During the tourist season, historic cities receive large numbers of visitors and simultaneously generate significantly greater volumes of waste. Narrow streets, limited space, sensitive architecture and insufficiently developed waste management infrastructure make waste collection and treatment even more challenging.

To address these challenges, partners from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro have brought together scientific expertise, management experience and local knowledge through the FICHO project. The project is coordinated by the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar. Alongside the Ruđer Bošković Institute, the partners include the City of Šibenik, the Tourist Board of the City of Mostar, the Municipality of Kotor, and the Association for Development, Environment and Culture EKO ZH. The project is supported by the Interreg VI A IPA Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro Programme.

RBI’s role focuses on providing scientific and professional support for the development, testing and evaluation of project solutions. RBI researchers will help ensure that the proposed waste management models are based on data, measurable indicators and scientific evidence.

“We will devote particular attention to assessing the impact of pilot activities in Šibenik, Mostar and Kotor. We will analyse their results to determine the extent to which individual solutions can help prevent waste generation, improve separate collection, increase product reuse and support better decision making in local communities. The project will develop and test a range of activities, including an analysis of existing waste management systems, the testing of smart separate waste collection systems, the development of product reuse and repair programmes, and the creation of a digital decision support tool,” said Dr Branka Njegić Džakula, who leads FICHO project activities at the Ruđer Bošković Institute.

The partners will also develop a roadmap towards the Zero Waste concept, helping cities plan long term measures to reduce waste, increase recycling and use materials more efficiently.

“Our team will also contribute to developing recommendations that will allow the project’s results to be applied in other historic cities and destinations facing significant tourism pressures. This gives the project broader value, as the solutions developed in the three participating cities could provide a foundation for similar communities elsewhere in Europe,” explained Dr Branka Njegić Džakula. She added that, alongside researchers from the Laboratory for Precipitation Processes within the Division of Materials Chemistry, the Computational Biosciences Group within the Division of Physical Chemistry will also participate in the project.

In addition to scientific research and tool development, the project will include educational activities for citizens, school pupils, public services, businesses and tourists. The objective is to encourage changes in everyday habits and strengthen cooperation between science, local government, municipal service providers and citizens.

Povijesni gradovi tijekom turističke sezone istodobno primaju velik broj posjetitelja i stvaraju znatno veće količine otpada. Uske ulice, ograničen prostor, osjetljiva arhitektura i nedovoljno razvijena infrastruktura za gospodarenje otpadom dodatno otežavaju prikupljanje i obradu otpada.

Kako bi odgovorili na te izazove, partneri iz Hrvatske, Bosne i Hercegovine i Crne Gore udružili su znanstveno, upravljačko i lokalno iskustvo u projektu FICHO. Projekt vodi Energetski institut Hrvoje Požar, a uz Institut Ruđer Bošković sudjeluju Grad Šibenik, Turistička zajednica Grada Mostara, Opština Kotor i Udruga za razvoj, okoliš i kulturu EKO ZH, uz potporu programa Interreg VI-A IPA Hrvatska – Bosna i Hercegovina – Crna Gora.

Uloga IRB-a usmjerena je na znanstvenu i stručnu potporu razvoju, testiranju i vrednovanju projektnih rješenja. Istraživači IRB-a pridonijet će tome da predloženi modeli gospodarenja otpadom budu utemeljeni na podacima, mjerljivim pokazateljima i znanstvenim spoznajama.