ZAGREB, 22 March 2021, 2021 - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), an international organisation for environmental protection, called on Monday, on the occasion of World Water Day, for better water management and protection and preservation of water resources.

Global demand for water grows every year and it is estimated that by 2050 it will grow by up to 55%, mostly due to growing production, the WWF said.

At the same time, almost two-thirds of the global population face water restrictions at least for a month in a year.

Challenges and risks to the availability of water will grow bigger every year if we do not change the way we treat water and understand that it is a limited resource, the WWF Adria said.

Croatia is rich in drinking water, which is why the availability of drinking water is often taken for granted, the organisation said.

For decades water resources have been poorly managed - from pollution with wastewater and waste, construction of small hydropower plants and unsustainable dams to uncontrolled gravel and sand excavation, cutting of forests near rivers and sealing of soil and natural water courses, it said, stressing that there was still time for stopping the crisis and calling on everyone to be a part of the solution.

The Union for the Mediterranean, an organisation bringing together 42 countries of the EU and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, including Croatia, warned today that many Mediterranean countries were faced with water shortage, a problem additionally exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, in which additional quantities of water are used for hand washing.

The Barcelona-based organisation notes that hand washing due to coronavirus has increased daily water consumption from 9 to 12 litres per household.

The average demand for water in Mediterranean countries has increased by 5% over the past 12 months due to anti-epidemic measures, it noted.

The chair of the Croatian parliament's committee on agriculture, Marijana Petir, too, today issued a message for World Water Day, calling for responsible management of water resources.

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ZAGREB, 22 March, 2021 - The Homeland Movement candidate for Zagreb mayor, Miroslav Škoro, warned on Monday about the slow process of post-earthquake reconstruction in Zagreb one year since the city and its environs were struck by a 5.5 magnitude quake, noting that Zagreb was not only about the city centre.

"Zagreb is not just the city centre, it is also its environs, where the epicentre of the quake was. Zagreb is also Čučerje, Markuševec and Podsljeme," Škoro told reporters on the first anniversary of the earthquake while touring the neighbourhood of Čučerje.

He recalled that the Construction Ministry had issued "130 decisions of some sort", the Fund for the Reconstruction of Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje and Zagreb counties was established, and around €26 billion was reserved for reconstruction.

"Everything was done the wrong way. If 130 decisions on reconstruction are issued a year, and around 30,000 buildings were damaged, including more than 2,500 which are unfit to live in, at that pace we would need around 300 years for all people to get the necessary decisions on reconstruction," he warned.

He added that three laws hampered the process of reconstruction - the law on mandatory reserves for building maintenance, the law on reconstruction and the law regulating the status of protected lessees.

Škoro said that for decades there had been no investments in buildings, one of the reasons being that there are around 2,000 protected tenants who pay rent in the amount of HRK 2.5 per square metre, while the state pays HRK 70 for citizens who live in substitute flats after the earthquake in Petrinja, Sisak, Glina and Zagreb.

 "That must end because the Reconstruction Act says that the property owner must participate in reconstruction. If someone cannot get hold of their property taken during the Communist rule, and if rent for such property is paid in the amount of HRK 2.5 per square metre, why should the owner be interested in participating in reconstruction," he said.

"There is a danger that the owners of flats occupied by protected lessees file lawsuits at European courts, which have already ruled that they should be given back their property. We have again postponed that and the state will have to pay," he said.

The law on mandatory reserves for building maintenance should be amended to give companies that manage those funds more powers, and the law on protected lessees should be changed to give those tenants substitute accommodation and enable actual owners to participate in the reconstruction of their property, he said.

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ZAGREB, 22 March, 2021 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Peđa Grbin and the SDP candidate for Zagreb Mayor, Joško Klisović, warned on Monday, on the first anniversary of the 22 March 2020 earthquake in Zagreb, that reconstruction had still not begun and that the capital should not only be reconstructed but revitalised as well. 

"Over the past 12 months, a law on reconstruction was adopted and after the earthquake in Petrinja, it was expanded to include the Banija region, but, as we can hear from the Reconstruction Fund.... no decision on reconstruction has arrived at the Fund from the Construction Ministry. The Ministry claims it has sent three decisions for the reconstruction of buildings, but even though the Ministry and the Fund are located only a few metres from one another, those decisions have still not reached the Fund," Grbin warned at a news conference.

If reconstruction in Zagreb as well as in Banija continues at the current pace, the question is if it will ever end and if people whose houses and buildings were damaged will be able to ever return to their homes, he said.

Grbin called on the government to ensure that reconstruction work finally started, criticising the Reconstruction Act by saying that the structural reconstruction as envisaged by it would not be sufficient as people did not have money to finance non-structural reconstruction.

