Sustainable development today is a groundwork for adapting policies and strategies for continuous economic and social progress, without harming the environment and natural resources essential to humanity in the future. There are a total of 17 Goals, which are integrated and interrelated, and include, among other priorities, areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace, and justice. Action in one area affects outcomes in other; as such, all economic and social development efforts must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability which places particular emphasis on the role of the public sector.

The public sector should be driven by positive social change, not worried by profit – therefore it should be the generator of the change: initiate it by its principles and code of conduct, pilot projects that could be examples of how it should be done, and support private initiatives that share their common goals. In the end, it is the public sector, i.e., the state that should provide long-term safety and comfort for its constituency and should internalize the principles of SDGs and be responsible for their implementation. The SDGs are to be achieved around the world, and by all UN member states by 2030. Since time quickly passes that creates a sense of urgency and the need to prioritize things.

Here are six priorities that can help accelerate the evolution to a sustainable future:

1. Significantly increase funding for innovation and research

Besides increasing public funding, governments must install a suitable policy framework to stem a broader private involvement in R&D and nurture an environment that decreases risks and unlocks the full potential of private investment. An integrated system approach involving cross-government and cross-sector coordination requires a clear vision, realistic timelines, and a supportive regulatory environment.

2. Deliver detailed and industry-specific roadmaps

Roadmaps produced in collaboration with the industry must provide a long-term action plan with measurable targets. Making the plans public would broadcast how governments are working towards environmental goals and would set out the roles of the main players. These industry-specific roadmaps should set out specific policy measures and initiatives, desired outcomes, timelines, and necessary resources – which would consequently bridge the gap between long-term commitments and short-term action plans.

3. Real-time insights into the implementation of action plans

Governments will need to monitor the implementation of their action plans for environmental impact transparency. Public sector entities must demonstrate that they have delivered their stated commitments, requirements, and priorities and have used public resources effectively. Through advanced data capture and analysis, governments can enhance their impact monitoring and reporting and set the pace for overall sustainability reporting by highlighting the environmental impact of their spending. Integrating the multiple frameworks for sustainability reporting and tailoring them to public sector specifics, would lead to upskilling staff with required data capabilities.

4. Create better conditions for funding and investment

The urgency of the environmental challenge calls for ambitious policies that prioritize climate action, build cross-sector support, create alternative markets, open competition, and encourage entrepreneurship. EU funds are forcing the public sector to think about SDG goals and implement them in all projects. The same goes for the national level since the EU program documents are forcing the national operative programs to be in line with SDGs and show how the programs are contributing. Having said that, the planning is still done to tick all the boxes and in principle, with a clear lack of a long-term plan or the will for sustainability and real change to take effect at the local/regional level.

5. Education and training

A national green skills plan can help map out the profile of skills needed, locations where new “green jobs” should be located, and how to invest in education and retraining with targeted funding. More effort is needed to fully mainstream sustainable development and global citizenship in national education systems. A recent global survey of primary and secondary teachers found that one in four teachers does not feel ready to teach themes related to these topics. Expanding and enhancing R&D on social innovation and the social economy in schools and universities can contribute to the development of both, local knowledge, and the talent pipeline.

6. A broader procurement for public and private channels

Governments can improve their carbon footprint by utilizing greener products and services and defining core green criteria for contracts while encouraging other stakeholders in improving their sustainable consumption and production practices.

To put it all together, a collaboration of every part of society including the general public, public and private sector, financial sector, agencies, and NGOs is the main characteristic of the future. Nowadays, it is clear that all stakeholders must do their part and if only one of them fails, the transition toward sustainability will not happen. Also, as everything always goes from a higher level to a lower one, global and national decision-makers significantly influence the local conditions for pursuing social and economic prosperity, social equality, and environmental protection.  At the same time, this requires top leadership that can provide the necessary funding and technical assistance.

When it comes to Croatia, decision-makers should be thoroughly familiar with the SDGs to properly incorporate them into strategies and action plans. Although the goals are global, their achievement will depend on the ability of local and regional authorities to turn them into reality. The harsh reality is that politicians, under pressure from industry lobbying and driven by public opinion, usually think only of short-term goals and lack of the willingness, time, and funds to implement real change. A possible solution lies in educating the public about environmental challenges which enable people as individuals to take suitable action and positively contribute to the well-being of their communities rewarding those decision-makers that are driven by the principles of SDGs. With less than 8 years left to achieve goals, all players in this “game” must be braver and ready to sacrifice the ease of living today for the benefit of tomorrow.

Source – AmCham Yearbook 2022.:
https://www.amcham.hr/amcham-godisnjak-2022-n1120
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Tourism is strategically one of the most important determinants of the Croatian economy. It does not contribute to our country exclusively from the economic aspect but also helps the promotion of its culture and goods on a global level. However, high seasonality, mass tourism, lack of capacity, and, above all, lack of cooperation between key stakeholders in recent years are the main challenges of the tourism industry. It is these segments that have been recognized by the SMARTMED project, which is carried out by the Ministry of Tourism.

Smart tourism in the Mediterranean

The SMARTMED project brings together 13 partners from 9 Mediterranean countries. Croatia will thus join Portugal, Spain, France, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Slovenia, and Greece in overcoming the aforesaid common challenges. The SMARTMED partnership will contribute to integrated tourism development planning in the Mediterranean. This will be achieved by developing and testing the Smart Tourism business model. This primarily aims to empower stakeholders to develop new products and innovations in tourism and contribute to the construction of smart Mediterranean destinations.

