PROJECTS

My current research interests comprise:

urban planning theory and practice
transfer of knowledge, methods and practices between urban planning research and practice
urban greenspace studies
cultural ecosystem services
urban adaptation to climate change

Current projects

PhD research on urban greenspace planning in socialist and post-socialist Croatia

The research I am conducting is concerned with urban nature in Zagreb, Croatia after the mid-20th century, trying to understand changes in the ways such nature has been perceived, appreciated, planned, managed and used in socialist and post-socialist periods. Moreover, the research will try to reveal how urbanites and urban planner's stance toward urban nature has been affected by the ideological, political and socio-cultural settings of different periods. An important dimension of the research is trying to translate the acquired information into applicable knowledge.

So far the project resulted in:

research paper "Can we plan for urban cultural ecosystem services?"
review paper "Urban planning in socialist Croatia"
conference presentation "Creating opportunities as a form of planning for cultural ecosystem services"

Previous projects

leader of the student research project investigating physical geographical and geoecological features of Kupčina Valley, Croatia (2013-2015)

I led a group of students who proposed and carried out the research project in collaboration between the University of Zagreb and Regional Agency for Nature Protection of Zagreb County.

project resulted in:

study “Physical geographical and geoecological features of Kupčina River valley, Croatia”
public presentation “How physical geographers can contribute to environment protection and spatial planning”
scientific paper “The role of physical geographic studies in spatial planning of protected areas in Croatia” (in preparation)

self-organized research project on public perception of geography in Croatia (2012-2013)

In collaboration with a colleague I proposed and conducted a research project that involved extensive survey throughout Croatia. We used survey and statistical methods; data (gathered through 1178 questionnaires) processed in SPSS Statistics and Microsoft Excel.

project resulted in:

student research paper “The public perception of geography” (co-authored by Ivan Tekić) awarded with Rector’s award for exceptional student research project
scientific paper “The perception of geography as science and as a school subject”
conference presentation “Public perception of geography as science and as a school subject”

leader of the student research project on spatial cognition of Mediterranean in Croatia (2012-2013)

We used survey and statistical methods and processed data in GIS and Microsoft Excel.

project resulted in:

scientific paper “Spatial Cognition of the Mediterranean in Croatia”