Sustainable rural development, encompassing economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection, is a multifaceted concept with inherent complexities. Achieving it often involves navigating trade-offs between these three pillars. To effectively allocate resources and achieve convergent development in the EU, measuring rural sustainability at the regional level is crucial. The multicriteria approach addresses this challenge by considering the diverse perspectives of stakeholders involved in rural development. This paper presents a model for measuring sustainable rural development at the NUTS 3 level in Croatia, utilizing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) within a multi-criteria analysis framework. Based on a survey of rural development stakeholders, 15 indicators were selected, weighted, and incorporated into the model. The survey revealed that economic indicators received the highest weight (0.415), followed by social (0.309) and environmental (0.275) considerations. This model offers a valuable foundation for local and regional decision-makers to develop strategies and implement actions that promote sustainable development in rural areas.

Since 2015, investment subsidies from the EAFRD through the Rural Development Program have been available to farmers in Croatia. The most numerous holdings in Croatia are those with an economic size of up to 8,000 euros, characterized by a low level of productivity due to insufficient production capacity and inadequate machinery They are the intended aid recipients in the sub-measure 6.3. In the three tenders held so far, this sub-measure has been mostly used for the purchase of machinery (62% of all users), which most often includes old tractors inadequate for modern agricultural production. The increase in production capacity with the growth of the Standard Output was used by only 38% of sub-measure users , with a slightly higher share of young farmers and those working in flower production. The conclusion of the paper is that in order to increase the productivity of small farmers, it is necessary to redefine the criteria for approving applications in sub-measure 6.3 in a way that preference is given to farmers committing to activities that will increase their production capacity and Standard Output.

Biootpad iz kućanstava, ugostiteljstva i prehrambene industrije, uz biorazgradivi otpad iz vrtova i parkova, predstavlja ekološku opasnost, ali nudi i važan resurs za poljoprivrednu proizvodnju. Kompostiranje je u Europskoj uniji vodeći način učinkovitog upravljanja biootpadom kojim se on pretvara u kompost, organsko gnojivo i poboljšivač tla uz značajno smanjenje emisije stakleničkih plinova i opasnosti od zagađenja voda. Cilj ovog rada je (a) opisati sustav gospodarenja biootpadom u Europskoj uniji i ulogu kompostana u njemu, (b) predstaviti ključne čimbenike poslovanja kompostane Herešin u okolici Koprivnice. Osim analize sadržaja i deskripcije kojima su opisani postupci gospodarenja otpadom u Hrvatskoj i Europskoj uniji, u radu je korištena i metoda intervjua s predstavnikom kompostane Herešin. U Hrvatskoj je 2022. oporabljeno oko 20 % nastalog biootpada, što je dvostruko manji postotak u odnosu na prosjek Europske unije. Kao i u EU-u, vodeći oblik oporabe biootpada u Hrvatskoj je kompostiranje koje se provodi u dvanaest hrvatskih kompostana. Jedna od novijih kompostana je kompostana Herešin koja djeluje u okolici Koprivnice od 2021. godine. Prema intervjuu s njenim predstavnikom, ova kompostana se ističe financijskom samoodrživošću, ostvarujući prihode dovoljne za pokrivanje svih troškova poslovanja.

Vrednovanje razvojnih potencijala poljoprivrede Ličko-senjske županije primjenom multikriterijskog rangiranja

This chapter reports findings from ERASMUS+ EcoHarmony, a multinational initiative co-funded by the European Union that advances a comprehensive strategy to embed sustainable – and explicitly regenerative tourism within European higher education. Using a sequential mixed-methods design (9 focus groups across Spain, Croatia, Turkey, Italy, Greece, and the Netherlands; n = 70; followed by a cross-European survey; n = 198), the chapter examines: (1) The extent of sustainability and regenerative integration in curricula; (2) pedagogical, institutional, and technological barriers and enablers; and (3) scalable strategies to align programmes with 21st-century demands. Guided by systems thinking, transformative learning, and a regenerative tourism lens (towards regenerative justice), and attentive to digital transformation (AI/VR/blockchain), the analysis finds progress but fragmentation: Roughly 75% of institutions offer sustainability content, yet holistic, cross-curricular embedding is rare; familiarity with regeneration remains limited (≈20–25%). Barriers include legacy programme architectures, constrained faculty development, weak institutional support, and misaligned assessment practices. Enablers include rising student demand, motivated educators, and non-governmental organisations–industry–government partnerships. The chapter proposes a practical roadmap, intentional interdisciplinarity, assessment reform (systems/ethics/collaboration), quality-assured micro-credentials, and hybrid experiential learning that blends digital simulations with fieldwork and internships, to shift institutions from incremental improvements to systemic transformation.

Dobrobit životinja se u EU promiče zadnjih četrdesetak godina dok je u Hrvatskoj veći značaj dobila 2018. godine početkom provedbe Mjere 14 (M14). M14 podržava više standarde u uzgoju stoke od uobičajenih iz četiri područja dobrobiti (poboljšana hran...