SUSTAINABLE TOWNS OF CROATIA
Program for the Development of Urban Public Spaces in Croatia FINAL ACTIVITY REPORT March 2002 – March 2003
The first phase of my research (March – August) was based in Washington, DC where I lived and worked at the time. As planned, I have moved to Croatia in September 2002 to pursue my field research in
selected towns in Croatia. In the initial five-six months, although conducting the research long-distance, I have succeeded in contacting many individuals and groups in Croatia, Central Europe and the
Unites States, through e-mail, phone/fax and site visits. Considering the six hours time difference and a limited use of the Internet in Croatia, especially among the local government and NGO representatives
located in more remote areas, it was quite challenging to obtain sufficient information that would help me identify the state of the public spaces in Croatia, current government policies, and select
eight-ten target towns. Many people simply don't respond to e-mails or fax and are very often difficult to reach by the phone. Nevertheless, I have still succeeded in conducting quite an
extensive research, both academic and policy-oriented and collect data based on the questionnaire submitted to different groups in Croatia, as well as site visits and oral discussions with a number of
representatives including local government, NGOs, community based organizations, international organizations, and funders in Croatia, CEE and the U.S. In fact, the achieved results have more than surprised
me. Despite a rather limited percentage of written responses to my questionnaire (30%), I have still found a great interest about my research topic among both local and international groups and experts.
For the detailed analysis of the questionnaire results please see the Interim Research Paper. From September on, I immediately begun working with a number of local and international
organizations, including the Urban Institute as well as a number of local governments all over Croatia on raising awareness about the importance of citizen participation and on the community approach to
public space development. I have continued researching different towns on their policies toward citizen participation and local government as well as approach to the public space development. I have decided to change my initial approach to conducting the IPF research in 8-10 selected towns. Considering a tremendous amount of work needed to raise awareness about the citizen
participation and partnership building on public spaces in only one town, I have decided to focus my attention to Rijeka as a "pilot city" in order to gain initial results. Those results and
approach could be then developed in other towns and municipalities, especially Pula, Labin, Koprivnica and Solta, which expressed great interest in learning more and applying this methodology in their
communities. II. SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES (MARCH 2002 – MARCH 2003) March – September 2002
 Conducted a research and collected material on public spaces, community
development, urban policy and research methodologies from different sources in the U.S., Western Europe, CEE and Croatia. This collected data helped me
in the next stage of my research to further analyze research and policy strategies; advantages/disadvantages of different policy options and prepare
final policy recommendations. The resources are available on my web site thus helping share and disseminate information to others.
Identified groups and experts in Croatia, as well as excellent contacts on
the topic of public spaces and urban policy in the U.S. and CEE who will not only help me with my research but can also become a part of a network of
people interested in implementing the community-based model to public spaces in Croatia. Some models from CEE could be adopted and their
approach translated into Croatian, such as e.g. the PPS methodology used in the Czech Republic and worldwide. Conducted a preliminary questionnaire that focused primarily on national and local NGOs and government representatives -- their understanding of
public spaces, problems related to the current use of public spaces, vision on how to develop a specific public space in their town, and recommendations for
their improvement. The questionnaire was more general and included various towns in Croatia. Response was low at 30%. The response is expected to be
much higher in the next research phase, which will be conducted in Croatia. Identified ten-fifteen towns of different size and characteristic
(Mediterranean, continental, mountainous) in Croatia that could offer a variety of potentially interesting public spaces. Discussed conditions and strategies for developing a program on community
philanthropy and local foundations in Croatia, with a special focus on starting a local foundation in Rijeka and the Primorsko-Goranska county in
2003/2004 (an ultimate long-term result proposed in my research proposal). September 2002 – March 2003 Co-designed a Citizen Participation manual for the Urban Institute that
provides recommendations to local governments on how to improve citizen participation. Tool categories include information, communication, advisory, administrative, partnership and budget tools.
