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EACEA National Policies Platform
Croatia

Croatia

9. Youth and the World

9.5 Green volunteering, production and consumption

Last update: 12 March 2024
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  1. Green volunteering
  2. Green production and consumption

Green volunteering

As of now, the Republic of Croatia lacks an official strategy for green volunteering specifically focused on the youth population.

This type of volunteering is organised by associations, organisations, towns, and municipalities. Some examples are:

  • the project Active Youth Protecting Nature and the Environment – organised by the Bioteka Association in Zagreb, Rijeka, Osijek, and Split. The project was co-funded by the former Ministry of Demographics, Family, Youth and Social Policy. The goal of the project was to empower youth to actively participate in the recognising and addressing issues of environmental protection in local communities
  • the Green Purge and Blue Purge projects – the largest one-day volunteer action for cleaning the environment, sea, and seabed in Croatia. The action was part of the global project ‘Let’s do it!’ and the yearly ’World Clean-up’ initiative
  • the Recyclassics for Our Beautiful Homeland project – an initiative to manufacture musical instruments from various sorts of waste, aimed at all schools in the Republic of Croatia
  • the Most Beautiful School Garden project – an eco-educational project that rewarded kindergartens, schools, and other educational institutions for their efforts in constructing the most beautiful garden, open-air classroom, and other eco-projects

 

Green production and consumption

The Republic of Croatia is participating in the international Eco-school programme. The programme serves to implement educational guidelines at the various levels of educational institutions: kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, schools for students with disabilities, student homes, and faculties. The goal of the programme is to incorporate environmental education into all segments of the educational system and the everyday life of students and employees of Eco-Schools.

The national coordinator of the Eco-Schools in Croatia is the Association ‘Lijepa Naša’. In Croatia, the Eco-school status has been awarded to 338 educational institutions:

  • 90 kindergartens
  • 199 primary schools
  • 6 centres for education and training
  • 39 secondary schools
  • 2 student homes
  • 2 institutions of higher education

The projects implemented within the Eco-school framework include:

  • 'The Great Plant Hunt' educational project started in the school year 2016/17. The organisers are the Foundation for Environmental Education, Toyota Motor Europe, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the national coordinators of the Eco-schools programme in individual countries
  • The contest Eco quiz ‘Our Beautiful Homeland’ has been implemented since 1992 by the ‘Lijepa Naša’ Association. The contest is implemented in primary and secondary Eco-schools.
  • The national project 'Eco-packaging' is designed for children and youth to educate them about the importance of responsible management of TETRA PAK packaging and acting responsibly towards the environment. It is conducted by Eco-schools in Croatia. 
  • The 'We Eat Responsible' project was registered by the ‘Lijepa Naša’ Association in cooperation with nine member countries of the Foundation for Environmental Education. The project encompasses 1 800 teachers, 65 000 primary school students, 25 000 secondary school students and college students, and 100 000 parents and members of the local community
  • 'Days of Bread – Fruits of the Earth Thanksgiving Days' are an annual October project taking place in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, student homes, schools for students with disabilities, and branches of the ‘Lijepa Naša’ Association
  • The ‘Lijepa Naša’ Association initiated a ’Litter Less’ campaign, which took place from 2011 to 2017 across 172 Eco-schools in Croatia. The campaign was implemented with the support of the Foundation for Environmental Education and the Wrigley Company Fundation