We look after ourselves and each other: addressing our mutual well-being is a political act. Rest, care, and joy are not extras; pitch-in with cooking, cleaning, and building as acts of futures-making. It’s generally better to ask than to assume. If you have concerns or questions, please address them to the Care team members.

We treat shared spaces, resources, and knowledge as commons and take care of them. Remember, we are guests to the island, so engage with respect for the local nature, community and culture.

Taking care of each other means being aware of barriers others might face: language, access needs, finances, energy. Help out and seek help. Share resources and support, help redistribute (care) work when you can. Notice your “default mode”
— if you tend to speak a lot, make room for others; if you’re quiet, try stepping in.

Walking the talk of building the new society in the shell of the old means experimenting with desired future social relations & practices, organising and deciding. Feedback is crucial for any change to happen, be open to give and receive feedback. How we talk to each other defines the relationships we build: striving for meaningful critical dialogue, mapping constructive convergence and divergence, making our conversations reflective while remaining nourishing and caring at all times.

We learn by doing, unlearning, experimenting, and teaching each other; everyone has knowledge to share.

We value the process of learning and relationship-building as highly as the completion of the task, and reject the pressure of productivity and efficiency. Taking it “pomalo”, making room for leisure, regeneration, unstructured conversation and joy is essential.

Racism, sexism, queerphobia, transphobia, ableism, nationalism, neuronormativity or oppressive behaviour of any kind have no place here.

Power and privilege exist here, as everywhere — be mindful of how you take up space.

If you witness or experience problematic behaviour, please reach out to the Care team.

ISSA Care and Organization Team is your point of contact during the event. You can see us as the administrators of the Signal chat group, and we will tag ourselves in the group message. Feel very welcome to contact Care Team members and let us know if you need anything, or have ideas or feedback for us.

English is the official language of the event. We can’t provide an organized translation, but let us know if English is not easy for you. We will try to organize support, at least by pairing you up with people who speak your language/s and can help out.

All events will take place in Komiža and at ISSA. Komiža is a small town – you will easily find the locations and reach them quickly. Here is the map of the venues.

Our meeting base, The HangQuarters, will be at Pirkotova Lula. It is a cozy bar with a patio, on a small square in Komiža, at the northern end of Riva (Promenade). You are always welcome to drop by and meet other ISSA participants, have a drink and eat a sandwich (until 19h). Pirkotova Lula will host music and creative events during the School.

Saturday, October 25, 13-17h is reserved for self-organized sessions. A Sharing Board, our “temporary village” board, will be available in Pirkotova Lula where you can offer, read and join ideas on what to do during the self-organized sessions on Saturday, or any time outside of the scheduled hours, and make connections. You can also use the Board to give anonymous (or not) feedback or post anything that you find useful within the context of ISSA and the October School. Also, feel free to use the Signal group to share your ideas, and get a sense of how many people would like to join.

Collective transportation by buses to ISSA will be organized on Wednesday and Friday at 9:30 in front of Spomen dom. Please, be on time. The day before, we will be asking you in the Signal group to confirm your place in the bus.

ISSA can only be reached on foot via a 1km long mountain path through the woods (from the parking spot, marked in the venue map). The path first climbs from approximately 380m to 430m of altitude, then it becomes more flat and pleasant, descending to the site at 400m.
Extra cars are always useful. If you need transportation or have extra seats, share the info in the Signal group.

You can also enjoy a hike to ISSA. The hike from Komiža takes about one hour. You can self-organize in the Signal group chat.

We are hoping for blues skies for both working actions. The usual temperatures for this time in October are 16-22 C (night-day), but the weather might be unstable so it’s wise to bring comfortable waterproof shoes, extra set of clothes, and a raincoat, just in case. We will try to provide working gloves, as many as possible, but we are expecting a lot of people, and it would be helpful if you could bring your own pair.

Lunch and snacks for everyone will be provided during both days uphill at ISSA.

Please bring your drinking water. Running water is available in the kitchen and the shower/toilet, although it is not suitable for drinking. Please be conscious about using water.

One compost toilet is available for use uphill. Please use it only for pooing.

Please, be conscious about producing trash. Anything you bring uphill, you should also bring down with you. If you are smoking, please, make sure you throw your cigarette butts in ashtrays/trash.

There is plenty of animal life uphill. Although our friends might be shy when a lot of people gather, you can nevertheless stumble upon lizards, snakes, mice, rats, wasps, bees, spiders, birds. They are all harmless. If you are allergic to wasps/bees, please, take precautions.

There will be several work assignments that will be explained the first day uphill. We will be carrying bags with sand to the site, doing stone-hunting, wood processing, cleaning and widening the path to ISSA, and clearing the terrain – “discovering” the path to the big theatre.

Please, be careful! Don’t work with tools you are not comfortable with, especially power tools. We expect a large number of people on the site, and we count on you to act responsibly.

Events will take place at different locations, of which some are not easily accessible — ISSA school up the hill the least. Let us know if you need support to reach and move around the hill, about your needs for the town events (stairs, toilets…), if you get tired easily and need a comfortable resting place.
Depending on your needs and preferences we will try to organize mobility support. Many hands make lighter do-it-together work – we will do our best to overcome obstacles.

Non-adult and non-human friends and family members are very welcome. We can self-organize on Signal group for mutual support and group care-taking.

Many of us will be staying at hotel Biševo, where it is also possible to take breakfast and/or dinner if you are not a guest. It might be a practical and relatively cheap way of solving the food issue during the event, especially having in mind that most restaurants are closed this time of the year. Breakfast is served from 7 to 9:30 AM, and dinner from 7 to 9 PM. Both are served as a buffet with vegetarian options (not great, but not terrible). You can book your meal at the hotel reception. Komiža also has two bakeries and two supermarkets.

Coming by plane
If you are arriving at Split airport, there is a regular shuttle bus from the airport to the Split ferry port, every 45 minutes. The ticket costs 8 euros, it is purchased on the bus. The bus waits outside of the terminal and arrives at the bus station, right next to the harbor. The ride takes approximately 30 minutes.

Boat transport from Split to Vis island

There are only three boats daily from Split to Vis, two ferries and one catamaran/speed-boat. If you are coming by car, you need to take the ferry.

You can check the schedule and buy the tickets online in advance, or in person at Jadrolinija counters in the harbor. The speed-boat is smaller and there are fewer tickets. Along with regular passengers, with more people coming for the event, buying the tickets in advance might be good. The ferry is big and there is no worry about the tickets.

In October the weather conditions might vary. If it’s very windy, the speed-boat might be unpleasant or cancelled. You can check the cancellation updates online. If you are prone to sea- sickness, it’s better to opt for the ferry.

Bus transport on the island
There is a regular bus line between Vis and Komiža towns. The bus schedule is synced with the arrival/departure of boats. The bus station is located in the ferry port on the right of the unloading ferry ramp. The ticket costs 3,5 euros and is purchased on the bus. The ride takes approximately 15 minutes.

Komiža has only one hotel — Biševo, a modest but decent two star hotel. “There is also plenty of private accommodation which you can find via the usual platforms.

Please note that wild camping is prohibited on the island. You might not face significant trouble if you camp for a few days, however we are not equipped to accommodate people uphill at ISSA.

Emergencies and medical help: 112

HGSS (Croatian Mountain Rescue Service): 112

Medical services

Komiža Health Clinic
Komiških iseljenika 2
Phone number: +385 21 713 300

Vis Health Clinic
Obala Sv. Jurja 6
Phone number: +385 21 711 633