The second Croatian Community of Practice (CoP) meeting was held on 28 November 2025 in the Nature Park Žumberak – Samobor Mountains. 

The second meeting was arranged around recent progress in Croatia in the fields of ecosystem accounting, ecosystem services assessments and biodiversity protection. The meeting agenda was jointly shaped by CoP members and centred on sharing successful projects, ongoing national developments and recent advancements across policy, research and practice. 

In total, ten participants from five institutions took part, representing national authorities, research organisations, a protected area authority, and the private sector. Institutions involved included the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition of the Republic of Croatia (MZOZT), the Croatian Forest Research Institute (CFRI), the Public Institution Žumberak–Samoborsko gorje Nature Park, Geonatura Ltd, and Dvokut Ecro Ltd.

The programme featured five presentations, followed by a joint discussion. It began with an update on the progress of the SELINA project, presented by Martina Kičić (CFRI) and followed by a series of thematic inputs.

Tamara Kirin (MZOZT) provided an overview of progress on the national Ecosystem Accounts Regulation, after which Andrea Blažević (Public Institution Zumberak–Samoborsko gorje Nature Park) presented the Interreg (HR–SI) project Car Ex, focusing on how caring for dry lawns contributes to the preservation of biodiversity.

This was followed by a presentation from Tea Šilić (Geonatura Ltd.) on the TUNE IT project, and the session concluded with Silvija Krajter Ostoić (CFRI), who introduced the GREEN HEART OF THE CITY project on participatory mapping of ecosystem services in urban forest parks.

After the first online meeting, this in-person format proved particularly valuable for strengthening dialogue, networking and collaboration, with members agreeing to continue co-organising future meetings as a platform for knowledge exchange.