Those who will have to seek loans to co-finance 20% of structural reconstruction costs will not be able to co-finance the reconstruction of other parts of their property which are equally important for normal living, he said, calling for reexamining the Reconstruction Act.

He also called for reexamining the law to expand the scope of reconstruction work to enable the revitalisation of the earthquake-damaged parts of the capital city.

"We call for renovating all buildings, with red, yellow and green labels alike, because any next quake could destablise these buildings again and cause a disaster. Around 30% of the housing stock in downtown Zagreb is older than 100 years, which means that we need an integral, radical reconstruction of the city," SDP mayoral candidate Klisović said.

He noted that given the current favourable situation on the international financial market, funding for that purpose should be sought there, mentioning also the possibility of issuing long-term bonds.

Klisović said that as mayor, he would define a price catalogue for reconstruction work considering fast-growing prices and the fact that people who have to hire a company to do reconstruction work do not know how much a certain type of work costs.

He noted that the state should increase the rate for co-financing reconstruction costs for people who live in buildings categorised as cultural property, calling also for the introduction of a special credit line for those reconstructing their houses and on the state to cover interest on those loans.

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Zagreb, March 22, 2021 - "Stop, look below and find a small town" is the message of the new art project Mali Zagreb, which brings a series of miniature installations within the streets of the city, that have been set in eleven locations in Zagreb since the first day of spring.

HRTurizam reports that tiny compositions are reminiscent of Zagreb's residential building facades and the windows of shops. The author of the project, artist and director Filip Filković Philatz, created this irresistible story about a small town, which he created with a group of young people (Mia Martinović, Josip Kresović, and Lucija Švob) into a unique project.

"The idea was to reflect the living space of our big world in miniature proportions, as well as emphasizing the importance of paying attention to the little things in life and the details that enrich it," said author Filip Filković Philatz.

Although they are located in the very center of the city, the miniature works of Mali Zagreb are placed in unusual and unexpected places - on the curbs, at the foot of fences, walls, and buildings in public areas.

The signs of this irresistible art project were first seen at the end of 2020 when a series of photo manipulations of miniatures depicting Zagreb's homes, shops, and houses were published on social media, said Martina Bienenfeld, director of the Zagreb Tourist Board, adding:

"We connected with creative young people, the team behind the project because we wanted to breathe life into these virtual miniatures, so, symbolically, with the first day of spring, these charming but complex installations will come to life in reality. With its discreet appearance, Mali Zagreb always creates a desirable moment of surprise for everyone who sees it, and as a non-invasive and ambient outdoor project that does not encourage large gatherings, it is a real example of positioning Zagreb as a responsible and safe destination.

To see and enjoy them, you need to stop, look down and look for them. To help the search, a special map has been created that covers all locations and can be downloaded from the Visitor Centers or online, on the website of the project and the Tourist Board.

“The Mali Zagreb series of works reminds us of the importance of paying attention to the little things in life and the details that enrich it. It encourages us to think about the city we live in, the history and identity of the city, about the former city life and habits of its inhabitants, which can be recognized in the appearance of miniature facades of buildings, shops, windows, and crafts. It brings the symbolism of home, places that should evoke strong feelings of belonging, security and satisfaction, feelings that we need for a quality life," say the authors of the project.

A project that should remain in a permanent exhibition or tourist offer in the city of Zagreb. In fact, this is a platform that only needs to be expanded, upgraded, and incorporated into a broader story of the cultural and urban offer of the city of Zagreb. 

The miniature installations are intended for all residents of Zagreb and all those who will visit it from March 21 to September 5, 2021. 

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ZAGREB, 22 March, 2021 - The State Election Commission (DIP) on Monday reminded political parties and independent slates to respect the principle of gender equality and balanced representation of men and women on lists of candidates for members of representative bodies of municipalities, towns and counties in May's local elections.

In doing so, they must take care that the representation of one sex on a list is not below 40%, DIP said.

It recalled that respect for the principle of balanced representation of men and women on electoral slates did not affect the validity of those slates and that they would not be rejected if they failed to have a sufficient number of female or male candidates, but that their proposers would be fined.

Under the Gender Equality Act, fines range from HRK 40,000 for a political party or independent slate participating in elections for city councils and county assemblies to HRK 20,000 for elections for municipal councils.

Fewer councillors to be elected in May

The number of deputies in local councils and assemblies to be elected in the May 16 election depends on the number of those local government units' inhabitants and ranges from 7 for municipalities that have up to 1,000 residents, to 47, which is how many deputies will be elected to the Zagreb City Assembly and the assemblies of counties with more than 300,000 residents.

