Bosch Croatia a partner in project “Adriatic Sea Treasure”

It is not often that we can see real treasure from the depths of the Adriatic Sea in one place, and that is exactly the chance that Crikvenica inhabitants and visitors got this week, because the city of Crikvenica was selected as the host of the premiere of the mobile exhibition “Adriatic Sea Treasure”. In the exhibition bus, visitors could see the most attractive shells of Adriatic bivalvia and gastropods, crustacean shells, sea sponge and coral skeletons.

According to Doris Dajić, the young author of the project, the main goal of the project is to educate the public about the need to preserve the Adriatic and its biodiversity, while special emphasis is put on the importance of preserving the noble pen shell, that is in danger of extinction, not only in Croatia, but in the whole world. The realization of the project was supported by the company Bosch Croatia, as the main partner, that followed the project from the very start, she added.

It has been two years since we started with the realization of this project, mostly with our own funding and in difficult circumstances. But we succeeded in the end and I can now say that all the hard work paid off. Bosch Croatia recognized the potential of this project from the very start and they supported us every step of the way, providing us with their technology and financial support. Without them and other partners we would not be here today, said Dajić.

The City of Crikvenica pointed out that the manner in which this unique exhibition is arranged makes it the only one its kind in the world. Moreover, it is a new tourist attraction for the city as well. The majority of showpieces was collected in the sea around Crikvenica, which goes to show that the habitat in the area is well preserved.

Crikvenica is one of this year’s tourist champions. We do not want to lament and use the pandemic as an excuse. As a partner city, we supported this new tourist attraction which goes hand in hand with things we have been doing for years – investing in the protection and purity of the sea and developing health tourism, from which we will surely benefit, said Marijana Biondić, the director of the Crikvenica Tourist Board on behalf of the City of Crikvenica.

Because of its focus on health tourism, Crikvenica was selected as the first city in Croatia where Bosch presented its newest product called “Air Quality Box” which measured the air quality in the city over the course of seven days. The results confirmed that the air was cleaner and of better quality in comparison to many European cities where similar measurements were performed. It is interesting to compare Crikvenica to London, for example, where the air quality index is 68, while Crikvenica has the index of 25, meaning that Crikvenica falls within the category of cities with high air quality. These devices have been installed in eight other countries so far, including Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and the USA. The permanent installation of this device in Crikvenica, and other coastal cities, would enable better management by using smart technologies.

Bosch says that they are proud of having the chance to be the main partner in the project that draws the attention to the beauties of our Adriatic and the importance of its preservation for posterity in a special way. In order to further reduce environmental impact, they set an ambitious goal as a company to eliminate their carbon footprint by the end of the year and they are determined to succeed.

- Thereby, we will become the first industrial company to become climate neutral in all 400 locations over the world. We don’t stray off our path. As a global company, we keep on investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and neutralization of unavoidable carbon emissions all around the world. It is possible – here and now. This has been Bosch’s guiding principle for decades when it comes to environment protection. Our technology is present in every part of the life, even in this bus where the exhibition takes place. If Bosch, as an industrial company, can turn its business around and become the environmental protector, create the “Invented for Life” technology, then each and every one of us can do the same in some way. You can be certain that we will always respond to this kind of activities that promote the protection of environment, said Mirsada Kudrić, General Manager of Bosch Croatia.

Bosch has defined four levels of neutrality which encompass the increase of energy efficiency by optimizing energy consumption, the use of new “clean” energy (renewable energy sources, biomass, geothermal energy, generating heat and electricity from hydrogen) and the production of green electricity in new or existing plants. The last level encompasses the offsetting of the CO2 emission. Bosch is trying to minimize the emissions in every part of the value chain. In areas where this is not possible, Bosch compensates for the emission by supporting projects that aim to protect our planet. They will continue expanding its activities in this area, thus striving to reduce indirect emissions as well. This refers to the purchase of goods and services, business trips, transport, but also the usability of our products. The end goal is to reduce indirect emissions by 15% by 2030. Moreover, there are some new projects planned.

It is worth noting that the godmother of this unique exhibition is the young Kristina Ivanuš, who won the 2020 Hermann Gmeiner Award for her activities in the area of sea and coast protection. She also grew up in the SOS Children’s Village Lekenik that has been supported by Bosch Croatia for the last seven years, and the cooperation has grown into a truly great friendship. On this occasion, she received Bosch’s latest donation in the amount of 40 thousand Croatian kuna for the children’s village.

The exhibition “Adriatic Sea Treasure” should, when civil protection measures allow for it, visit the SOS Children’s Village Lekenik as well, and then start its journey across Croatian schools in order to educate kids about the importance of preserving the Adriatic. Next year’s tourist season will see the exhibition visiting tourist hotspots along the coast.