A dream that found a home in Istria.
Park Istra began with Petra and Janez Matos, a shared experience of volunteering abroad, and a question that stayed with them long after they returned to Slovenia: what if this spirit of solidarity could become part of everyday life in one region?
The seed was planted far from home.
During a stay in India, Petra and Janez joined a reforestation project where volunteers planted tropical forests.
The experience changed the way they imagined work, community, and responsibility. They saw people from different places living simply, sharing knowledge, and contributing their hands to something larger than themselves.
When they returned to Slovenia, the idea stayed with them. It was not yet a building, a programme, or an organisation. It was a feeling: that volunteering could be more than occasional help. It could become a way of life.
They brought the idea back to Slovenia.
Park Istra was co-founded in 2013, not as a one-time campaign, but as a long-term commitment to people, villages, heritage, and nature.
Petra and Janez already had deep experience in environmental action. Petra had led Ecologists Without Borders and helped organise Let’s Clean Slovenia in One Day and Clean Slovenia 2012, which connected 300,000 volunteers in a single day.
Janez had worked as a project manager and organiser of volunteer work, including the first national census of illegal dumpsites. Together, they understood the power of organised volunteering. Park Istra became the next step: smaller than a national campaign, but deeper, more local, and continuous.
A former military guardhouse became a home.
In Kastelec, on the green hills of Slovenia’s Primorska region, Park Istra found its base.
A modest former military guardhouse was transformed into a volunteer centre: a place where people from different countries could live, learn, work, and become part of the local community.
Opened in 2019, the centre is the only one of its kind in Slovenia and the wider region. It hosts around 15 volunteers at a time, usually for two to four months, and makes it possible to organise several volunteer actions every day.
The work became daily solidarity.
Park Istra helps rural neighbours with whatever needs arise.
Volunteers repair leaking roofs for families living on the margins, support elderly homes, clear hiking paths, help farmers with seasonal work, assist schools, restore heritage, protect nature, and support local organisations.
Some actions are small and immediate. Others are physically demanding or technically complex. What connects them is that they respond to real needs. Over time, Park Istra has become a trusted partner for more than 50 organisations and communities.
“You really need to be persistent and present. Continuity is so important when you are doing these kinds of things.”Petra Matos
Built by people with experience, patience, and local trust.
Park Istra is led by Petra and Janez Matos, supported by people with deep experience in environmental protection, volunteering, education, science, rural development, and community work.
Petra and Janez Matos
Petra and Janez built Park Istra together after years of environmental and volunteering work. Their shared vision was to create a place where international volunteers could become part of local life and contribute to the real needs of Istria.
Petra brings decades of experience in volunteer coordination, mentoring, and community-building. Janez combines environmental expertise with project organisation, daily volunteer work, and the direction of the organisation.
Valentina Brečko Grubar, PhD
Valentina contributes expertise in geography, regional ecology, environmental protection, and sustainable development.
Marjan Bele, PhD
Marjan brings scientific experience in advanced materials and sustainable low-carbon energy solutions.
Klaudijo Starc, BSE
Klaudijo contributes long-standing experience in rural development, local projects, and Istrian village heritage.
Recognition along the way.
Awards are not the reason Park Istra exists, but they recognise the persistence of the people, volunteers, partners, and local communities who shaped the project.
Park Istra begins
Petra and Janez Matos co-founded Park Istra, turning their shared volunteering vision into a local project in Slovenian Istria.
Energy Globe Award Slovenia
Park Istra received the Energy Globe Award Slovenia and the status of an organisation working in the public interest.
The volunteer centre opens in Kastelec
The former military guardhouse became a permanent home for international volunteers and daily community action.
State award for Petra Matos
Petra received a state award for outstanding achievements in the field of volunteering.
SALTO Award nomination
One of Park Istra’s projects was nominated as one of the top five volunteering projects in Europe.
The story is still being written.
For Petra and Janez, the goal has never been only to fix roofs, plant trees, or support farms. It is to nurture solidarity in a world that often risks drifting toward isolation.
Park Istra continues to grow from the same values that shaped its beginning: responsibility, persistence, respect for nature, care for heritage, equality, and trust in the power of community.
Its story belongs to everyone who has helped, hosted, repaired, planted, restored, cooked, cleaned, listened, taught, learned, donated, volunteered, or opened a door.
Join the community that keeps Park Istra moving.
Volunteer, support our work, or get in touch to collaborate with Park Istra.