The number of local deputies to be elected in the May 16 election is smaller than four years ago.

In line with changes to the law on local elections, municipalities with up to 1,000 residents elect seven councillors, while under the old law seven councillors were elected by municipalities with up to 500 inhabitants and municipalities with up to 1,000 inhabitants elected nine deputies.

Counties with more than 300,000 residents and the City of Zagreb will each elect to their assemblies 47 councillors and previously they elected 51 deputies.

It is estimated that under the new rules, the number of members of local representative bodies will be around 10% smaller.

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ZAGREB, 22 March, 2021 - Following a serious motorway accident near the Okučani junction on Monday, in which four persons were killed, 11 injured Syrian nationals have been admitted to hospital in Nova Gradiška, hospital director Josip Kolodziej confirmed to Hina.

"Six people have been seriously injured, one person is in critical condition and one is undergoing surgery," he said.

Kolodziej confirmed that all persons admitted were foreign nationals who identify themselves as Syrians.

Four injured persons each were taken to hospitals in Slavonski Brod and Pakrac.

Four people were killed at Okučani when a truck transporting hay overturned. An investigation is underway to determine how the injured persons got into the trailer of the truck.

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ZAGREB, 22 March, 2021 - A total of 150 new coronavirus cases and 13 related deaths have been registered in Croatia in the last 24 hours, the national COVID-19 response team said on Monday.

The number of active cases currently stands at 6,280, of whom 1,033 infected people are receiving hospital treatment, including 95 placed on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first cases was confirmed in the country, 257,789 infected people have been registered, of whom 5,786 have died and 245,723 have recovered, including 779 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 21,879 people are in self-isolation. To date, 1,477,537 people have been tested for the novel virus, including 2,521 in the last 24 hours.

March 21, 2021 - The fourth online edition of the Communication Management Forum held from 19 to 20 March discussed what awaits us after the pandemic. There was also talk of tourism recovery, the industry hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Communication Management Forum (CMF) was held online and was attended by scientists and experts from several countries, including Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Russia, and India. The scientific event proved to be an excellent opportunity for a multidisciplinary discussion necessary about a crisis like pandemics. The conference opened numerous topics in sociology, communication, economics, and tourism, and gathered scientists and experts offered their views on what awaits us once the pandemic is over.

A key issue discussed at the CMF was what awaits us after the pandemic. The participants at the virtual roundtable "Post-pandemic world: a bad picture or good opportunity?" came to a common conclusion that adaptation was inevitable and that the change of business and social paradigm is something else we need to work on. Therefore, the pandemic and the post-pandemic world are equally seen as a good opportunity for all segments of private and business life.

"The situation caused by the pandemic was a threat to humanity. We are stuck in our own homes, and everything very quickly shifted from the real world to online. The way we live now is our present and near future, we have to accept that, but we don’t have to come to terms with it. We should try to lead a life as normal as possible. Still, the big question remains, how we will recover as a society in the anthropological sense?" said Slovenian anthropologist Dan Podjed.

The pandemic flooded the media with negative headlines, followed by a bit of encouraging news when the first vaccine appeared. Still, with a new wave of pandemics increasing, we returned to a negative perspective. Nevertheless, some sectors and segments of life have experienced tectonic changes, which will significantly affect the recovery and development perspective.

"Before the pandemic, tourism was mass, and it was focused on the number of as many guest arrivals possible in destinations around the world. This has completely changed the concept of tourism functioning. Stakeholders in tourism will have to accept the new reality and focus on the quality offered to attract tourists to their destinations, who will return in the future," said Jeremy Sampson, CEO of Travel, a leading NGO in the travel and tourism sector.

Sociologist Branko Ančić from the Institute for Social Research believes that crises like this increase the problems we have had as a society before.

"The pandemic has opened up many problems. On the one hand, we see an increase in hate speech in relation to different social groups, and on the other, we are witnessing immense togetherness. To deal with everything that this crisis has brought us, we need more responsible behavior of everyone in society," said Ančić, one of the co-chairs of the CMF Committee.

The Communication Management Forum 2021 was organized by Edward Bernays University College, the Institute of Tourism, and the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb. The two-day conference offered answers to questions about developing business and private life after the end of the pandemic. Scientists and experts agreed that the crisis had created many backs, but that adjustment has been key. Many agreed that the pandemic indicated that we were facing crises and challenges relevant in the next few years.

In four editions, the CMF has gathered more than 750 scientists and experts. The conference has also contributed to the conclusions from the communication and tourism aspect for many years. As Damir Jugo, Dean of Edward Bernays University College points out, this year’s edition has been the most scientifically relevant so far.

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