Roko Uvodić and Jelena Zlatar Gamberožić participated in the 17th ESA conference in Warsaw

Roko Uvodić and Jelena Zlatar Gamberožić participated from 25 until 28 August 2026 at the 17th conference of the European Sociological Association (ESA) in Warsaw under the title of “Strengthening Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity, and Sustainable Futures“.

They presented the paper titled “Residents' Perceptions of Green Transition in Selected Medium-sized Croatian Towns“, co-authored with Anamaria Klasić and Anđelina Svirčić Gotovac. The paper analyses the implementation of sustainable urban policies, and their influence on everyday quality of life of citizens in selected medium-sized Croatian towns. The paper is based on findings of the project “Effects of the Europeanization Process in Selected Urban-Rural Areas of Croatia – HREUURBRUR“ (Principal Investigator: Anđelina Svirčić Gotovac, PhD).

The research was carried out in two phases: the quantitative (questionnaire survey, N=1,320) on a representative sample of Croatian citizens; and the qualitative (semi-structured interviews, N=68), among residents of selected medium-sized towns (Varaždin, Pula and Velika Gorica). Key results suggest that the green transition in Croatia is taking place in a „top down“ manner, primarily through various EU-funded projects. The main conclusion is that such an implementation of the green transition lacks citizens' knowledge of and real involvement in the projects and long-term sustainability policies once the projects are completed.