The project “Hands across the border – identity and cultural heritage of the Danube region” is being implemented by Nansen Dialogue Center (Osijek) and the Centre for Youth Work (Novi Sad), in cooperation with municipalities Tompojevci and Bač. The project is financially supported by the European Union under the cross-border program Croatia-Serbia. Apart from the European Union, the project is also financed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia- office for cooperation with NGOs, the Provincial Secretariat for Sports and Youth and the Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information of the Republic of Serbia.

Project “Hands across the border – the identity and cultural heritage of the Danube region” started in January 2011 and it will last for 12 months.

The main objective of this project is the strengthening of inter-ethnic dialogue and cross-border cooperation between the youth and in post-conflict and multi-ethnic communities of Eastern Croatia and Western Vojvodina as a basis for social revitalization of war-damaged relations in the Danube region and the strengthening of the democratization process on the path towards the European Union.

With this project we aim to empower a group of young people from Croatia and Serbia, who will be educated on the issues of identity and the importance of cross-border cooperation, cultural diversity and cultural heritage of the Danube region as a prerequisite for future integration into the European Union.

Key project activities include:
• Educational seminars
• Conducting research in local communities on the topic of “Personal history as the history of the community”
• Joint seminar for all participants with the aim to exchange experiences, and present collected materials collected during the research period in their own communities
• Organisation of exhibitions trough which we will present results of the reaserch (photographs, old items, books, documents, etc.)
• Final meeting of all participants at the end of the year

Participants in the project are young people between 15-25 years who live in multi-and post-conflict areas of Eastern Croatian and Western Vojvodina who are interested and motivated to learn and explore topics of cultural heritage, personal – a family identity and history.