ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Improving post-lockdown mobility for pedestrians in Zagreb (Croatia)

1% Za Grad (1% For the City) is a citizens’ platform aimed at civic improvement and respect for public goods. The collects small scale, usually climate and environment-driven, municipal improvement initiatives in Zagreb, Croatia.

The platform was founded in 2012 and increased in reach and prominence after the platform ‘Zagreb je naš!’ came to prominence in 2017. Since then it has increasingly gained traction with the local government. Mr Saša Šimpraga is listed as a founding member of the initiative and is today supported by dozens if not hundreds of citizens who propose improvements and petition the local authority at various levels.

Expanding city centre pedestrian zones
The platform is significant for its advocacy of expansion of city centre pedestrian zones, in particular at Masarykova street and Vlaška street, following lock downs and a devastating earthquake in 2020 which is still awaiting reconstruction. Going by foot is often the most oppressed mode of mobility in the city of Zagreb, outside of pedestrian zones but sometimes even in them. People with mobility issues compete for restricted space, for example with cyclists and scooters. In pedestrian zones primacy is given to pedestrians, speed of any other vehicles is reduced and social acceptance of primacy of pedestrians is enforced. By expanding pedestrian zones, the initiative benefits vulnerable citizens with mobility impairments, as well as citizens without access to urban vehicles.

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ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Empowering post-lockdown Walking Groups in Koprivnica (Croatia)

In the lockdown period of 2020, Ms Marina Tomac Rojčević, who is a professional dance instructor, fitness trainer and owner of the local fitness centre Animador, has turned to organising small groups of walkers tailored to different needs and abilities of members. The initiative Is called ‘Grupa za hodanje Koprivnica’ which translates to ‘Group of walkers Koprivnica’.

In July 2020 Ms Tomac Rojčević initiated three weekly walks: an 8km fast pace urban walking group, a shorter urban route with mobility exercises for beginners and mobility impaired, and a longer out-of-town weekend leisurely route. She has focused on outdoor exercise and lockdown mobility training, but also on discovery of secret urban nooks in a small town of Koprivnica. Koprivnica is town of approximately 30 000 residents in the north of Croatia with a diverse population and a lot of senior citizens.

The initiative has reached several dozen walkers, though in the pandemic period individual tours were limited to 12 people due to epidemiological restrictions. The benefits are particularly pronounced for senior citizens, women and people with mobility impairments. Senior citizens often require additional motivation and understanding to be mobile, as do people with mobility impairments. Women express discomfort at solitary walks, especially in dark winter months, and enjoy the empowerment from group participation and professional guidance.

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ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Improving access to urban cycling in Zagreb (Croatia)

Sindikat biciklista (Cylclists’ Union) is a voluntary association which promotes bike use as an efficient, sustainable and healthy form of mobility. It focuses on promoting cycling mobility in the city of Zagreb (Croatia), and improves access to cycling for vulnerable social groups. Cyclists’ Union also advocates a broader transformation of cities into clean, safe and pleasant spaces, which are based on the promotion of cycling as a desirable transport mode.

As its core activities, the association organises cycling festivals and critical mass rides (last held at the end of June 2022), provides education about safe and compassionate urban cycling, as well as lobbies for better infrastructure and legislation. The initiative aims to include the whole community in urban mobility planning through cyclist visibility campaigns, as well as through training and education for participative urban planning processes.

Benefits for cycling-shy and cycling-poor citizens
Various vulnerable groups are alienated from cycling for different reasons. From a gender+ perspective, some citizens still consider cycling to be a sport or recreational activity unsuitable for daily use. Moreover, low income families living in socially deprived urban areas often experience poor transport infrastructure, including bike lanes, connecting them to places of education, work or public service.

Initially, most cycling infrastructure has been placed in the city centre of Zagreb where it promoted tourism and cycling access for wealthier citizens. Through cycling courses and lobbying for a comprehensive bike lane network, the association is beneficial to both cycling-shy and cycling-poor citizens.