Smart tourism in Croatia

Apsolon, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, will work on the development of a business model for the Mediterranean and provide professional support for model testing in Croatia. As part of the development of the model, six different events will be organized with key stakeholders in Croatia. Apsolon will also develop basic methodological settings for creating an analytical basis for all partners and detect pilot initiatives.

The project was prepared within the framework of the transnational European Cooperation Programme for the Mediterranean area. The program encourages innovative concepts and practices of rational use of resources and social integration. You can find out more details about the project at the link.

The application of GDPR ongoes for three months. There was a lot of fear and confusion among companies, but the average citizen was given the opportunity to access their aggregated personal information on social networks, more clearly explained ways and purpose of processing this data when using loyalty programs and sending marketing materials to the email address

Over the past few months, the concept of GDPR has embarked on the collective consciousness of Croatian citizens, partly because of everyday articles on the subject in the media, partly because of requests for irritating consent forms sent by e-mail. Behind this concept is the Universal Data Protection Act (GDPR) that came into effect on May, 25 when its popularity on Google overcame the World Cup at the front, as well as numerous world stars such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, or Lionel Messi. Today, three months after, the number of searches has returned within the usual framework and many portals have ceased to inform citizens and organizations on the obligations the Regulation will introduce. The result of these articles has often been the deepening of confusion and fear of the Regulation and the rigorous penalties it prescribes. On the other hand, the result of the Regulation is a clearer process of processing personal data.

Data Access

There are three examples in which an average citizen could get acquainted with the Regulation: the ability to access their aggregated personal data on social networks, the more clearly explained ways and purposes of processing personal data when using a loyalty program, and giving them permission to send marketing material to an email address. Related to this, companies have the challenge to identify the personal information in their possession, revise or establish their privacy policies and personal data handling, and establish the legal basis for each process of handling or using personal data in their business.

Loyalty cards

Many merchant chains in Croatia are using loyalty programs through cards, QR codes and alike. So, without us being aware of this, our purchase habits became the subject of analysis, and we were the subject of profiling whereby the chains were trying to predict our purchasing habits. Although requirements and rules already exist, they have often been superficially written, insufficiently informative and detailed, so that an individual could not get a clear picture of what personal information is provided to companies, for what purpose and what will be done with them. As a result, personal data of individuals could be shared with non-sanctioned third parties, used for purposes that were not initially envisaged, and used in other ways provided by vague privacy rules. The Regulation has put this to an end, with a clear explanation of the information that needs to be provided to the individual when collecting personal data. In weeks before the introduction of the Regulation, many chains changed the privacy policy’s use of the loyalty program, some even issued brand new cards and programs, all to adjust privacy requirements to the Regulation requirements.

Email rescue

The best advantage that came with the Regulation is filtering out a large number of ‘newsletters’ that come to our inboxes every day. Prior to the Regulation, many organizations that collected our e-addresses for various purposes unilaterally decided to use them for sending marketing materials. With the Regulation, all these companies have to prove that each individual they send these materials has given them a clear and unambiguous consent, most of which did not have them. In order not to be left without the ability to send marketing materials to masses, the companies sent out panicky consent requests on the 25th of May, hoping to respond as quickly as possible and to maintain their marketing reach.

A lot of workload for the companies

To cope with these challenges, companies must make a series of steps. To identify all personal data in a company’s possession, it is necessary to revise all business processes to detail, focusing in particular on personal information that needs to be clearly identified and distinguished. This process should cover all departments and business processes, both internal and external, as it can only create a complete image of company-wide personal data and meet the individual’s demand for access to all of their personal information. The solution to inadequate privacy policies is their modification. The first step in this is to identify the discrepancy of the current content and the way of communicating the privacy policy to the users with what the Regulation requires.  The scope of information provided to users in the collection of personal data, the way privacy policy is disclosed (must be clearly separated from other rules of use), and also the manner in which the user gives the consent should be borne in mind. Based on identified deviations in these areas, companies had to change certain areas, but often create completely new privacy policies that were aligned with the Regulation. Related to this, but also with the last challenge outlined in this article, in order to avoid penalties, companies must use personal information only for the purposes for which they have individual consent. Companies that used e-mails from individuals to send marketing materials had to analyze the ways that e-addresses were collected. For example, if a user gave an e-mail address when registering at a web store, he did not give permission to submit promotional offers to his / her email address. The use of an e-mail address as a marketing channel must be clearly separated and the individual must give his/her consent, also under the terms and in the manner dictated by the Regulation. Only the appropriately given consent can be considered as a legal basis for sending a ‘newsletter’ to an individual’s email address.

The practice is created along the way

Based on these and many other challenges that companies face, a basic conclusion after several months of work on alignment projects is that this topic is complex and new to all stakeholders, mostly because it is not possible to map an example of good practice from other countries because the Regulation became binding for all organizations, from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Sweden on the same day. Namely, even companies outside the EU who handle personal data of EU citizens must embed it in the business and comply with its requirements. Nevertheless, we can all actively follow the disclosures, guidelines, and opinions of the Personal Data Protection Agency (AZOP), the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) or some foreign supervisory body, such as the British Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). While breaking through this forest of information, experts from Apsolon are available to you as external help in the process of alignment.

USEFUL ADVICE

What companies must do

• To identify all the personal information the company possesses, it is necessary to review all business processes to detail, focusing in particular on personal information.
• The first step in this is to identify the discrepancy of the current content and the way of communicating the privacy policy to the users with what the Regulation requires
• In order to avoid penalties, companies must use personal information only for the purposes for which they have individual consent. Those who used the e-mail address of individuals to submit marketing materials must analyze the ways in which their e-mail addresses were collected.