The project Growing up Together through the new challenges of parenthood: strengthening the competences of parents and experts in 2024 is being implemented with the support of the City of Zagreb, for the fourth year in a row. This year, Peščenica Branch of the Union of Pensioners of Croatia Zagreb is a partner in the project.

This year's project is being implemented during the 2024/2025 academic year, and includes work on the new program Growing up Together with Grandparents. Four workshops and an additional one (for the club) will be developed, group-leaders in Zagreb kindergartens will be trained, and the program will be piloted in kindergartens and in one pensioners' association, followed by an evaluation of the implemented program. There will also be a lecture on the importance of grandparents in supporting parents and grandchildren during Psychology Week in Croatia.

The project Growing up Together through the new challenges of parenting: strengthening the competences of parents and experts in 2023 was implemented with the support of the City of Zagreb, for the third year in a row, in the period 1.9.2023. until 30.6.2024. The partner in the project was the Croatian Association for Early Intervention in Childhood - HURID. This year, the emphasis was on supporting parents of children with developmental disabilities in institutions and associations that care for children with disabilities and their parents.

As part of the project, 25 experts (psychologists, educational rehabilitators, social workers and preschool teachers) were trained to conduct workshops with parents of children with developmental disabilities "Growing up Together Plus". The educators were the authors of the RZ Plus program: Branka Starc, Minja Vukadinović, Ana-Marija Bohaček and Marina Grubić.

During 2023/2024 14 newly educated group-leaders held their first cycle of workshops with 43 parents in their organisations, with the online support of educators. The evaluation showed that the results of the program were positive, and the parents were satisfied and wanted to continue the meeting. The project ended with an evaluation seminar and 14 experts obtained the license of group-leaders of the Growing up Together Plus program. Organizations whose experts conducted workshops with RZ Plus parents in 2023/2024: HURID, CPIZ Novi Jelkovec, NKC ERF (2 groups), DV Žirek and DV Tatjane Marinić.

Also, in the 2024 Psychology Week of the Croatian Psychological Society, Ph.D. Marina Grubić held a public lecture on the importance of supporting parents of children with developmental disabilities.

The project provided funds for the printing of 2,000 promotional flyers for the RZ Plus program.

The project is supported by UNICEF Office for Croatia. It will be conducted in four months time. The main goal of the project is to strengthen professional capacities of experts who work with families of the children with disabilities so they can give them better and regular support in parentingin in most deprived counties (Bjelovar-Bilogora, Brod-Posavina, Sisak-Moslavina, Lika-Senj, Virovitica-Podravina and Vukovar-Srijem County)  

The project is focused on (1) parents (parent figures/caregivers) and their young/preschool children with disabilities (1-8 years) living in the most deprived counties of Croatia, and (2)professionals from organisations which provide social services to families with children with developmental delays and disabilities who (will) provide parenting support/family support programmes. (social welfare and education, CSOs)

Following activities re planned:

• Three-day training will be organised for professionals for delivering the workshops of the programme “Growing up Together Plus” with parents of children with disabilities in 6 targeted counties   
• Conducting live workshops Growing Up Together Plus with parents of children with disabilities in 6 targeted counties will follow the training.  
• Continuous support and monitoring of the workshop implementation will be provided by expert mentors giving regular reviews of reports and feedback., as well as one online supervision session.   
• The outcome and process evaluation of the implementation of the Growing up Together Plus will be conducted and presented a tone-day evaluation seminar.  

We expect that by the end of January 2023 30 professionals will be educated, and 90 parents be given support through programme Growing up Together Plus workshops.

The continuation of the project, with the support of the City of Zagreb, continues in 2022, in the period from October 1. until 31.12.2022.  

In five Zagreb kindergartens (Iskrica, Markuševec, Savica, Tatjane Marinić, Vladimir Nazor) the upgraded program "Growing up Together" is implemented with the supervisory support of its authors Mirla Medved and Vesna Marušić.  

