Udruga Delta – Croatia

Association Delta was founded in 2008 in Rijeka (Croatia) with the aim of empowering citizens to strengthen their influence on social processes and society. Over time, Delta has focused on young people who are its most important user group.
Today, Delta is focused on:
1) youth empowerment for personal and interpersonal development and participation (through youth involvement in program design, non-formal education and volunteering)
2) youth social and political participation (structured dialogue, advocacy, volunteering)
3) contributing to the development of the youth field (research and publishing, youth workers’ networking, service learning, civic education).
Delta is mainly focused on the following activities: non-formal education (education design, lectures, workshops, mentoring, educational materials), public events (conferences, public forums, roundtables), and activities aimed at influencing public policies (decision-making, advocacy, structured dialogue, facilitation).
Delta is a partner to national and regional organizations dealing with youth and the development of a democratic society and is a member of the Croatian Youth Network and the GOOD Initiative for citizenship education.

What are the activities and experience of the organisation in the areas relevant for this project? What are the skills and/or expertise of key persons involved in this project?

Relating to the requirements of the project, Udruga Delta will provide help in:
– developing SSR REPORT (developing and testing the questionnaire, evaluation of results and defining competencies) – develop the competency dictionary and competency assessment questionnaires
– translation of the E-Tutor module, and testing
– adapting and localizing of SEES e-learning modules for young adults
– conducting simulations and writing simulation reports
– participating in and organizing multiplier events
– organizing short-term training events for youth workers
– participating in project management and dissemination tasks

Many of Delta’s projects include soft skills development, with a special focus on the development of procedural skills, social, and emotional skills needed in an active citizen: self and emotional regulation, communication skills, social skills, and introspection. For example, through „Akcija za 5!“, a project that has been running for almost 15 years, young people have the opportunity to develop skills for teamwork, project writing, project management, communication skills, emotional self-regulation, etc.
Through „Vollumen“, an ESF project that was conducted from 2017 to 2019, Delta focused on developing skills both of young volunteers in school volunteer clubs, and their coordinators (mainly professors and school counselors). At the moment, Delta and its partners are conducting the project „New Rules of the Game“, funded by Swiss-Croatian Cooperation Programme, where the focus is on developing educational materials for sustainable development education.

Relating to digital competence development, Delta has designed and carried out non-formal education in the area of digital media literacy as a part of its project „Akcija za 5!“ in 2018 in the city of Rijeka, and in 2020 in the city of Labin. The education was carried out in the form of workshops focused on skill development. Afterward, the participants designed their own project ideas and the highest-rated project idea was implemented in the community.

In the field of adult education, Delta mainly works with coordinators of school volunteer clubs, civic education professors, and youth workers. Delta is designing and implementing education for youth workers as a part of the project „Akcija za 5!– Level Up“ in 2020. As a part of its ongoing activities, Delta supports professors of civic education in primary schools and high schools in carrying out civic education activities (using non-formal activities in the classroom). Through the ESF project „Vollumen“ (2017-2019), Delta provided support for school volunteer club coordinators (about how to include youth in planning and organizing volunteer activities).

Key personnel

Maja Uršić Staraj (MA in Social Sciences Methodology, a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology) is the executive director of the organization. As a sociologist, methodologist and Ph.D. student with advanced training in the field of youth, she has experience in conducting youth research. Since 2011 at Delta she has been responsible for fundraising, proposing and executing operational and financial plans and their reporting, hiring executive team members, cooperating with the management board, and managing project cycles. She works with young people through various activities (lectures, workshops, mentoring, information and counseling). She advocates for the interests of young people towards relevant decision-makers. She has great experience in communicating with decision-makers and structured dialogue. She was involved in writing national reports on structured dialogue consultations. She is a member of the delegation for the project “Europe Goes Local”