Compassionate Zagreb is sponsored by Platonovo Društvo.
The Plato Society launched the initiative to make Zagreb a compassionate city and to promote the Charter for Compassion in schools, universities, religious communities, businesses, civil services and local and national government. In addition, the Plato Society works with Project Stohrenschul.
Founded September 2006, The Plato Society of Zagreb takes its inspiration from Stohrenschule practice/principle of Socratic dialogue/Kantian imperative – principle of respect for human dignity.
Themes of activities are topics central to the meaning, understanding, value of human existence and to active and meaningful engagement in the choices, aims, projects, goals which contribute to a rewarding and meaningful moulding or our possibilities as individuals and members of the human community.
Activities are open-ended, fundamentally democratic, cooperative, inclusive, non- judgmental. Their approach assumes that participants always have something positive and often new and unexpected to contribute both to the theme of the activities and to their method. The activities are thus constantly evolving. emphasis is on cooperation of participants in exploration of ideas and questions and creative production related to the themes of the activities, as an exercise in human encounter and communication, for the cultivation of tolerance, mutual respect, social cohesion and integration.
Activities aim to encourage and nurture the kind of "right-brain" activity generally neglected in school education, and exploration of the integral functioning of subconscious, non-propositional brain activity in reflection, by employing a variety of arts and other media.
Some media used include:
- theatre and improvisation, based on methods developed by Augusto Boál and others in the Theatre of the Oppressed (cf. Games for Actors and Non- Actors, Rainbow of Desire, and other works by Boal)
- visual arts – based on insights gained from study of functional differentiation of types of neural activity (popularly known as left/right brain functionality, formerly "hemispheric localisation of brain functions). Here we take our inspiration from Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
- myths, stories and fairy tales
- music appreciation and improvisation
- meditation and relaxation techniques
- imaginative nature walks, creation of gardens, practice of gardening
- creative encounter with advertising and media content – reflection on images
- from daily life as means for discovery of values
Members include undergraduate and graduate students of philosophy from Univ. of Zagreb and the University of Zadar, as well as interested persons from a variety of professions. Collaborators and partners include: Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb; Stohrenschule, Münstertal; German International School, Zagreb; Akademie Kinder Philosophieren, Freising; Sabina Bayruši (using improvisational techniques with marginalized, discriminated, disadvantaged, victims of abuse), Theater- Pädagogisches Zentrum Münster (Wilhelm Neu, Sozialpädagog); Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb; Mala filozofija, Zadar; Elementary Schools Žakanje, Kamanje, Ribik; City of Hvar Elementary School; Elementary School Petar Hektorovic, Stari Grad; Jelsa Elementary School; Josip Slavenski High School, Cakovec; J.J. Strossmayer Elementary School; Michael Šiloboda Elementary School; Tomaš Goričanca Elementary School Mala subotica; Josip Juraj Strosmayer Elementary School, Zagreb; Ivan Lovric Elementary School, Sinj, Stenjevec Elementary School, Zagreb; Oton Ivekovic Elementary School, Zagreb, Trešnjevka Kindergarten.
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