Three new workshops have been created for the Parents club Growing up Together: two on co-parenting after divorce (Nina Pećnik and Renata Milanković Belas) and one on emotional development and reactions of parents and children (Tina Mijat and Marijana Smerić Pecigoš). A workshop on the emotional development of children was also created for preschool teachers. All the workshops will be held in Zagreb kindergartens until the end of December 2022.  

We expect the continuation of the project  in the third year.

Six months project ‘COVID-19 Response’ is being implemented by the Centre Growing Up Together, as a national partner of Generali Croatia, within the global movement ‘The Human Safety Net’.

The aim of the project is to develop efficient online parenting support programme for parents of children aged 0-6. Amidst pandemic families with young children are exposed to additional pressure.

New online parenting support programme especially targets parents in adverse circumstances, which only amplified during pandemic. Programme is being developed under the name ‘Rastimo zajedno ONLINE/ Growing Up Together ONLINE’ and it is unique both for implementing the programme digitally via videocalls and for actively engaging parents in creating of content for each workshop. Test implementation of ‘Rastimo zajedno ONLINE’ will be conducted with four groups of parents through Croatia – Slavonia, North Croatia, Istria and Dalmatia, in collaboration with educated group-leaders for Rastimo zajedno parenting support programmes. Group-leaders are experts from family centres in Vukovar, Varaždin, Pula and Split.

It is also foreseen to develop web subpage ‘Rastimo zajedno ONLINE’, which will allow exchange of materials within each of four groups of parents. Web subpage will also consist of existing video materials translated in Croatian and related to the topics in 'Rastimo zajedno ONLINE'. Video materials will be available to all parents of young and preschool children and to experts conducting parenting support programmes.

One-year project ‘Enhanced Growing Up Together – Count Us In! is being implemented by the Centre Growing Up Together, as a national partner of Generali Croatia, within the global movement ‘The Human Safety Net’. The aim of the project is to empower and support parents in adverse circumstances in their parental and other roles in order to create more stimulating and responsive environment for their preschool children that protects them from the harmful impact of adversity.

Parenting support programme ‘Growing Up Together – Count Us In!’ was developed during three-year ‘Program for the systematic support to parents of preschool children, especially those in demanding circumstances of parenting’ (2017 – 2020), which Centre Growing Up Together implements as partner to UNICEF within joint initiative with Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy called ‘For a Stronger Family’. Further development of the programme ‘Growing Up Together – Count Us In!’: new activities for parents and children and increased quality, availability, sustainability and long -term effectiveness of the programme is being implemented within one-year project with Generali Croatia, with indicators for a long-term partnership.

See more about programme here: https://www.rastimozajedno.hr/rastimo-zajedno-i-mi/

See more about ‘The Human Safety Net’ here: https://www.thehumansafetynet.org/

The Centre for parenting support Growing up Together, as UNICEF's implementing partner within the „Child Guarantee“ initiative, funded by the European Commission, is implementing a two-year project for strengthening parenting support and family support programmes for families with preschool children in Međimurje. The aim of the project is the development, implementation and availability of parenting support programmes for parents and a resilience-promoting support programme for their children in the Međimurje County.

As part of the main objective of the project, we will be working on the following outcomes: (1) the development of the new family support programme for parents in precarious family situations and their preschool children living in the Roma settlements in Međimurje and (2) the provision of further availability, sustainability and quality assurance for the existing parenting support programmes Growing up Together and Growing up Together Plus. The project activities are aimed at parents, children and professionals in the social care system and preschool education, as well as other participants in the social care for children and parents.

Centre Growing up Together implemented the project Growing up Together through the new parenting challenges: strengthening the competences of parents and professionals in partnership with the Association of Kindergarten Teachers from the end of 2021 to March 2022. Financial support was provided by the City of Zagreb. The aim of the project was to strengthen the professional capacities of preschool teachers and professional associates in kindergartens to provide support for parenting and early development of children through the "Growing up together" programs.

The project included several complex and demanding activities.  

Based on the analysis of the pilot application, the upgraded program Growing up Together was finalized and became available on the Center website. Also, 29 professionals were trained to implement it in kindergartens in Zagreb.  

