December the 8th, 2022 - According to all criteria, the Republic of Croatia is a global nautical power. This country's enviable coastline, numerous inhabited and uninhabited islands, coves, bays and the glorious Adriatic Sea make it something truly special for this sector. It is precisely because of all of the above that the technology to make this industry "greener" and more sustainable is very important. That's where Green Sail comes in.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although nautical tourism contributes very minimally to global pollution, it can still have a negative impact on local coastal communities through the pollution of the sea and air, as well as through the increased accumulation of waste, etc. The team which makes up the Green Sail organisation recently developed a way for boat owners and boat rental companies to measure their ecological footprint.

VEF (Vessel Environmental Footprint) helps vessels determine their ecological footprint and also acts as a rating system, showing the level of sustainability of each individual vessel, allowing for them to set themselves goals for reduction.

"The biggest advantage of emissions calculation is the management of risks and opportunities. If we're thinking about dealing in a long-term sense with the sea and tourism, it is logical that we keep an account of what sort of impact we're having,'' said Hrvoje Caric from the Institute for Tourism.

As they themselves explained from Green Sail, the general goal of the innovative VEF system is to raise awareness and reduce the impact of the nautical industry on the environment and help with the transition of the Croatian nautical industry towards a more sustainable future because, among other things, it enables clients to make informed purchasing decisions.

Green Sail's rating system takes into account emissions produced on the vessel, energy and water consumption, as well as waste produced. The VEF system also takes into account elements that have the ability to neutralise or reduce the vessel's impact on the environment.

This includes the reduced use of antifouling, the presence of renewable energy sources on board, and whether there are proper places marked out for separating waste on board. The age of the vessel, how often and how it is used are also taken into account when giving a rating.

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Green Sail from Split, the only non-profit organization in Croatia which promotes its activities on protecting the sea and marine environment, has become one of the 30 semifinalists in the 2019 European Social Innovation Competition, selected from more than 500 applicants from across Europe, reports Dalmacija Danas on July 4, 2019.

The theme of this year's competition is to solve the issue of plastic waste, and ideas and projects are needed in which plastic waste is reduced by introducing systematic changes at the local, national and European level. The purpose of the European Social Innovation Competition is to support ideas and projects that reduce plastic waste and garbage by changing or improving existing processes or introducing entirely new products and launching new initiatives.

Green Sail was one of the 30 projects from 19 countries that were selected for the next round of a total of 543 ideas reported from across Europe, all geared towards solving the growing problem of plastic waste. The published projects cover a wide range of solutions, from improving supply chains to changing consumer behavior.

The innovative idea of the Green Sail organization implies an educational program to reduce the amount of plastic waste within the nautical industry in other European countries, according to the model that the organization is already successfully implementing in Croatia. The idea behind the Green Sail project is to gradually develop plastic waste reduction and recycling programs for charter companies and marinas in other European countries with a developed maritime industry, like Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, and France.

The introduction of Green Sail's program into international charter and marinas will try to solve this problem in other countries apart from Croatia. What Green Sail awaits as a semifinalist is the chance to attend the renowned Academy of Social Innovation in Turin - an intensive three-day event where experienced social innovators are trained and given an opportunity to develop their ideas into sustainable business projects.

Apart from the Academy, the semifinalists also receive the personal support of a local mentor, who will assist them in preparing for the next stage of the competition, where they submit their extensive development plans to an independent commission. The commission will then select ten finalists and only three winners, each of which will receive 50,000 euros.

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