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ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

A waterway in service of local youths, elderly and low-income groups

Naš potok (Our Stream) is an initiative that motivates citizens to support socio-political change aligned with sustainability goals. The initiative focuses on a waterway (Pazinčica stream) which is affected by seasonal flooding and geomorphological changes, located in Pazin, a small town in central Istria (Croatia). The Our Stream initiative promotes sustainable behaviours that increase personal wellbeing, growth of social capital and community cohesion.

Together with the national government, the former local authority in Pazin aimed to reinforce the stream’s embankments and to straighten the streamflow, apparently to minimize the seasonal flooding damage. Our Stream rose against the maladaptive intervention, citing the Natura 2000 protection of biodiversity and access to nature for youths, elderly recreation and low-income citizens.

A new local government
The initiative’s members contributed to the formation of a new green-left political party which subsequently won the local elections in 2021. Some Our Stream members are now a part of the local authority, and its new conservation plans align with the initiative’s aims in terms of stream maintenance, its role in the local community and access for citizens.

Targeting local youths, elderly and low-income groups
The stream is a site of recreation for elderly citizens in a land-locked central Istria town, as well as facilitates vanishing low-income recreational fly-fishing. Istria is a region heavily dependent on all forms of tourism, and most fishing and shooting is now open to wealthier international tourists. The Pazinčica stream remains one of the sites open to low-income and elderly locals for fly-fishing, precisely because of its ‘untamed’ nature. For local youths the caves surrounding the stream as well as its pool puddles and vistas are a popular recreational site.

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ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Local community is organizing to oppose a top-down imposed conservation area on Biševo (Croatia)

Spasimo Bišovo is a local citizens’ initiative from the remote island Biševo (Croatia) to oppose extractivist tourism and promote the low-impact tradition of the precarious island existence.

In recent years the nearby city and local authority have initiated a UNESCO sponsored programme of land use restrictions in the interest of biodiversity and specific geological formation protection. Spasimo Bišovo deems this programme a cover for extractivist tourism focused on a single attractive site on the island (the Blue Cave), and finds that it restricts all other forms of tourist and economic activity on the island. The initiative wishes to foster a broader understanding of the low-impact existence practiced on the island for centuries and to enable a broader visitor experience than a visit to a single geological wonder.

Delayed construction and public awareness
The initiative’s main actions have been directed at opposing the development of Visitor’s Centre planned as part of the tourist reception facilities for a brief visit to the Blue Cave. The main outcomes are a delay in the construction of the Blue Cave Visitor Centre and increased awareness about the island’s potential for a different tourism paradigm. Consequently, Spasimo Bišovo has abated an intensification of the Blue Cave visits and initiated broader debate about the understanding of remote islands and their integration into the Croatian national economy and society.

Vulnerability of low-income senior citizens
The island is a permanent residence of about 19 households, and the main producer of a local variety of red wine for the region. Low-income and senior citizen households who engage with the island’s biosphere in a traditional and ecologically low-impact way are particularly vulnerable. According to Spasimo Bišovo, a development plan that enhances their heritage and gives them local control over resources is more beneficial to them than being a backdrop for international extractivist tourism focused on brief visits to a target spot of exceptional beauty. Whilst the traditional residents of the island don’t claim a unique ethnicity, they do share a specific dialect and history, making a type of ‘ethnicity’ another vulnerability dimension.

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ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Scientists respond to silence about climate change in Croatia

Scientists for Climate – Croatia is an initiative of qualified scientists of different disciplines advocating declaration of national climate emergency and providing easy access climate change information. The scientists also engage in interdisciplinary discussions of climate change issues.

The initiative is a response to mainstream academic institutions’ silence about climate change in Croatia and prevalent climate scepticism among older generation scientists. Through interdisciplinary discussions, it also enables scientists to understand different social and physical aspects of climate change, and how they relate to communities’ adaption to climate change.

