About Us

THE CHARITY'S DETAILS:

  

ECO HVAR, UDRUGA ZA DOBROBIT LJUDI, ŽIVOTINJA I OKOLIŠA OTOKA HVARA
(A not-for-profit organization for the wellbeing of people, animals and the environment on the Island of Hvar)
Registered address: Pitve 93, 21465 Jelsa, Hrvatska / Croatia
OIB (tax identity number): 14009858487
General registration number (matični broj): 04089316
Number on the Register of not-for-profit organizations (broj iz matičnog registra): 17004814.
RNO number 0254098

BANK DETAILS

Privredna Banka Zagreb d.d.
Poslovnica 220 Pjaca, Pjaca 1
21465 Jelsa, Croatia
IBAN: HR37 2340 0091 1106 0678 6 (Account number)
SWIFT CODE: PBZGHR2X
Account name: ECO HVAR
Address of account holder: Pitve 93, 21465 Jelsa, Croatia

o-nama

COMMITTEE MEMBERS, CHARITY REPRESENTATIVES:

VIVIAN GRISOGONO (MA Oxon), founder member and Eco Hvar's President, worked as a Chartered Physiotherapist in the United Kingdom for over 27 years, specializing in trauma and sports injuries, but also treating patients with chronic conditions, including stroke and heart attack victims, rheumatoid arthritis sufferers and anorexics. Her personal website is www.viviangrisogono.com. As a health worker she is concerned about the environment, because poor environmental management can have - and is having - disastrous effects on our wellbeing. Being a lifelong animal lover, she has always been actively engaged in animal welfare. Having first visited Hvar in about 1968, she moved to the island permanently in 2004. She is on the Management Committee for the European Foundation for Philanthropy and Social Development, and for LAG Škoji (Local Action Group - Islands)

DEBORA BUNČUGA, Eco Hvar's Secretary, has three children. She was elected to the Steering Committee as representative and Secretary for the Charity and signatory for its Bank transactions and other financial documentation at the 4th Annual General Meeting held on 17th June 2017. She is a lifelong animal lover, dedicated to helping animals in need (as is her sister Daniela Lučić, who is also an Eco Hvar Supporter). Apart from her busy family life, Debora is a leading light in Jelsa's social activities, notably the „Karnevol“ organization (Facebook page, in Croatian), which is part of the lifeblood animating the local winter scene.

MARIJA BUNČUGA was elected to the Steering Committee as a representative of the Charity and signatory to the Charity's financial documents at the Extraordinary Meeting held on 22nd February 2019. Born and raised in Jelsa, after finishing high school she went to Zagreb for her studies, graduating in 2001 from the Faculty of Economics. After that she returned to live in Jelsa. She is married and has two children. She has a lifelong love of animals and nature, and spends all her free time in her garden, where she grows flowers, fruit and vegetables organically. She is an active member of the „Karnevol“ organization (Facebook page, in Croatian), and the Association of Hvar Wineries. 

DINKA BARBIĆ was elected to the Steering Committee as a representative of the Charity and signatory to the Charity's financial documents at the 2018 Annual General Meeting, held on June 24th 2019. She was born in Washington, U.S.A., where she spent her early and middle childhood, after which she lived in Zagreb until her mid-20’s. Having always loved Jelsa, which she considered her true home, she finally came to live there in 2005. Her greatest wish is to pass on to her kids her love of the place and her awareness of what a privilege it is to live in such a beautiful environment. She would also like to help achieve change on the island, being aware that all too often it is in the islanders' mindset to take Nature for granted, instead of appreciating the beauty and riches in their surroundings and learning to cherish them.

SARA RADONIĆ was elected to the Steering Committee as a representative of the Charity at the Extraordinary Meeting held on March 23rd 2022. She holds an international Master Grooming certificate for dogs and cats, awarded in 2019. Her wide-ranging interests include cynology (the systematic study of dogs), video production, photography, design, art directing, foreign languages, education and working with people. Educated in Slovenia, in high school she majored in art studies with the focus on design and photography. She studied clothing and textile design in the Design Faculty in Slovenia (2009 - 2013), taking a pre-graduation course as an Erasmus scholar at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania (2011 - 2012). From 2013 to 2014 she took a Masters degree in Fashion Brand Management at the prestigious Polimoda Fashion School in Florence, Italy. Sara worked for many years in design, as Fashion Brand Manager for Zara Magistrat d.o.o. (2007 - 2008) and as stylist for Eurosport Trade d.o.o. (2009), Cliche d.o.o. (2010) and Maxi Market d.o.o. (2010 – 2011). From 2010 to 2014 Sara worked as an assistant designer at M*Faganel s.p., organising fashion shows, writing fashion editorials, filming, photographing and creating profiles for the social networks. From 2012 to 2013 she managed the conceptual marketing for the Koda 386 Designer store d.o.o., designing and managing their profiles on the social networks. In 2014 she worked for Trendstop, analysing market trends in the fashion industry and creating strategic planning. From 2017 to 2020 Sara worked as Marketing and Brand Manager for the Jelsa wine company Duboković d.o.o. Now mother to two children, in 2021 she founded her own specialized design company, called Konceptura.

