At the Suncokret Center we hold various activities in order to provide a space for children and youth to interact. The emphasis is on participation and activities and creation of activities together as well as facilitating communication between youth.

At the Suncokret Center the following activities take place:

Internet Center:
The Internet club will enable all the citizens an access to and participation in the computer-age society, enabling an equal participation of youth, citizens with special needs, elderly, and economically and socially vulnerable citizens. The primary objective is to enable all the citizens an access to public information from various fields, for example: legal and administrative information, culture, environmental protection, fun and entertainment etc. and to provide an electronic access to public services and educational programs. The Internet Club contributes the democratization of the local community, as well as to the national strategy of computerization of the society, with an aim to introduce the local community with the development trends on national, regional and international levels.
The aim is to use the Internet to gather young persons that usually do not communicate among each other (or communicate only occasionally - due to their national backgrounds) in one place, and enable them to get involved through the use of the Internet into the activities that their peers in the more developed parts of Croatia and throughout the world participate. They will get the opportunity to receive useful information on professional training and re-qualification options in order to increase their employability. Young persons will be provided the opportunity to expand their views through various forms of communication with their colleagues from around the world (e-mail, chat, etc.), which will result in an increase in their tolerance with regards to differences, acquiring of new information from various fields of personal interest, collection of materials important for their education, etc.
Photos

Computer training literacy workshops:
Computer literacy has become a component of the general literacy of each individual. By getting familiar with the basic principles and being trained to use computers, workshop participants become trained for active and full participation in the processes within their communities and the society in general. The computer training workshop objective is to familiarize the participants with the computer and information technologies in order to be able to use computers in daily life and work and take advantage of benefits the use of computers provide. Moreover, the workshops are aimed at making both young and older unemployed persons from Gvozd Municipality more competitive on the labor market and, therefore, indirectly to reduce unemployment in this region.
Computer training programs cover: introduction to the general principles of the work on computers, basic characteristics of the Windows, text processing and Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access) and the Internet. If a certain number of participants would like to continue their education even after the completion of the advanced course, the computer training workshop leader will form a special group for such persons and produce an adequate work program.
Photos

Girls/Young Women Using the Internet Club:
It has been observed that girls do not participate in the Internet Club as much as their male peers do. Thus, active encouragement, recruitment and workshops targeting girls specifically serves to improve and encourage participation and provide them with the skills and competencies necessary to become involved and active participants in the Internet Club and wider community.

International and Multicultural Exchange:
Suncokret recruits international volunteers that come to Gvozd to participate in activities and lead workshops and activities. The purpose is the exchange of experiences, knowledge and to provide opportunities for youth to learn about other cultures, spend time with individuals from all over the world and expand their horizons.  Through the international volunteer experience international volunteers get the opportunity to meet and experience the postwar situation in Gvozd and experience the local culture and traditions. Local youth have the opportunity to learn about other cultures and traditions from the visiting volunteers as well as be exposed to the values of volunteerism, altruism and philanthropy. Through the international exchange youth in Gvozd have the opportunity to learn from international volunteers. Through these experiences they learn tolerance, acceptance of differences, they develop non-violent communication skills. These multicultural experiences contribute to the revitalization of the community, and the diminishing of social isolation and to reintegration and openness of the local community. Photos

International Volunteer Summer Camp:
In addition to the presence of foreign and domestic volunteers throughout the year, Suncokret organizes a summer camp for youth and volunteers in July.  The camp aims to facilitate intercultural cooperation and exchange. International volunteers enrich Suncokrets existing program and international volunteers have the opportunity to create and hold various workshops and activities. Through workshops, gatherings, presentations and social activities local youth and international volunteers exchange knowledge, learn to know about each other and different cultures. The summer camp objectives are the following: concrete assistance to the local community through various work activities; cross-cultural exchange; foreign language learning and speaking (important for the local youth); strengthening of non-violent communication skills through various creative approaches, etc. The international volunteers (5 - 10) of various nationalities contribute to the building of solidarity, the development of appreciation for diversity and mutual acceptance.
Concrete results of this activity is reflected in the work on some of the community priorities (such as cleaning, painting and furnishing of old municipal building in order to make it available to be used by youth, assistance to elderly and weak throughout the municipality, etc.). Gvozd Municipality youth, who participate in the work of the summer camp as volunteers, directly contribute to the meeting of local community needs. Furthermore, young volunteers will be giving an example on the possibilities of reintegration of all segments of population and openness for innovations throughout the duration of this project. They will at the same time acquire skills and knowledge useful for their life and work in the local community.
Photos

