On October 12 and 13, Karlovac hosted the third workshop from the cycle “Heritage and Presentation”, which is being held as part of the FORTITUDE project activities with the aim of improving knowledge about the preparation and use of fortification cultural heritage as a basis for tourism. The workshop was led by Rafael Dero, Secretary General of the European Federation of Fortified Sites (EFFORTS, www.efforts-europe.eu) and Dirk Roder, Head of the European Association for Cultural Routes of Fortified Monuments, Forte Cultura, www.forte-cultura.eu). At the beginning of the work, the participants of the workshop were greeted by the Mayor of Karlovac Damir Mandić and wished them successful work, referring to the exceptional availability of funds from the European Union in the City of Karlovac. In addition to them, the workshop was attended by representatives of the Public Institution Fortress of Culture Šibenik, the Municipality of Herceg Novi and the Municipality of Bar, as well as the City of Karlovac as a partner in the Fortitude project. The workshop was open to all interested, and took place online for all those who were not able to attend. In addition to representatives of tourist, cultural, economic and scientific institutions from Karlovac, the workshop was attended by representatives of Jastrebarsko, Ozalj, Ogulin, Duga Resa, as well as representatives from Italy, the Netherlands and Germany.

In the afternoon of the first day of the workshop, the participants visited the exhibition “Gates of the Star” in the Museums of the City of Karlovac and the Old Town of Dubovac. The workshop was a good opportunity to appropriately include the fortification heritage in the tourist offer and shape it as a tourist product. The lecturers paid special attention to the importance of joining European networks and associations for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage. The second day of the workshop was dedicated to the possibilities of using digital technologies as a tool for the presentation of tangible and intangible heritage, as well as European examples of good practice. All previous activities of the Fortitude project will result in the organization of the “Fortress Night” event, which will be held simultaneously with all project partners, and is planned for the beginning of spring 2022.

The FORTITUDE (Historic Fortresses Intensyfing Cross-Border Tourism Development) project started on March 1, 2020 and will last until June 30, 2022. The project holder is the Public Institution Fortress of Culture Šibenik with partners City of Karlovac, Municipality of Herceg Novi, Municipality of Bar and City of Banja Luka, and the total value is 1,618,438.72 €, of which 85% is co-financed by Interreg IPA CBC Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 2014 – 2020 The main goal of the project is to strengthen and diversify the cultural and tourist offer in the cross-border area, and to develop the highest quality and most sustainable management of cultural assets.