To mark Earth Day, a workshop was held with the pupils of Class 3C from Šime Budinić Primary School and their teacher, Lipa Gulan, in collaboration with the Zadar Youth Centre. The workshop was held as part of the “Trace.hr – priču u ruke” project, which encourages children to reflect on heritage, nature and community through storytelling, conversation and creativity. This time, the workshop was based on the original story “The Sea Man Who Sought Silence”. It is a story inspired by Dalmatian legends, which tells of the “Morski čovik”, a creature from folklore that once lived along our coast and would only reveal itself in moments of complete silence. Through listening to the story, discussion and art, the pupils reflected on the relationship between humans and nature, and the importance of peace, listening and preserving the world around us. The workshop's special value lay in the fact that the pupils experienced the story in their own way: through questions, imagination, discussion and drawings. Their work showed how powerful a tool children's imagination can be for understanding local stories, natural heritage and environmental themes. The story “The Merman Who Sought Silence” will soon be available on the forthcoming Trace.hr project website, where it can be read by a wider audience.

And until then, the question remains: do you know who the sea man is?