Documentary Film Workshops
Two years ago, in cooperation with the NGO and film club Blank lead by Dario Jurican, documentary film workshops were held. 10 children and youth participated in the workshops and learned to use the camera, create scenarios and edit films. The result of the workshops was the creation of 2 documentaries that participated in the Osijek Amateur Documentary Film Festival. The children and youth have now created more films and documentaries and we plan to show them to the wider community on movie evenings. We plan to continue the film workshops. The films show the lives of people in these postwar areas as well as document local skills that are slowly disappearing.
Photos

Journalist Group - publishing of the local news magazine:
Suncokret journalist group together with interested locals, writes articles about the local community life, difficulties and successes, daily life of the common people, conduct interviews with local authority representatives, etc. This contributes to keeping the community engaged and informed in local events and activities as well as to keep the Community Centre and inhabitants of the community connected. The high quality of content, very good layout and graphical design, coverage of the themes of local interest and providing photos of people and events from the community - have made this magazine very needed and popular source of information for the local population.
Photos

Youth Club / Multimedia Activities and Info Corner:
This is the place where information is distributed and exchanged and events are announced. There is an entertainment room with music, magazines and TV/Video etc.  where youth can gather to read the latest magazines and spend time together. The room contains a lounge area for hanging out as well as a corner for reading available magazines that the centre subscribes to, video projections, music events, playing of entertainment games etc.

Current Activities:
Our current activities intend to provide yet another way of getting people of different backgrounds together, and to provide opportunities for informal gatherings and opportunities to get to know each other in playing in a number of sports, games and participating in various cultural events.
Current activities that will continue are: Sports/Games-table tennis, table soccer, badminton, soccer, and various games. Cultural Events - such as art exhibitions in the lobby of the Centre - presenting primarily local artists to wider community, but also guest artist from other parts of Croatia or world (all art forms will be equally presented: paintings with pencil, crayons, oil, chock, water colours, photography, sculpture etc.). Other cultural events will include concerts (of local or international musicians), karaoke (supporting local people to sing in front of the audience, with jury and gifts from local sponsors for the most successful individuals), poetry readings etc. Educational Events- seminars and workshops on youth education and the training of peer trainers for community development and actions, and documentary film workshops. Creative/Arts Workshops- The objective is to stimulate creative expression of the beneficiaries and stimulate new skills through the creation of various arts and crafts (paintings, greeting cards, Christmas cards and decorations, jewelry, etc.).

Community Actions:
Suncokret initiates and coordinate various local community activities (environmental protection actions, maintenance and cleaning of public property, working on parks and streets, around local lakes, watermills, building of pavilion, painting bridges etc.) in cooperation with the group of local and, when possible, international volunteers, which are intended to be of benefit for the society through the improvement of the environment and through gathering and participation of youth and adults in the Community Center.

Celebration of Important Dates:
Local community manifestations and celebrations will be organized in order to gather the people and stimulate communication among persons of all ages and nationalities with regards to the mutual activities (such as celebration of important dates and holidays - World day of Children Rights, International Day of Volunteers, as well as St. Valentines Day, St. Nicholas Day, etc). The program will consist various presentations (of the invited guests, local authorities) as well as of performances of all Community Center's dance and drama groups, local singers and, when relevant, local kindergarten and elementary school children.