Presentation of the Institutional Research Project “Linguistic and Cultural Heritage of Istria”

The project has a duration of four years, from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2029, and aims to systematically investigate, document, and valorise the multilayered linguistic and cultural heritage of Istria through the analysis of Croatian Glagolitic, Latin, Old Croatian, and contemporary Croatian sources. The project is structured into six work packages: WP1 – Project management and coordination (Assoc. Prof. Teodora Fonović Cvijanović), WP2 – Latin literary heritage of Istria (Assoc. Prof. Violeta Moretti), WP3 – Glagolitic heritage in parish registers (Dr. Samanta Milotić Bančić), WP4 – The Croatian language in Istria in the 19th and 20th centuries (Assoc. Prof. Teodora Fonović Cvijanović and Asst. Prof. Vanessa Vitković Marčeta), WP5 – Local heritage didactics and intercultural teaching methodology (Assoc. Prof. Marko Ljubešić), WP6 – Dissemination and popularisation of results (Asst. Prof. Vanessa Vitković Marčeta). The project results will be presented over the four-year period at approximately twenty international scientific conferences, as well as through public lectures and workshops for teachers and students, ensuring a strong educational and outreach component. The project also includes the creation of a digital repository to ensure long-term accessibility of materials, the publication of around fifteen scientific papers and three monographs, and the organization of an international scientific conference in the third year of the project. The activities began in early October last year and already include field research at the State Archives in Pazin, where materials from Glagolitic parish registers and Istrian newspapers have been collected and analyzed. Work has also begun on collecting local didactic materials and conducting empirical research with students of the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula and secondary school teachers in the Istria County. A public lecture was held at the Classical Gymnasium in Pazin, and team members have participated in six international scientific conferences in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Rijeka, Zadar, and Split, publishing several articles in national scientific journals.