Three workshops have been prepared to be conducted in the Growing up Together Parents Club: (1) Co-parenting after divorce; (2) What is the psychological resilience of a child; (3) Let's eat healthy!, which are available on the Center website. 38 professionals were trained to conduct these workshops it in Zagreb kindergartens.

A workshop with teachers, Challenges in cooperation of teachers with parents in pandemics, was prepared and is available on the Center website. 31 experts were trained to implement it in kindergartens in Zagreb.

A folder with written texts for parents for the Growing up Together program was graphically designed and 200 copies were printed and distributed to project participants.

All educations were planned for online implementation, but we managed to hold the last education for the implementation of the upgraded program Growing up Together face-to-face in DV Tatjana Marinić with the great approval of the participants.Educations were held by the authors:

• The upgraded program Growing up Together - Mirela Medved, Vesna Marušić and Eleonora Glavina
• Workshop "Co-parenting after divorce" - Nina Pećnik and Renata Milanković Belas
• Workshop "What is the psychological resilience of a child" - Tina Mijat
• Workshop "Let's eat healthy!" - Marijana Smerić Pecigoš
• Workshop "Challenges in cooperation of teachers with parents in pandemics" Vesna Marušić and Mirela Medved  

Zagreb kindergartens participated in the project: Vrapče, Iskrica, Markuševec, Malešnica, Zrno, Radost, Budućnost, Savica, Vedri Dani, Trešnjevka, Utrina, Tatjane Marinić, Prečko, Vladimir Nazor and Cipelica.

After the education, during spring the kindergartens con dusted workshops in the Parents' Club with 85 parents in 12 groups, and a workshop with teachers in 29 groups with 264 teachers. The Growing up Together program will be implemented during the 2022/2023 academic year. 

Group-leaders sent reports and evaluations after each workshop. We can be more than satisfied with the evaluation. The participants of the workshops stated in 88-98% of their answers that the workshops were clear, interesting and applicable, while 30-40% stated that the content was partially familiar to them, and all of them would recommend the workshops to other parents, i.e., teachers. From the group-leaders reports, we learn that the workshops were easy to conduct, that they were well described and explained, full of new information. It was also described that the participants were pleased to finally have live meetings and that they were also pleased with the exercises which brought relaxation and humour.   

As a special benefit of the project, we see that all the new workshops, the upgraded Growing up Together program and texts for parents are available on the website of the Center and can be used by all group-leaders, not only in Zagreb, but also in the whole of Croatia.  

We expect the continuation of this project in 2022/2023. year and we hope that the City of Zagreb will again provide us with financial support for its implementation.

The three-year program for strengthening and expanding social services for families with children, beneficiaries of the social welfare system called "For a Stronger Family" implemented by the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy and UNICEF, in cooperation with the Croatian Association of Social Workers started in October 2017. Centre for Parenting Support "Growing together" is the implementing partner to UNICEF in the three-year Parent Support Program (PROSPOR) for parents of preschool children, especially those in demanding circumstances of parenting.

There are two major outcomes we will work on: (1) Developing a new professional support programme for parents in particularly demanding circumstances of parenting and their pre-school children, and (2) Ensuring the availability, sustainability and quality of existing parenting support programmes, Growing up Together and Growing up Together Plus. Project activities are directed towards parents, children and experts in social care system and pre-school education, but also to other stakeholders of social concern about children and parents.

More at http://www.unicef.hr/vijest/zajedno-za-snazniju-obitelj/

Parenting support programmes Growing Up Together and Growing Up Togehter Plus have been implemented in Istria since 2010. However, due to the lack of educated leaders and a systematic support to and supervision of the leaders, these programmes are unavailable to all interested parents, especially those who live outside bigger towns.

The aim of the project was:

1. to contribute to the development of local experts who would provide support to families through programmes of general and targeted parental support;
2. to enhance availability, quality and sustainability of those programmes in the Istrian County.

