The report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui. It was produced as part of the programme of work of the Regional Development Policy Committee. The project was implemented in the context of the OECD “Enhanced Strategic Planning at Regional and Local Levels in Croatia” project. It was made possible thanks to the financial contributions of Norway Grants.
The report was co-ordinated by Stephan Visser, under the supervision of Maria Varinia Michalun, Head of the Governance and Strategic Planning Unit in the Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division, which is part of CFE, led by Dorothée Allain-Dupré.
Chapter 1 (Assessment and recommendations) was drafted by Geoff Upton and Stephan Visser (CFE). Josh Wood (CFE) drafted Chapter 2 (Setting the scene: Regional development trends in Croatia). Chapter 3 (Croatia’s regional development governance framework) was prepared by Geoff Upton and Stephan Visser. Chapter 4 (Regional development planning instruments and practices) was developed by Geoff Upton and Stephan Visser, as well as Silvia Picalarga and Claire Salama (GOV). Chapter 5 (Regional development funding and financing) was prepared by Miquel Vidal-Bover (CFE), in collaboration with Geoff Upton and Stephan Visser, under the supervision of Isabelle Chatry.
The full report benefited from valuable input and comments provided by Nadim Ahmad, Deputy Director of CFE; by Dorothée Allain-Dupré, Isabelle Chatry, and Antti Moisio in the CFE Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division; and by external contributors Helen Creighton and Meghan Hennessy. Thanks are also due to Marc Bournisien de Valmont, Betty-Ann Bryce, Delphine Clavreul (CFE) for their support throughout the project.
The OECD wishes to express its gratitude to Dubravko Ćuk, Danijela Grizelj, Iva Novak, Luka Novosel, Spomenka Đurić and Tomislav Belovari (Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of Croatia) for their support of the project and for the input provided throughout the project implementation process.
The OECD also warmly thanks representatives from Croatia’s central government bodies, subnational government associations, counties and regional development agencies, cities and municipalities, and academia that met with the OECD team during fact-finding missions, international knowledge-sharing fora and capacity building activities, which were organised as part of the project.
Finally, thanks are extended to Pilar Philip and Jack Waters (CFE) who provided guidance on preparing the publication, to Roxie Glavanov (CFE) for the cover art, to external editor Andrew Brenner who edited the final manuscript, and to Leslie Greenhow, Elena Arcones Sanjuan and Evangelia Thanasi (CFE) for their administrative and logistical support throughout the project implementation process.