centre of its kind on the Croatian coast. The education activities of Blue World have since taken place in the Centre which is open throughout the year.
The main project “Education program for school groups” started in 2004; it has now been recognized and certified by the National Agency for Teacher Training and Education. Throughout all this period the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport supported the education programme for schools so that a large number of lectures and workshops were conducted free of charge for Croatian school children.
On the 19th of July 2013, the Blue World Institute opened a Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Mali Lošinj, inaugurated by the then Croatian President, Dr. Ivo Josipović . The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre was constructed as part of the ”Network for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Sea Turtles in the Adriatic (NETCET)” project funded by the European Union Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) Adriatic Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) Programme. The centre is part of the network of rescue centres for conservation of sea turtles in the Adriatic Sea.
The number of individuals visiting our centers increases every year which is the best confirmation of the need we fulfil and the best source of support and recognition for our work. We are especially pleased to see groups of users that return every year to participate in our programme. For us, that is the greatest motivation of all to continue with developing new activities and expanding existing.
