GRAD VELIKA GORICA

Their core work

Velika Gorica is a Croatian city municipality located near Zagreb that contributes local governance authority and urban territory to European research consortia. As a public body, their primary value in projects is providing a real-world testing ground for urban sustainability solutions — from low-carbon heating and cooling plans to green infrastructure deployment. In Planheat, they brought urban planning authority and local energy data to help develop planning tools for public administrations. In REGREEN, they served as an urban pilot site for nature-based solutions designed to improve city resilience and quality of life.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (2016), Velika Gorica focused on operational urban challenges: mapping waste heat sources, assessing heating and cooling potential, and training public officials to use energy planning tools — all practical governance tasks tied to decarbonising district-level infrastructure. By their second project (2019), the focus shifted from energy infrastructure to urban greening: nature-based solutions, ecosystem services, and education around green urban transitions. This suggests the municipality is broadening its sustainability mandate from technical energy management toward liveable, climate-resilient city design.

Velika Gorica is moving from energy-system planning toward urban ecology and nature-based resilience, suggesting future collaboration interest in green infrastructure, urban biodiversity, and climate adaptation for mid-size European cities.

How they like to work

Velika Gorica has participated exclusively as a consortium partner and has never led an H2020 project — typical for a municipal public body whose value lies in hosting, piloting, and legitimising research rather than driving it scientifically. Despite only two projects, they have accumulated 34 unique consortium partners across 14 countries, indicating that they join large, multi-partner RIA consortia where cities serve as demonstration sites. Partners working with them can expect access to a functioning urban administration willing to implement and test solutions at city scale.

Velika Gorica has built a surprisingly broad European network for a small municipality — 34 unique partners across 14 countries from just two projects. Their network spans research institutions, other cities, and technology developers drawn together by large RIA consortia, giving them established connections across the EU sustainability research community.

What sets them apart

Velika Gorica occupies a niche that many research consortia need but struggle to fill: a mid-size Croatian city authority with demonstrated experience in both energy planning and urban green infrastructure projects, providing geographic and regulatory diversity to consortia that need Central/Eastern European urban pilot sites. Their track record in two thematically distinct sustainability domains makes them a credible multi-sector partner rather than a single-topic actor. For project coordinators needing a Croatian public authority with EU project experience to satisfy geographic balance or open government requirements, Velika Gorica is one of the few options with verifiable H2020 participation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• REGREEN
  The largest project by EC contribution (EUR 112,310) and scope — a Europe-China collaboration on nature-based solutions running to 2024, placing Velika Gorica in an internationally visible urban transitions consortium.
• Planheat
  Demonstrates the municipality's early commitment to practical energy planning tools for public authorities, with a focus on local heating and cooling potential that is directly relevant to EU decarbonisation policy.