It all started 26 years ago with the idea of ​​starting a telephone line where citizens can report problems in the environment or to make suggestions, and the on-call person transmitted the information to the competent institutions. Three years later, the idea was, under the name of Green phone, realized in Zagreb, at the Green Action association.

Today as many as 10 environmental preservation association, gathered in the Green phone network, receive reports from citizen from all of Croatia, at the unique Green phone: 072 123 456. To date, the Green phone received 39478 reports from concerned citizens. The Green phone records numerous successful cooperation and partnerships with public services and state bodies to protect the environment and nature, however, as well as a large number of less successful cooperation. This was the direct cause for the Green phone network associations for a joint analysis of previous work, with a focus on the obstacles and problems in dealing with citizens' complaints.

Although there are differences in each of the counties in the treatment of the relevant services, the general assessment of the cooperation is an average, solid C.

Unfortunately, only individual services deserve an excellent mark, exclusively for its individuals who responsibly carry out their work and are always available to provide information.
Results of surveys and interviews clearly indicate that the majority of competent institutions and services have insufficient financial, material and human resources, and this hinders them in their effective daily work.

In addition to the above problems, we have found the need to:
• improve the situation in the field of inter-sectoral cooperation and networking and to create additional trust and cooperation of all members in the protection of the environment in order to exchange experiences and to better understand the role of each member in their work and in general the situation in the society as a whole
• educate representatives of the competent services, but also citizens in various fields
• improve the transparency and efficiency in the work of the competent services
• create citizens’ trust

The publication is available here.

This publication is part of the project "Partnership for the Environment: Development of capacity in the environmental protection of the public and civil sector in Croatia through the implementation of the Green phone service" funded by the European Union and co-financed by the Office for NGOs of the Croatian Government and the Primorsko-goranska County.