Annual Report for 2010 of the Non-profit organization “Association for Rebuilding/Restoration and Revitalization of the Stojan Jankovic Castle – BRIDGES”

(The report was prepared by the Chairman of the Association’s Board, and accepted, following a discussion, at the General Assembly of the Association held on March 10th 2011)

In accordance with the objectives of our Association – defined by its Statute – the efforts of its members in 2010 have been focused on the activities concerned with the physical rebuilding of the Jankovic Castle on the one hand and on the revitalization activities for the Castle and its local surroundings on the other. These are in the first place:
Physical restoration of the Jankovic Castle 
Although the funds granted by the Ministry of Culture were regularly considerably lower than it had been proposed, in the last two years the Association ‘BRIDGES’ managed to carry out a rather ambitious rebuilding plans thanks to an additional donation to the Association from the Croatian Government at the end of 2008.
The rebuilding efforts from 2009 were continued in 2010 according to earlier established general priorities:
In 2010 the elemental restoration of the ‘South wing’ of the complex was completed by laying of the floors and constructing the roofs; the roofs of the eastern and western part of the South wing were also rebuilt. Moreover, most of the so-far renewed parts of the complex were provided (up to 90%) with outer doors and windows, altogether over 60 pieces. In that way it became possible to close and thus shelter from the weather and from occasional vandalizing the parts referred to as “old house”, “great hall”, “new wing” and “storehouse”
In 2010 the south wall of the complex was also repaired, the missing parts of the wall around the main gate were put in, and the gate itself (which had disappeared in the war) was reconstructed based to the photos taken in 1914 and 1960.
Thus was the closing of the outer wall of the complex finally completed. It was preceded in 2009 by extensive repairs done to the eastern high outer wall and the reconstruction of the fallen arch surmounting the main gate. The badly damaged main entrance gate to the complex was reconstructed.
Furthermore, in 2010 the stairway leading to the upper and lower levels of the fort (which was burnt in the war) was also reconstructed.
Last but not least, in 2010 a considerable part of infrastructure – sewage ducts, water and power supply – as essential preconditions for intensifying and extending the activities in the facility – were reconstructed.
Such extensive amount of work was made possible owing to the extremely careful and rational elaboration of the priority list of works, a strict control of amounts and cost of every item, by the control of the execution of contracted works, and also owing to the deduction in price we managed to negotiate from the building contractor.
Those were the crucial steps for bringing these facilities to fulfilling the functions planned for 2011-12: the return and exhibition of the ethnographic collection in the spacious “Ancient kitchen” and arranging the Great hall as an exhibition venue.
These successful achievements created the conditions for opening part of the Jankovic Castle to visitors, to visiting tours and to the realization of the Castle’s potential to become not only a tourist destination but also a promoter of the tourism of this region in general. With this aim in view the Association will work out a number of new projects, among the first being the workshop “Economic value of heritage as a spur to tourism-based industry” which will be held on the premises of the Castle.

Revitalization activities in 2010 in the Jankovic Castle: 
The members of the Association carried out numerous preparatory works for field activities, and the Association was a co-organizer of a number of activities, more particularly for:
– The scientific-cultural symposium “Desnica’s Encounters”, organized by Prof. Drago Roksandic, ScD (from the Comparative-historical and intercultural Center at the Faculty for Humanities and Social Studies, Zagreb University), was held on 18-20th Sep. 2010. It was held partly in Zadar and partly in the Jankovic Castle. The Encounters of 2010 have not only been the most comprehensive but also the most influential so far and they provoked considerably media coverage.
– International Youth Work Summer Camps (held in summer 2010, and including the voluntaries from Belgium, France etc) continued the activities of previous camps beginning in 2006. As in the first four years the volunteers, under expert supervision, managed to completely clear the premises of the huge amount of rubble in and outside the buildings, in 2010 they focused on clearing parts of the completely overgrown and thoroughly neglected park area and arboretum.
– For the duration of the Camp a Summer schoolon the subject “Cultural heritage, research, protection and revitalization” was held (in English and French) with the purpose of acquainting the participants with the cultural heritage and its safeguarding. Members of the Association were giving lectures at the School.
– A project entitled Old Castle – New Bridgesstarted in 2009 and having lasted for 14 months, was continued in 2010. It was financed by the European Union within the framework of the EIDHR (European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights) program. The incumbent was CMS (The Center for Peace Studies) Zagreb in collaboration with three more partners. A considerable portion of its activities and workshops took place in the Jankovic Castle. These activities aimed at decreasing tensions existing between different ethnic groups and providing specific training for individuals eager to learn how to peacefully solve conflicts. In 2010 a new project was conceived:Old Castle – More Bridges, also financed by EU; It is now extended by encompassing new activities and new partners.
– Within the framework of this project a book Ravni Kotari & Bukovica – cultural guidebook has been published with the aim of revealing to the public a number of very valuable and important but poorly known cultural sites of the region (43 sites were covered both by texts and by photos). The guidebook was published in summer 2010 in a circulation of 500 copies and was handed out to the Tourist Associations of the Zadar County and neighboring Šibenik County, Tourist Association of the City of Zadar, to regional Tourist offices, to tourist agencies in he region, so that the new edition is already becoming necessary..
– A Fair of associations of the civil society was held on the premises of the Jankovic Castle; it was attended by close to 30 associations from the neighboring regions.
The members of the Association take an active part in all these events both in terms of organization and also as lecturers at Summer schools and “Desnica’s Encounters”.
The members of the Association, continuing tradition from previous years, have also in 2010 assisted the persons newly returned to the village to effectively materialize their lawful rights and to protect their belongings, by finding out for them the right persons they should address or contact etc. (Natasa Desnica-Zerjavic did quite a lot in this respect).
Much more details about all these activities can be found in the Jankovic Castle brochure. The web version of the Brochure has been up-dated quarterly.
In the course of 2009-2010 a number of personalities from the domain of culture, science, higher education and politics visited the Jankovic Castle including the President of the Republic of Croatia Mr. Stjepan Mesic in March 2009.
An earlier initiative to set up a Center for Interculturalism ‘Vladan Desnica’ in the Castle during 2010 grew into the idea of founding anInternational University Center for which showed interest both the Zagreb and the Zadar Universities.
These initiatives for a public utilization of the Castle were legally regulated in November 2009 by an Agreement signed by the Zagreb University and Castle’s four owners (all members of the Association BRIDGES):
http://www.unizg.hr/novosti-pojedinacno/sporazum-sveucilista-u-zagrebu-i-vlasnika-kule-stojana-jankovica/78e010d3c7dc9f8f0177f9ce8a8ede15/?tx_ttnews[pointer]=13&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1
The Agreement about a long-term utilization primarily refers to the reconstruction of the so-called Northern wing of the Castle and to establishing an International University Centeron the location.
In the Rector’s chambers of Zagreb University the promotion of the project International University Center took place on 28th December 2010 where, among other personalities, spoke the rectors of the Zagreb (A. Bjeliš, ScD) and the Zadar(A. Uglešic, ScD) Universities as well as the vice-president of the Government of the Republic of Croatia (S. Uzelac ScD).
The members of the Association have created and keep the website of the Association which reads www.kulajankovica.hr (it has been worked out on a voluntary basis by R. Zerjavic) where one can find, along with the activities of the Association, a lot of high-quality visual material related to the Jankovic Castle as well as a series of texts (in Croatian, English, French and Italian). It brings more details about the activities of the Association Bridges in the Jankovic Castle, about the cultural heritage of the region Ravni Kotari, the personalities connected with the Castle etc.