The Occupation Cookbook is a “manual” that describes the organization of the student occupation of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences that took place in the spring of 2009 and lasted for 35 days. It was written for two reasons: to record what happened, and to present the particular organization of this action in such a way that it may be of use to other activists and members of various collectives if they decide to undertake a similar action. (more…)

Today students at the University of Pula voted to end the occupation of their university which they had started on November 23rd.

This evening, the same decision was made at the plenary session held at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The classes will resume as normal starting tomorrow.  The next plenary session will be held on Tuesday, December 8th.

At today’s plenary session at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split, the students have voted to occupy their faculty and obstruct all classes. We have received news that the students of the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka have also decided today to occupy their faculty. That means that, currently, the following educational institutions are under student occupation in Croatia: (more…)

At the assembly held today at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb the students voted to occupy the Faculty and obstruct the classes. Thus they have joined their colleagues who are occupying the Unversity of Pula, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb in fighting for free, publicly funded education for all students. Meanwhile, at the plenary session held this afternoon at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split, the students decided that tomorrow they will occupy one of the Faculty’s lecture halls at noon, and immediately after hold a plenary session at which they will decide on the continuation of the occupation.

Following occupations in Pula and Rijeka that began earlier today, at the plenary session held today at noon at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb the students voted to occupy the faculty building in the same manner as it was done in the spring, when the occupation of the faculty lasted for 35 days. That means the faculty building will be open for anyone to enter; cafeteria, bookstore and other facilities withing the building will be open; teachers will be allowed to hold consultation hours but lectures will be obstructed and instead of them students will organize their own, alternative, educational programme, consisting of movie screenings, public discussions, workshops etc.

At the plenary session of November 20th held at the University of Pula it was decided that the students will occupy the University on Monday 23rd. Since approximately 8:30am all lecture halls have been locked and the University is controlled by the students!

At the last plenary session at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, held on November 19th, it was decided that today one lecture hall will be occupied. The plenum will be held at 6pm to decide on further actions. As we have learned, the lecture hall has been successfully occupied but the students have had a confrontation with the acting dean who has verbally abused the occupiers, threatened to throw them out and disconnected the internet connection in the lecture hall that is being occupied. He has also decided to employ security guards who are suppose to confirm the identities of the students who enter the faculty building before tonight’s plenary session! (more…)

In Croatia, the spring of 2009 was a spring of a great student revolt. It all started on April 20 at the beginning of the international “Reclaim your education – Global week of action 2009″ when the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb was occupied. It remained occupied for another 35 days. During the height of the protest, around 20 faculties and universities in 8 Croatian cities (Zagreb, Zadar, Rijeka, Osijek, Split, Pula, Varaždin, Slavonski Brod) were occupied – all under a common international slogan “One world – one struggle. Education is not for sale”. (more…)

The 46th plenary session at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb was held on September 22nd.

• Before the session began, the plenum listened to the one-hour radio drama by author Ljubo Pauzin – which he created from audio recordings of past plenary sessions – and gave him the permission to broadcast it on the Croatian Radio.

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The International Students Movement has drawn up the international petition for free and emancipatory education. If you agree with the demand for publicly financed education, accessible to all, emancipatory in nature and free from corporate, private or government interests, sign the petition here. Read full text of the petition below. (more…)

Croatian social and political realities have greatly been marked by the students’ protests in 2009 mostly due to the use of an innovative means of political action.

The context and the goals of the occupation of twenty faculties throughout the country, the form and broadness of the student movement, as well as some novel aspects of its organization, make these topics quite worthwhile in regards of research and exploration. Therefore, we have decided to organize a student symposium in order to discuss what, how and why happened, as well as to weigh the potential implications for the future of higher education, general trends of commercialization of education and the dynamics of civil society in Croatia. We would like to emphasize the interdisciplinary and international dimension of this symposium and invite any interested parties or individuals to contribute to the creating of a more detailed picture of students’ protests and the struggle against the commercialization of education. (more…)