Events
Five public events will be organised during the project, involving the translated authors and their translators.
GG4A Kick-off Meeting in Ljubljana, Izola and Medvode, Slovenia (7–10 October 2022)
The GG4A Kick-off meeting, held from October 7–10 2022, in Slovenia, brought together project partners for an introductory session focusing on intercultural reading promotion.
The meeting began with participants arriving in Ljubljana on October 7. On the morning of October 8, at Trubarjeva hiša literature, Malinc officially welcomed everyone, followed by an ice-breaking activity to foster connection among the partners. A project overview session then introduced the initiative’s logo and set the stage for discussing its objectives. Specific work packages (WPs) were reviewed in detail, starting with the circulation of literary works, led by Alberdania and Malinc, which highlighted books included in the project. Subsequent discussions covered the creative writing workshops (WP4), capacity building efforts (WP5), and strategies for communication and dissemination (WP6). Each of these segments included an interactive discussion period for participants to share insights and suggestions.
In the afternoon, partners traveled to Izola, where they enjoyed a guided walk before attending an event titled “Languages and Landscapes” at the Manzioli Palace, allowing for deeper cultural engagement.
At 18:00, all project participants gather in Izola for the opening event of the project, entitled Languages and Landscapes. In addition to João Manuel Ribeiro, the artistic event also featured the weaving of links between the landscapes and the languages Istrian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Slovenian, Basque and Macedonian by Iskra Dimkovska, Jorge Giménez Bech, Jana Bauer, Dorina Bržan, Remigio Grižonič and Barbara Pregelj. They were visually enhanced and supported by Francisco Tomsich and Remigio Grižonič. Matej Škorjak from the House of the European Union in Ljubljana gave the welcome speech.
On October 9, the group gathered at Hiša na hribu in Medvode, where Malinc welcomed the participants. A more extensive discussion on WP contents followed, with partners collaboratively reviewing upcoming tasks for the next six months. The meeting concluded with a scenic walk through Ljubljana, providing participants with a cultural experience to conclude the eventful kickoff.
Meeting in Oporto, Portugal (13-16 April 2023)
The second meeting of the project partners took place in Porto, Portugal, from 13 to 16 April 2024. The purpose of the meeting was to review and plan the activities of the GG4A project, which will include the international promotion of reading in schools through gamification, a series of creative writing workshops and the publication of six youth works in all five languages of the project (Slovenian, Spanish, Basque, Macedonian and Portuguese).
On Saturday 15 April, a presentation took place at the town library in Paredes, near Porto. At the event, which was attended by a large number of younger visitors, the writer Peter Svetina first presented his books Os Sábios Hipopótamos and A História do Pão in conversation with the editors Barbara Pregelj and João Manuel Ribeiro.
In the second part of the event, together with the other project partners, a reading of the literature in all five languages of the project was performed: in Portuguese, Slovene, Macedonian, Spanish and Basque. This event marked the end of the Porto meeting, and the partners’ meeting in Macedonia is already scheduled for October.
Third meeting of partners in Skopje, North Macedonia (14–15 September 2023)
From 14 to 15 September 2023, the third partners’ meeting within the GG4A: Innovative Intercultural Reading Promotion project took place in Skopje, North Macedonia. The purpose of the meeting was to review and plan the activities of the project and to set the dates for the launch of the project in schools. Slovenian schoolchildren, who will be reading books and solving challenges on the Classcraft digital platform in Slovenia for the sixth year in a row this year, will be joined by Portuguese participants next January, followed by Macedonian, Spanish and Basque participants in February. Also new to the project is a series of creative writing workshops, where participants and tutors will learn the basics of writing and put them to the test in a series of practical tasks.
On the first day of the meeting in Skopje, after an introductory morning meeting at 11:00, the project was presented at the Brakja Miladinovci City Library by Polona Konjedic and Katarina Kogej.
