HRVATSKI GEOLOSKI INSTITUT

Their core work

The Croatian Geological Survey (HGI-CGS) is Croatia's national geological survey organization, providing applied geoscience services including groundwater assessment, mineral resource mapping, geo-energy evaluation, and geological hazard analysis. Within H2020, they primarily contributed expertise on raw materials intelligence and mineral resource policy — participating in pan-European efforts to map secondary raw materials, analyze mineral supply chains, and integrate land-use planning with resource extraction. Their EU engagement focused heavily on building a unified European geological service infrastructure and strengthening their own institutional research capacity through a dedicated Twinning project.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

HGI-CGS entered H2020 (2015-2016) primarily as a third-party contributor to large raw materials coordination actions — ProSUM, MICA, FORAM, and Minland all dealt with mineral resource mapping, supply chain intelligence, and land-use policy. From 2017 onward, their involvement deepened: they became a direct participant in GeoERA (broadening into geo-energy and groundwater) and took on a coordinator role in GeoTwinn, signaling a deliberate push to upgrade their institutional research capacity. The shift is from passive data contributor to active research partner building independent capabilities.

HGI-CGS is investing in institutional strengthening to transition from a supporting data provider to a full research partner in European geoscience initiatives — expect growing independent project leadership in future calls.

How they like to work

HGI-CGS predominantly joined large coordination and support actions (CSAs) as a third party — 4 of their 6 projects follow this pattern, which is typical for national geological surveys contributing data and expertise to pan-European mapping initiatives. Their one coordination role (GeoTwinn) was a Twinning project, where they were the capacity-receiving institution rather than leading a research agenda. With 111 unique partners across 38 countries, their network is wide but largely inherited from participating in large consortia rather than built through selective bilateral partnerships.

Through participation in large CSA consortia, HGI-CGS has touched 111 unique partners across 38 countries, giving them broad European connections — particularly with other national geological surveys and raw materials policy bodies. However, this wide network reflects consortium membership rather than deep bilateral collaboration ties.

What sets them apart

As Croatia's national geological survey, HGI-CGS offers something few academic partners can: authoritative national-level geological data, subsurface mapping, and regulatory knowledge for the Croatian and Western Balkan context. Their GeoTwinn investment signals an organization actively upgrading its research infrastructure, making them a potentially strong partner for consortia needing Southeast European geological expertise and Widening country participation. For consortium builders, they bring both the data access of a national survey and the institutional motivation of an organization working to close the capability gap with Western European peers.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GeoTwinn
  Their only coordinator role and largest funded project (€419K) — a Twinning action specifically designed to strengthen HGI-CGS research capacity in partnership with advanced geological surveys.
• GeoERA
  The flagship European Geological Surveys Research Area project (€210K to HGI-CGS), positioning them within the core network of European geological survey organizations.