Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) and the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute:
Partnership for a sustainable and climate-neutral future
The signing of the partnership agreement is the first step towards implementing the project “Strengthening the system for monitoring climate change and its impacts (KlimProPos)”
Vodice, 12 June 2024 – The partnership agreement signed today in Vodice between the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) and the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute represents an important step towards the realisation of a project aimed at building a modern system for monitoring climate change and its consequences, thus strengthening the capacities of these institutions for effective adaptation of Croatia to increasingly frequent and intense weather and water extremes.
The cooperation between the DHMZ and the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute in the implementation of the strategic project KlimProPos will create the conditions for a faster and more effective response to the challenges of climate change, significantly reduce the risks to the environment, the economy and society, and thus create a solid foundation for further building a sustainable future for Croatia.
“This partnership combines the strengths of our experts, knowledge and experience to improve the services and tools for monitoring, analysing and predicting climate change. In this way, we will more effectively support the economy, society and communities to be better prepared and more resilient to the challenges of climate change and further strengthen our role in environmental protection and citizen safety,” said Dr Ivan Güttler, Director General of DHMZ.
The cooperation in the implementation of the KlimProPos project will improve DHMZ’s capacities in the field of environmental modelling, increase the effectiveness of forecasts and warnings of weather and water extremes, develop systems for faster dissemination of warnings of dangerous weather and water events to citizens and emergency services, and strengthen climate change adaptation activities. At the same time, the project will enable the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute to further develop its capacity to implement adaptation measures and improve resilience to climate change in the water and utilities sector to ensure sustainable management of water resources under increasingly intense and frequent climate extremes.
“The awareness that Croatia is among the three EU countries that suffer the most from the effects of climate change has prompted the Water Institute, as the national body responsible for water monitoring, to strengthen its capacity for timely detection of impacts such as salinity, eutrophication of water and increasingly frequent turbidity as a direct result of more extreme weather conditions,” explained the Director of the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute, Mario Šiljeg, Associate Professor.