At 18:00, the workshop Sharing stories. Some tips and tricks how to engage the youngsters took place where the reading strategies used in reading motivation projects were presented.
On the second day of the meeting, meetings were held in the morning to plan activities, followed by a public event titled Mirror and jeans: Basque & Portuguese literature for the young public that took place in Bukva bookshop. The aim of the event was to present Basque and Portuguese literature for young readers and the forthcoming Macedonian translations of two works from the project: the monodrama Marta in front of the mirror by the writer Teresa Calo and the poetry collection Os Jeans da Joãna by the writer and poet João Manuel Ribeiro, who was present in person as editor of the Trinta por uma linha publishing house. Basque children’s literature and the particularities of the environment from which it comes were first presented by Idoia Noble, representative of the Basque publishing house Alberdania, and Iskra Dimkovska, editor of the Skaznuvalka publishing house, read an excerpt from the monodrama Marta in front of the mirror in Macedonian translation. João Manuel Ribeiro then gave an overview of the development of children’s literature in Portugal, followed by a short talk moderated by Aleksandar Achkoski. At the end of the event, the audience was treated to a Macedonian translation of a poem from the collection Os Jeans da Joãna. This multilingual event marked the end of the partners’ meeting in Skopje.
4th Partners’ Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia (12 – 15 November 2024)
The GG4A progress meeting held from November 11–15, 2024, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, provided a platform for partners to discuss advancements in promoting intercultural reading.
The meeting began with a welcome gathering on November 11, followed by a formal start on November 12 at KUD Sodobnost International. Representatives from Sodobnost and Malinc offered a project overview. The morning continued with updates on key work packages (WPs), including the circulation of literary works (WP2), creative writing workshops (WP4), capacity building (WP5), and communication strategies (WP6). Following a lunch at Trubarjeva hiša literature, partners joined a literary event with Nataša Konc Lorenzutti and ended the day with a guided tour of Ljubljana.
On November 13, participants traveled to Bled, where they discussed Moodle implementation for project activities and participated in a multilingual reading session at the Intergenerational Center in all the languages of the project. The afternoon focused on tasks for the next six months, with a break to explore Bled’s scenic surroundings.
November 14 took the group to the Computer Museum, where they attended presentations by various publishers and participated in a networking session with Slovenian publishers. The day concluded with a surprise workshop celebrating Slovenian cuisine.
The meeting wrapped up on November 15 with participants departing Ljubljana. Overall, this gathering reinforced the GG4A project’s objectives and strengthened collaborative efforts for the next stages.
5th meeting of project partners in Irún, Spain (9 and 10 June 2025)
The final meeting of the GG4A project partners took place in Irún at the beginning of June 2025.
On Monday, 6 September, we gathered in the morning at the premises of the Alberdania publishing house, which is based in Irún. There, we completed the evaluation of the project, highlighted the challenges we encountered during its implementation and the things we learned together within the project. We used our lunch break to sample Basque cuisine and visit the Irún Gastronomic Society, where the male members of the Alberdania team prepared lunch for us.
After lunch, we headed to Pasaia Donibane, where we first explored the town, met the authors of the project and the translators, and prepared for the afternoon event at the town library.
There, we were treated to a special musical surprise featuring the band Idoie Noble. We presented the GG4A project and the literary works published as part of it to the participants. Once again, the reading was multilingual: Patxi Zubizarreta read his text Grenak je med (Bitter is the Honey) in Basque, Urban Leskovar in Slovenian; Joao Manuel Ribeiro read in Portuguese, Juna Kruz Igerabide in her Basque translation; Teresa Calo read in Spanish, and Iskra Dimkovska in Macedonian. The cultural event concluded with music and socialising.
On Tuesday, 10 June, we continued with the evaluation of the project and concluded the meeting with a delicious lunch at the foot of Mount Jaizkibel.
On Wednesday, 11 June, the participants travelled home and/or to their other commitments.