Based on my IPF research and findings, the Urban Institute has accepted the community-based approach to public spaces as an example of the Partnership tools (see the Citizen
Participation manual under Resources). Co-designed training and participants manual for the
six-day workshop on Citizen Participation and co-trained twenty future local government consultants on citizen participation. Participants included representatives from
the City councils, NGOs, media and private sector who were interested in promoting citizen participation as an important component of local government
reform and democracy building in Croatia. As part of the Partnership tool category, I have explained the community-based approach to public space
development and described some examples from the US, CEE and Croatia. Held a number of meetings and discussions with local NGOs, as well as with
local representatives from the City of Rijeka, department of culture, urban planning, and community councils on the issue of citizen participation,
improved role of community councils and on improving the relationship between citizens and the local government. Organized a presentation on public spaces in Rijeka, Pula and Labin on December 2 and 3, 2002 in cooperation with the local governments and their
Departments for Urban Planning. The presentation was held by my mentor, Steve Davies and his colleague Phil Myrick from the New York-based
organization Project for Public Spaces. Presentations were attended by over 150 people in three towns, including representatives from local governments,
community councils, NGOs, and city councils. Media coverage was extensive both in Rijeka and Pula. As a result of the December presentation, the [MU:V]
initiative was organized and launched in March 2003 in Rijeka to increase cooperation among the youth and local government as well as other partners. (See Case study 1).
Established an ongoing cooperation with the City of Rijeka on researching and identifying different models and types of public-private partnerships that
could be applied in the case of the bankrupt Torpedo factory, and specifically, one of its buildings – the launching ramp, as well as other public spaces (see Case study 2)
. Based on my efforts to raise awareness about the importance
of citizen participation in the process of planning urban public spaces and the partnership between local government and citizens, the City has begun to
apply the community-based approach to public space development and explore different management models for the launching ramp. Developed a survey on citizen involvement in the development of public
spaces for the city of Labin, with a specific focus on one of the Labin's public spaces – a former bath for the miners (see photos in the
Photo Gallery and the Case study 3). Due to different circumstances and the enormous amount
of work in Rijeka alone, I could not conduct the survey among the citizens and other sector representatives this year. However, due to a great interest
for this subject and the approach, I hope that it would be possible for me to conduct the survey next year and start the process of education and
awareness raising on the community-based approach to public spaces in Labin as well. Initiated and launched the [MU:V] initiative in March 2003 in cooperation with the Urban Institute, the City of Rijeka and local NGO, "Korak Ispred" who
helped in providing administrative and logistical support, and will take over the coordination of the project until the Fall 2003. (More on this initiative in the Case study 1.)
III. RESULTS
Based on my IPF research and findings, the following results has emerged:
 The Urban Institute has accepted the community-based approach to
public spaces as one of the tools that promote partnership among local government and citizens (see the Citizen Participation manual, under Partnership tool category).
The Urban Institute has also supported my idea to launch a new
initiative in Rijeka called [MU:V], "Mali Uce Velike" ("Kids teach Growns-ups", and has funded the workshop on public space
development in April 2003. They are also interested in a more long-term approach to promoting this approach within the local governments all over Croatia. The approach and the [MU:V] initiative has been now adopted by the City of Rijeka
within their strategy to improve citizen participation and specifically, to engage the youth in local government activities. Helped the City of Rijeka in developing their strategy for other public
spaces in the City, such as the old and bankrupt Torpedo Factory, parts of the Paper Mill factory and in general in developing a policy on revitalizing public spaces in Rijeka and the county by using
partnership and the citizen participation approach. All of the initiatives raised a great interest among different groups in
Rijeka, including NGOs, youth groups (formal and informal), schools, community councils, local government departments (especially the Department of Urban Planning), as well as private sector
representatives, thus building a ground for true future partnerships that could be developed around this timely and exciting topic of public spaces. Identified other cities and key people who expressed great interest in
learning about the partnership approach to public space development and applying this approach in their towns, such as Pula, Labin, Koprivnica, Solta and Vojnic. Built initial steps in developing an alternative mechanism for funding
similar citizen initiatives such as those that emerged through the [MU:V] with an ultimate goal of starting a local foundation that promotes
community participation, urban revitalization and cross-sector partnerships in Rijeka and the Primorsko-Goranska county.
The IPF research findings also helped in further exploring the area of community philanthropy and community foundations by identifying:
 the current state and government policies on public spaces in Croatia;
potential projects for public spaces in selected towns (e.g. Rijeka,
Labin and Koprivnica – pilot projects); key people/groups interested in promoting the "community-based"
approach to public spaces as a healthy and more sustainable alternative to current "project-driven" urban and spatial development practices, different models and practices in the CEE, Western Europe and the
U.S. on developing and managing public spaces (e.g. through the public-private partnerships). the national and local strategy on community participation and philanthropy.
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