This year’s edition of the From Source to the Sea project launched by Coca-Cola, Konzum and the Association of Cities will see a whopping 28 participating cities. This is the number of cities that applied to participate in the project within one month (15 February to 15 March). In addition to promoting protection of Croatia’s water resources and encouraging proper waste disposal practices, this year’s edition includes a great novelty – planting of trees in urban settings, to be funded by the contest’s prize money, for the purpose of enhancing CO2 absorption and reducing air temperatures.
All cities who expressed their desire to afforest a particular city area and submitted valid applications became entitled to participate in the contest.
The following cities will participate in the Small Cities (with a population of up to 15 thousand) category: Crikvenica, Ilok, Korčula, Lipik, Ludbreg, Mali Lošinj, Otočac, Ploče, Vodnjan – Dignano, Zabok and Zlatar.
The following cities will participate in the Medium-Sized Cities (with a population of 15 thousand to 35 thousand) category: Čakovec, Daruvar, Duga Resa, Ivanec, Koprivnica, Makarska, Sveta Nedelja, Vinkovci, Virovitica and Zaprešić.
Bjelovar, Rijeka, Osijek, Split, Varaždin, Velika Gorica and Zadar are this year’s participants in the Big Cities (with a population of more than 35 thousand) category.
These cities will be required to organize a one-day cleaning campaign in cooperation with local NGOs and volunteers between 15 April and 31 May, and the top three cities, one in each category, will share EUR 42,000 in prize money, intended for purchasing tree seedlings for urban afforestation. Points will be earned based on the number of volunteers and amounts of waste collected, planting campaigns will be arranged with the winners in the autumn, from September to November, and special plaques will be awarded to them on completion of the activities.
Coca-Cola launched the From Source to the Sea project in Croatia in 2018, in cooperation with government institutions and civil society associations. Two years ago, Jutarnji list joined us as a partner, followed by Konzum in 2022. This year’s edition of the project will also include the Association of Cities in the Republic of Croatia and receive support from the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology of the University of Zagreb.