FORMER COMMITTEE MEMBERS

NADA KOZULIĆ, the Charity's Vice President and one of its founder members, is a lawyer by profession. From being a prize-winning student at the Zagreb Law Faculty, she had an exceptionally distinguished career. After working as a corporate lawyer, she was appointed Judge at the early age of 31 to the Primary Court for Labour-related litigation in Varaždin,where she worked for ten years. She was President of the Court up to the time it was dissolved in 1990. She went on to distinguished posts in the fields of financial and banking law. Among her many significant achievements she was involved in setting up Varaždin's capital market and projects for establishing the capital market in Croatia as a whole, from legislation to founding investment funds. She was a member of the directorate of the central Croatian Chamber of Commerce, which was the first Croatian institution to achieve EU standards well in advance of Croatia's accession. A native of Zagreb, Nada has lived mainly in Varaždin, but has been coming to Hvar Island since her childhood. in retirement, she has divided her time between Varaždin and Jelsa. She enjoys devoting time to gardening and looking after cats and dogs according to need. As a founder-member of Eco Hvar, Nada was designated the Charity's honorary legal and financial adviser. Even after resigning from the Steering Committee, Nada has continued to give her help and advice freely to the Charity, for which we are most gratfeul.

MIRANDA MILIČIĆ BRADBURY, founder member and formerly Charity Secretary, has two small children, and so has a keen interest in health and the environment. She studied law, and now works in tourism. She is a skilled photographer, and also very adept at handicrafts. She is particularly good at constructing magically imaginative carnival costumes for the children out of the simplest materials. A native of Jelsa, Miranda cares deeply for the wellbeing of Hvar Island. After moving to Varaždin, she resigned her position on the Committee, even though she retained her strong interest in the wellbeing of her native island. All members of Eco Hvar remain grateful to her for her invaluable help in launching the Charity to its successful start over its first formative years, and for continuing to support its aims at a distance. 

 

You are here: Home About Us

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Elnur Soltanov recorded speaking with fake oil and gas group that asked for deals in exchange for sponsoring talks

    The chief executive of Cop29 has been filmed apparently agreeing to facilitate fossil fuel deals at the climate summit.

    The recording has amplified calls by campaigners who want the fossil fuel industry and its lobbyists to be banned from future Cop talks.

    Continue reading...

  • The right funding now can protect the frontlines of the climate crisis from the worst effects of extreme weather events

    As we approach Cop29 in Baku, world leaders are due to set a new climate finance goal – a sum set aside to help poor countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of the climate crisis. Their negotiations take place against a backdrop of increasingly severe weather events. This year alone, we have witnessed deadly heatwaves across north Africa, Mexico, India and Saudi Arabia; a historic drought across southern Africa; catastrophic wildfires in the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands; record-breaking hurricanes in the Caribbean and the US; and plenty more. The climate emergency knows no borders and spares no one.

    These events serve as stark reminders of the pressing need for world leaders and all of us to protect vulnerable communities on the frontline of the climate crisis. For many developing countries, particularly in Africa, the cost of climate impacts is staggering. African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP because of climate extremes, while some are diverting as much as 9% of their national budgets to overcome the fallout from them. The latest report by the World Meteorological Organization estimates that Africa south of the Sahara alone will need $30bn-$50bn annually over the next decade just to meet the costs of protecting communities facing unprecedented climate-related disasters. We will not be able to reduce poverty, eliminate hunger and build a prosperous and resilient global community without addressing the climate crisis.

    Ban Ki-moon is a former secretary general of the United Nations and co-chair, Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens

    Continue reading...

