Zagreb - Digital and green transformation is Croatia's and Europe's future, participants in the second part of the "Conference on the Future of Europe - A Vision of Croatia", held at the Croatian Parliament on Tuesday.
The Conference on the Future of Europe started a year later than planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its purpose being to involve citizens in Europe's development. The conference consists of a digital, multilingual platform, a panel, and a plenary assembly where 108 places are reserved for citizens.
Today we need more than ever the creative force of all 447 million EU citizens to overcome the social, demographic, economic, and health crisis, the head of the parliamentary Committee on European Affairs, Domagoj Hajduković, said.
Croatian Member of European Parliament Tonino Picula said that democracy was not static and that he looked forward to debates and decisions, while another Croatian MEP, Željana Zovko, said that citizens' voice would be crucial in setting the course for future Europe.
Participants in the second part of the conference agreed that it was necessary to invest in green and digital transformation.
Croatian MEP Valter Flego said that digital transformation had created possibilities one should know how to use in order to be a better tomorrow.
The chair of the parliament's Regional Development and EU Funds Committee, Marko Pavić, said that "investing in green and digital transformation is key", recalling that Croatia had €24 billion at its disposal.
The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Gari Cappelli, welcomed the swift political agreement in the EU ahead of the tourist season.
As of 1 June, the green digital certificate will enable safe movement in the EU as of the very start of the summer tourist season, thus enabling the revitalisation of economic activity," said Cappelli.
MEP Tomislav Sokol welcomed the joint procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine in the EU, saying that without it, small countries like Croatia would definitely be in a much worse position.
Future and youth
The event also included a video conference with ten Croatian university towns, with rectors and their deputies as well as students' representatives discussing sustainable tourism, the future of the IT industry, education, culture, media, entrepreneurship, work, and digital nomads, the Mediterranean and migrations, public health and green farming.
Dubrovnik University Vice-Rector Nebojša Stojčić said that young people should be educated about sustainable tourism because it was too frequently identified only with care about the environment while it was much more than that.
"Sustainability includes the sociological, cultural and economic components... it tries to reconcile demands by the local community for a better life and visitors' expectations regarding the quality of experience," he said.
Osijek University Rector Vlado Guberac said that the university had introduced attractive IT courses in order to try to keep as many young people as possible in the east of Croatia.
Pula University Vice-Rector Mirjana Radetić-Paić said that the future of education was in "more online programs, greater personalisation of learning, and stronger mentoring work."
Two other university officials called for strengthening media literacy through education and for investing in digital transformation.