Authors of the Growing Up Together programme (Nina Pećnik and Branka Starc) conducted a three-day education in late May 2017. In autumn and winter 2017, the newly trained leaders conducted 11-workshop cycles, attended by 130 parents in 14 groups. Upon completion of the workshops, a seminar was held and the post-evaluation of the conducted programme was presented. Workshops were attended predominantly by mothers (88%), aged 36 on average, mostly with college and university degree. The evaluation results and the comparison of parents' self-reports before and after the programme, showed an increase in their personal level of parental competences and positive changes of their views regarding children. After their participation in the programme, parents reported that they listened more to their children, began to better understand children's undesirable behaviour, became more accessible to their children and more patient with them. Also, supervision was conducted of the group of programme leaders who were experienced in the implementation of the parenting support programme.

The project ended in Pazin with a round table about the parenting support and a presentation of results of the project implementation. It was agreed to proceed with project activities in 2018.

In 2018 activities in Istria were dedicated to educating new group leaders for the implementation of the " Growing up Together Plus" program for parents of preschool children with disabilities. Workshops were conducted in several Istrian cities. A group of leaders for the implementation of the "Fathers' Club Growing up Together" workshops was also educated. There were also 8 meetings of supervision consultation with the group of group leaders.  

In 2019 more attention was paid to preschool teachers, and for the three groups, we conducted „Growing up Together for Teachers“ workshops. 8 new supervisory consultation meetings were conducted for a new group of group leaders.

We are very proud of the outcomes of the one-year project Growing Up Together – Count Us In! , which was implemented by the Growing Up Together centres in partnership with the social welfare centres in Bjelovar, Pazin, Sisak and Zagreb and with the financial support of the MSPM. The project envisaged adapting the Growing Up Together programme to the parents of lower socioeconomic status who raise their children in more demanding living conditions. Judging by the feedback provided by both parents and leaders, the project was a success.

The six groups organized in kindegartens or family centres included 45 mothers and one father. In four of those groups, parallel activities were organized for their 34 children of early or pre-school age. Participation in this project required permanent commitment to personal growth, which was a particularly empowering and stimulative experience for both the parents and the leaders!

A one-year project Growing Up Together Father's Club was successfully implemented in November 2016. It was launched by the Growing Up Together Centre in collaboration with the Velika Gorica Kindergarten and the town of Velika Gorica. Financial support was provided by the Ministry of Demographics, Family, Youth and Social Policy (MPSM). Four workshops for the fathers of children aged 1-5 (Father's role in early childhood; About fathers and feelings; About fathers and mothers; The big Daddy) were designed and evaluated as part of the project.

A total of 221 fathers in 25 groups attended the Fathers' Club programme, which was far more than initially expected. The clubs were organized in 17 towns all across Croatia (Umag, Rovinj, Pula, Opatija, Rijeka, Crikvenica, Rab, Split, Primošten, Zagreb, Velika Gorica, Ivanić Grad, Dugo Selo, Bjelovar, Čakovec, Vukovar, Vinkovci), in 22 kindergartens, and three family centres. The programmes were implemented and enhanced by 57 leaders of the Fathers' Club. Dads expressed great satisfaction with their participation in the programme. It motivated many of them to join the Growing Up Together programme!

Supported by the UNICEF Office in Croatia, the Centre implemented the project of Sustainable parenting support in the educational years 2015/2016. Further training was provided for regional coordinators with the aim to ensure a more effective support to the leaders of regional groups. Regional gatherings of the group leaders were organized by the Croatian Education and Teacher Training Agency (AZOO) in Vukovar and Rijeka. The leaders expressed great satisfaction with the project and the need for further meetings. The framework of the project envisaged two workshops for the educators, intended to sensitize them to the needs of parents who have children with disabilities, and to familiarize them with the new activities of the Growing Up Together Plus Club. Also, another 500 handbooks were printed for the Growing Up Together leaders and 1,500 maps and supplements for the parents.

The Growing Up Together Plus programme and its evaluation were presented at international and national conferences (Čakovec, Rogaška Slatina).

The Sixth Annual Conference of the leaders of Growing Up Together and Growing Up Together Plus programmes was held in Daruvar in coperation with the SUPPORT project. The project also provided financial support for the two educational seminars held in Dubrovnik and Osijek and education of 80 new leaders in the areas where the programme has not been widely available so far.