We can arrange specialised one or multi-day programmes for children or adults, tailored to your requirements. In case you are interested in participating in such programmes, please contact us at your earliest convenience so we have sufficient time to prepare all that is required for your group.
Special needs:
In cooperation with the Vinko Bek School for the blind and visually impaired, we have devised a hands-on “Adriatic Dolphin Project” lecture for children with special needs.
The Blue World Junior Marine Biology Group:
founded in 2006, it gathers some 15 teenagers from the island of Lošinj with an interest in marine biology and ecology. Participation in the Group’s activities provides students with an introduction to scientific research methods and encourages them to work on small-scale applied projects. The Group, moderated by the Blue World Institute education staff, meets once a week in the Lošinj Marine Education Centre or on the beach for lectures and workshops on marine biology topics. Once a year, Group members participate in a local beach clean-up as part of the international event “Clean up the Med”. The Group also conducts a day trip every year to marine-related museums, aquariums or other institutions in the region. Another objective of the Group is to give expert advice, advance equipment and literature to pupils interested in doing their school projects, seminars or theses in different fields related to marine biology. Past participants of the Group have gone on to study biology or marine biology at university, and we hope in the future they will return to the island to work with the Blue World Institute. The Group is a member of the UNESCO – SEMEP (South Eastern Mediterranean Environmental Project) project in Croatia since 2007. SEMEP is an interdisciplinary environmental education project involving students at the upper primary and secondary levels in both formal and non-formal sectors. The project promotes environmental education through science and intercultural dialogue that reaches beyond the school to the community. It provides an opportunity to consider environmental issues that are of common concern to all countries by interrelating education, geared to both the natural and social environment, with cultural values. Such values are of particular importance in this part of the world where the development of an extremely rich civilisation involved a continuous interchange of social, philosophical and cultural assets. SEMEP fosters a holistic approach to education within the framework of existing school curricula. It is based on problem identification, problem solving, determining decision-making parameters, actual experiencing, decision making and skills in a wide range of communication techniques. SEMEP is formulated to encourage collaboration at both governmental and non-governmental (NGO) levels. Group participants present their projects every year in SEMEP’s Summer School on the island of Vis.
Little Blue World :
The children’s group was founded in 2008 as an out-of-school education activity for children from the island of Lošinj. The Little Blue World programme consists of educational activities related to marine biology, care for the environment, recycling, healthy food and sustainable development in the form of lectures, workshops, games and field excursions. The Group has 20 members aged 6-10 and meets once a week between October and May. Most of the activities take place in the Lošinj Marine Education Centre. Some workshops and games take place on the nearby beach. All the topics are related to the official elementary school curriculum of the Republic of Croatia. The Little Blue World Group successfully complements children needs for quality educational and fun activities on the island of Lošinj and contributes to raise environmental awareness for young islanders.
Workshops for tourism workers:
In order to promote sustainable tourism and increase the knowledge of local tourist workers about marine environment, the BWI has prepared, in cooperation with the local tourist board and tourist companies, several training workshops for tourist workers entitled “Education about the sea”.
University and postgraduate education:
Between 2005 and 2012, the Croatian Biological Society, the European Section of the Society for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, and the Centre for Marine Research of the Ruđer Bošković Institute, in cooperation with the Blue World Institute, organised a ten-day summer school -“International School of Conservation Biology” – for postgraduate students from Europe. This was the first summer school on conservation biology of its kind in the region accredited by the University of Zagreb with recognised ECTS points for students and coordinated by prof. Selina Heppell and prof. Scott Heppell from Oregon State University (OSU). Over this eight-year period, several hundred young researchers attended the workshop and many are now successful researchers working in the region.
In 2018, the “International School of Conservation Biology” will become the “International School of Marine Conservation Biology”. With new partners at the University of Primorska, Slovenia, the Oregon State University Heppell Lab and the BWI have developed a new curriculum for this exciting new programme. Undergraduate and postgraduate students regularly participate in longer-term field practice and internships. Internships are generally three to six months long and require students to integrate into the working practices of the Blue World Institute and assist with research, education and volunteers. Students are housed in subsidised accommodation organised by the Blue World Institute in Lošinj. Please see the Internship page for more details.
Research aimed at graduate and postgraduate degrees has been an integral part of the Adriatic Dolphin Project. Over the years we have had 41 students from nine countries (Croatia, Italy, Germany, UK, US, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain and Ireland) complete their theses with us. This includes six doctoral theses, 26 masters theses and nine bachelors theses. If you are interested in the completed works or in doing your thesis with us, please contact us at info@blue-world.org. You may also consider applying for internships. Participation in the internship program for students of University of Zagreb is credited with ECTS points.
Several of our staff teach at different universities within the region. The Blue World Institute has close relationship with the University of Zagreb and the Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries Split in Croatia, and the University of Primorska, Slovenia. The Blue World Institute is open to cooperation with other institutions throughout the region and beyond.
