Rural isolation of citizens in Croatia Marina Koprivnjak Sofia, 7 th May 2015

HMRR Croatian Rural Development Network - HMRR is a civil sector network: 33 members (14 CSOs +19 LAGs) Making the voice of rural communities better heard Encouraging contribution of civil society to RD Linking together member organizations with other stakeholders in RD through networking, partnership and gatherings

HMRR's areas of activity Advocating interests of rural stakeholders in creating and implementing public policies Networking and informing members and stakeholders about RD Education, exchange of knowledge and experiences Organisation development

Territory: km 2 Population: Low population density: 75,7 Total number of settlements: Only 3 settlements > inhabitants Total number of local self-government units (towns and municipalities): 556

Croatia is a rural country: 2012: Croatia's land area - 79,1 % predominantly rural and 19.8% intermediate 56.7% of the population lived in predominantly rural regions RDP : The whole territory of Croatia with the exclusion of the administrative centers of four cities 75.08% of total population 99.24% of total territory

Priority problems in rural areas: Low employment rate Growing development lag between urban and rural areas Weak local communities Lack of capacities for change

Development challenges in rural areas Negative demographic trends Abandoning and neglecting agricultural land Pressure from urban and infrastructural systems Loss of traditional settlement structures and landscapes Low level of services and standard of living Loss of knowledge and capacities... A possible response:

Importance of the RD policy Humble experiences, started developing them within the accession process still learning Statistical data are incomplete, we need new statistical evidence to mark situation and trends in rural Croatia Ministry of Agriculture as the competent body needs a broad and efficient cooperation

LEADER - what is that? A bottom-up approach based on local characteristics and resources Local actors can develop an area by using its development potential Initiative - pilot-approach - RD policy method Supported from the EAFRD (“Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale” = “Links between the rural economy and development actions”)

LAG - local action group Local public-private partnership Representatives of all sectors willing to define and to realise the vision of a better future for their sub-region Bringing together local stakeholders and encouraging their common action Local sustainable development strategy based on conditions and characteristics of the local area

LEADER in Croatia 2009: first LAG Gorski kotar (NGO) CSOs had the initial role in encouraging LAGs’ creation Basic data (61 LAGs): 512 or 92% of local self-government units km 2 or 89% of total territory inhabitants or 52% of total population density: 44,75 inhabitants per km 2

Volunteering in Croatia LAGs - volunteering oriented Law on Volunteering (2007) Croatian network of volunteer centres Basic data (2005): positive attitude about volunteering 10,8% of citizens did volunteer work in last 12 months 3,8 % of citizens did volunteer work al least once a month or more

Perspective of volunteering in Croatia Certificate of competence gained through volunteering Volunteering in LAGs - opportunity for personal and professional growth Volunteering in general - new skills, knowledge, competence in the labor market

Thank you! HRVATSKA MREŽA ZA RURALNI RAZVOJ CROATIAN RURAL DEVELOPMENT NETWORK Lj. Posavskog Zagreb tel (0)1/ fax +385 (0)1/ Web: Facebook: Hrvatska.mreza.za.ruralni.razvoj