Expanding efforts
Though starting with a climate crisis appeal, the Scientists for Climate – Croatia Initiative now also provides education trainings, responds and organises responses to media, and provides expert input to other climate-related initiatives. The initiative is still volunteer run and provides knowledge free of charge for citizens who need more information. It produces informative texts, cartoons and podcasts, and maintains social media channels.

Protecting vulnerable people
Primary vulnerable groups are local communities affected by climate related natural disasters. The initiative aims to increase understanding about their potential for recovery, as well as to avoid maladaptation to future climate shocks. Low income people and old age citizens are also target groups, as integration of mitigation and adaptation measures are woven into existing social fabric.

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ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected within the Sustainable Mobility research line. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Sindikat Biciklista, Croatia

Sindikat Biciklista (Cyclists Union) is an NGO that organises various activities around mobility and cycling.

Their goal is to improve bicycle-based mobility (and other sustainable forms) to facilitate the uptake of sustainable and healthy transport options. They promote healthy and sustainable forms of mobility, including cycling and walking, through activities like policy advocacy, promoting cycling culture, and carrying out educational campaigns.

In their educational activities, they emphasise health benefits and teach ways to reduce tensions between cyclists and pedestrians (who are often competing for the same limited space) as well as how to combine cycling with public transport. 

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Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected within ACCTING’s mapping of inspiring practice cases in the Climate Action research line. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives. 

Social Resilience in Schools (SOCOTP), Croatia

This initiative brings together social researchers and educational training practitioners from several Croatian institutions to research aspects of social resilience of schools in situations of natural (climate) disasters, as well as to empower them to enhance their resilience through learning and experience sharing.

Enhancing resilience through a local knowledge network

The project focuses on primary schools as centres of local community in situations of natural disasters, and as often most competent and stable institutions in small communities. Through interviews and workshops with teachers and support staff in schools affected by natural disasters, the initiative aims to build a knowledge base and knowledge network to enhance resilience and empower other schools to recognize this important community role.

Researchers are working with teachers and school support staff on identifying dimensions of resilience experienced or perceived as lacking in respective schools in the periods of disaster. Cooperation with the local community is particularly important. Trainers work with school teams to foster psychological personal development and resilience, and networking among different school teams. Schools undoubtedly play a crucial role in communities in times of natural disasters, especially in smaller communities, as was evident in recent spate of earthquakes in Croatia.

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Photo by Photo David Clode from Unsplash  

ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected by Mladen Domazet within ACCTING’s mapping of inspiring practice cases, within the Biodiversity and land use restrictions research line. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives. 

 

Gradski Vrtovi Sisak, Croatia

Gradski vrtovi Sisak (Urban Gardening Sisak) in Croatia is a unique concept; ambitious volunteers cleared up construction and heavy industry waste at a site and turned it into an urban community garden in a city with the majority of low-income and elderly people.  

Regenerating land and rebuilding the society 

Gradski vrtovi Sisak was in parallel with Sisak City’s post-conflict reconstruction project; Both initiatives brought in dynamics of recuperating wartime collapse of industry and wartime frontline damage and healing the scars of ethnic cleansing. On top of this, the urban gardens open space for the survivors of a powerful earthquake. All these dynamics combined turned the urban gardening project into an intersectional environmental justice initiative where regenerating heavily polluted land intersects with rebuilding the society.  

Today, Sisak City officially became the seventh Croatian city that can boast of the City Gardens project with the full support of Mayor Kristina Ikić Baniček. Saša Balen Andrić, the project leader, mentioned that the project idea came through observing other cities in Croatia that have successfully transformed neglected land areas into splendid gardens. She said: “We intend to arrange this area in such a way that it will be possible to stay there all day because we plan to install swings and climbing frames for children, arrange a swimming pool and use this area for work and leisure, which will provide a pleasant and fun all-day stay for the whole family“.

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