Studenac: Groundwater, Guardian of Life, launched on March 22, World Water Day, will include river cleanup campaigns and civic education programs. The kickoff event, held at the Aquatika aquarium in the central Croatian city of Karlovac, featured an expert panel that covered topics such as the need to protect drinking water and biodiversity, and the importance of citizen engagement in water protection efforts that can help stop pollution and over-use of groundwater.
Studenac’s One Step Closer to Nature environmental-protection program also includes projects to clean up the sea floor in the company’s home region on the Adriatic coast. As the chain has expanded to build a nationwide presence, it has also launched initiatives to preserve urban biodiversity by placing birdhouses around the capital city, Zagreb. Studenac is actively engaged in encouraging sustainable development throughout Croatia, including support for family farmers in the eastern region of Slavonia.
“Guardian of Life is built around both education and engagement,” said Studenac Marketing Director Miranda Mladin. “We show people the importance of groundwater resources but we don’t stop there – we also provide hands-on opportunities for them to protect and improve the groundwater resources in their local communities.”
Partners of the project include Croatia’s Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Karlovac County, the City of Karlovac and the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute.
World Water Day has been organized by the United Nations every year since 1993 to pursue objectives such as increasing recognition around the globe of the need to protect groundwater from pollution and use it sustainably, balancing the needs of people and the planet. Groundwater plays a vital role in water and sanitation systems, agriculture, industry, ecosystems and climate change adaptation. Good groundwater management is needed to achieve most of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which Studenac supports in other ESG initiatives.
The Guardian of Life website educates visitors about the importance of groundwater, provides them with tips on how to take care of it more efficiently with small changes to their behavior and offers information on upcoming activities.
The launch event featured a quiz for fifth- and sixth-grade students from Karlovac, helped by the Ekoznalci, the mascots of Studenac’s One Step Closer to Nature initiative.
Studenac:
Founded in 1991, Studenac d.o.o. is Croatia’s largest retail chain by number of stores, with more than 1,200 outlets. After two decades of primarily organic growth, the company’s expansion accelerated in 2018 when it was purchased by leading regional private equity fund Enterprise Investors. That investment led to the acquisitions of Istarski Supermarketi and Sonik the following year; Bure Trgovina in 2021; Pemo, Kordun, Duravit and Lonia Trgovina in 2022; and Strahinjčica, Špar Trgovina and La-Vor in 2023. After growing organically and investing more than €120 million in acquisitions, Studenac now employs more than 6,000 people and is present throughout the country, including the capital Zagreb. The company’s international management team is building a leading nationwide proximity retail chain, rolling out new concepts and formulas from cutting-edge global retailers on the local market. For more information, please visit studenac.hr/en.
