The event was attended by the Head of the Administrative Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and EU Funds, Daniel Segarić, ZADRA NOVA Agency Director Marina Dujmović Vuković, and Radost Kindergarten Director Larisa Pavlović-Petani.

In her speech, Director Dujmović Vuković emphasised the importance of modern solutions in the fight against urban floods, especially in light of climate change. The STREAM project allowed the construction of pilot solutions for intelligent drainage systems such as rain gardens that seek to avoid catastrophic scenarios in the future. Mia Perica, the project director at ZADRA NOVA, presented the rain garden concept and its functioning to the attendees.

This garden, along with those at the Ploča and Biograd na Moru district schools, is the first of a series of innovative solutions created in the Zadar County area and financed precisely by the STREAM project. The construction and decoration of the Vruljica rain garden amounted to €176.000. Before the construction and equipment of the rain garden, the torrential rainwater from the parking platform was poured into the kindergarten entrance and the transit pedestrian path, causing erosion and devastation of the existing road. After the works, rainwater from the gravitational collection is directed to the oil separator through grilles and pipes and then poured onto the ground, through the drainage layers of the system, in the form of a rain garden. A new illuminated pedestrian path was also built, connecting the upper and lower plateaus, i.e., from Ivana Meštrović Street to Dr. Franjo Tuđman Street.

Apart from constructing rain gardens and designing new ones, the STREAM project includes many other activities, such as equipping the operational forces of the Zadar County Civil Protection Headquarters with more specific acquisitions.

The information day ended with the children from the Radost Kindergarten planting flowers and sharing ecological messages, thus promoting sustainable practices in the community. This event showcases the innovative solutions that ZADRA NOVA and other regional development agencies are implementing to fight against environmental issues and foster cooperation in regional development.

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