The Norwegian Embassy in Croatia

Twelve new bilateral projects for a greener Croatia!

The Joint Committee for Bilateral Fund of the EEA and Norway Grants awarded 1,1 million EUR to 12 projects fostering green transition. In the next 12 months Croatia and Norway will work together in exploring options for greening of the aquaculture, transport, and energy supply.

The Minister of Regional development and EU funds Šime Erlić and Norwegian Ambassador to Croatia Haakon Blankenborg awarded the contracts at the ceremony held in Zagreb in March. To secure funding, applications had to, among rest, to address the topic of green transition by working in partnership with an entity from Norway. After a selection procedure, this resulted in 12 projects involving 18 institutions from Croatia and 13 from Norway.

The research organizations, universities, local governments, and civil society from both countries will work together on initiatives ranging from sustainable aquaculture, biodiversity, offshore energy, green transportation to green construction and social resilience.

Projects last up to one year and the individual project value ranges between 40 000 and 100 000 EUR.

The list of successful projects:

University of Zagreb and SINTEF Energy Research

Prosject title: Fleksible and smart energy systems for the decarbonisation of buildings

Objective: Build and strengthen capacity thorugh the exchange of knowledge and experience in environmentally friendly technology, decarbonisation of building, innovative energy technology, energy service models for the implementation of future energy systems and the establishment of the basis for long-term research, education and technical cooperation.

Budget: EUR 100.000

Zadar county and SINTEF OCEAN AS, Nofima AS, Faculty of Agriculture and Ministry of Agriculture

Project title: INTEREST - Inovative Technologies and Enchanced Recovery of valuable compounds from fishery side Streams

Objective: Development of prerequisites for sustainable management of aquaculture and fishery by-products, based on the circular economy model, and improvement of self-sustaining aquaculture models by reasearching raw materials and products for sustainable, efficient production of fish food

Budget: EUR 98.038.90

University of Zadar and The Norwegian College of Fishery Science; Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, The Arctic University of Norway

IRENA - Istrian Regional Agency and Stiftelsen Seed Forum Norway

Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka and Norwegian Research Centre NORCE

Project title: Cost Effective Renewable Energy Harvesting in Croatian Islands (CRECI)

Objective: Make a study on the efficient use and production of energy on the Croatian islands, taking into account their specific soil and meteorological conditions (amount of wind, solar energy, tidal potential) with detailed guidelines to increase the quality of life of the inhabitants.

Budget: EUR 99.268.13

Town of Cres and Østfold University College

Project title: FETREC Islands (Fostering Energy Transition and Resilience Capacity on Islands)

Objective: To increase the capacities of experts, local authorities and the entire community in the field of green transition by exchanging experiences and best practices between Croatian and Norwegian partners, with the aim of a sustainable way of life on the island.

Budget: EUR 99.438.00

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Science and Technology, The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)

Project title: Empowering the Water-Energy Food Nexus by incorporating biodivesity and climate awareness (WatNex)

Objective: Strengthening the multidisciplinary network of experts and stakeholders working on the sustainability of water, energy and food by raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the context of climate change.

Budget: EUR 61.097.50

Lika Senj County and International Development Norway Association

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Civil Engineering and University of South-Easter Norway, Municipality of Dugi Rat, NGO Sunce, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science

Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek (FAZOS), Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek and NORAGRIC, LANDSAM, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)

University of Split and Trondheim Tech Port

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy, University of Split and Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC), Bergen, Norway