  • The new president’s disruptive policies will challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s green goals. But with strong leadership he could enhance Britain’s global influence

    Donald Trump’s electoral earthquake in America will complicate Sir Keir Starmer’s plans. Nowhere will the shock of Mr Trump’s win be more intensely felt than in environmental policy. His stance on climate – advocating a US exit from the Paris climate agreement and rallying behind “drill baby drill” – is more disruptive than constructive. This should concentrate Sir Keir’s mind as he heads to Cop29, the UN’s annual climate summit, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

    At last year’s conference, world leaders agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels in a just and orderly manner for the first time. Mr Trump, however, dismisses the climate crisis as a hoax. With this year likely to be the hottest on record, the devastating effects of global heating are undeniable, as extreme weather batters the planet. Mr Trump may ignore the facts, but the trail of climate-related chaos and destruction speaks for itself.

    Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

    Continue reading...

  • Black Mountains, south Wales: I pass statuesque bulls with brass rings through their nostrils, up a twisting ridge to the top

    Holy mountains are ten a penny in the “Celtic realms”, of course, but even among this plethora of landscape spirituality, Skirrid Fawr, at 1,594 feet, stands out, its great distinguishing landslip cleft clearly visible on its weather slope, gothically accentuated and strange.

    I’d viewed it the previous evening, a blue peak with a rockfall on its western scarp. So I ambled towards it on a dank afternoon from the valley of the little Afon Troddi, along delightful paths enlivened now and again by statuesque bulls sporting great brass rings through their nostrils.

    Continue reading...

  • On the eve of Cop29 in Baku, António Guterres says dangers are underestimated as irreversible tipping points near

    The world is still underestimating the risk of catastrophic climate breakdown and ecosystem collapse, the UN secretary general has warned in the run-up to Cop29, acknowledging that the rise in global heating is on course to soar past 1.5C (2.7F) over pre-industrial levels in the coming years.

    Humanity is approaching potentially irreversible tipping points such as the collapse of the Amazon rainforest and the Greenland ice sheet as global temperatures rise, António Guterres has said, warning that governments are not making the deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions needed to limit warming to safe levels.

    Continue reading...

  • Farmers’ union to bring 1,800 members to Westminster in protest, but some say mega-rich landowners are the problem

    In the next few weeks tractors full of angry farmers could roll through the stately streets of Westminster. They have had enough, they say. The change to inheritance tax in the government’s budget last week was a blow – but it was also the most recent of a long series of blows. This is, apparently, as much as they can take.

    Rachel Reeves stirred up anger when she made a surprise announcement at the budget that farmland worth more than £1m would be subject to inheritance tax. Since 1992, agricultural property relief (APR) has meant family farms have been passed down tax-free in a policy intended to bolster food security and keep people on the family land.

    Continue reading...

  • This marvel of nature can survive dehydration for years – but watering it will reveal beautiful green leaves

    Why will I love it?
    The fascinating resurrection plant (Selaginella lepidophylla) is a marvel of nature that can survive extreme dehydration for years by curling into a seemingly lifeless brown, dry ball, only to “resurrect” itself and turn green again when exposed to water.

    Light or shade?
    It thrives in bright, indirect light.

    Continue reading...

  • Prospects of strong outcome appear dim but there is hope the talks will address pressing issue of climate finance

    More than 100 heads of state and government are expected to land in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, over the next few days and the first thing they are likely to notice is the smell of oil. The odour hangs heavy in the air, evidence of the abundance of fossil fuels in this small country on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

    Flaring from refineries lights up the night sky, and the city is dotted with diminutive “nodding donkey” oil wells raising and lowering their pistons as they draw from the earth. Even the national symbol is a gas flame, epitomised in the shape of three skyscrapers that tower over the city.

    Continue reading...

  • Government must take urgent steps to change UK travel behaviour if carbon dioxide reduction goals are to be met

    Europe-wide research has shown Britons are more willing than most Europeans to reduce their use of cars and aeroplanes – an essential requirement if carbon dioxide reduction targets are to be met.

    During the Covid pandemic, consumption of petrol, diesel and paraffin plummeted as government restrictions forced people to stay at home – the UK had the third-largest reduction after Austria and Sweden.

    Continue reading...

  • Country’s foreign minister says UN climate summits have produced ‘no results’ as Pacific nation takes the rare step of withdrawing from upcoming Cop29

    Papua New Guinea’s decision to pull out of an upcoming UN global climate summit due to frustration over “empty promises and inaction” has prompted concern from climate advocates, who fear the move will isolate the Pacific nation and put vital funding at risk.

    Prime minister James Marape announced in August the country would not attend Cop29 in “protest at the big nations” for a lack of “quick support to victims of climate change”. Then last week, foreign affairs minister Justin Tckatchenko, confirmed Papua New Guinea would withdraw from high-level talks at the summit, whichbegins on 11 November in Baku, Azerbaijan, describing it as “a total waste of time”.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds