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Alenka Košiša Čičin-Šain
Episode · #443

ZGRADONAČELNIK Alenka Košiša Čičin-Šain

Guest Alenka Košiša Čičin-ŠainHosted by Tin BašićMay 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation

The vision for Europe's energy future is clear: rapid transition, green solutions, reduced CO2. Billions are earmarked. Yet, the reality on the ground often moves slower than the ambition. Alenka Košiša Čičin-Šain, acting director of Croatia's Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, is at the nexus of this challenge. She manages the substantial public funds meant to accelerate this transition, from encouraging heat pumps over gas boilers to financing community-led environmental projects. Her work reveals a familiar tension: the gap between grand plans and the granular reality of getting projects done. She discusses why a significant portion of allocated funds remains unspent, and the practical hurdles of moving an entire country’s building stock towards sustainable energy, one apartment building at a time. This conversation offers a candid look at the operational complexities of large-scale public funding, and what it truly takes to translate policy into widespread change.

Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund allocated 830 million kuna for public calls this year, yet past experience shows about 20% of initial applicants never complete their projects. The true bottleneck in large-scale energy transition isn't just securing funds, but ensuring that the allocated money translates into tangible, completed work on the ground.
02
A public call to co-finance condensing boilers, launched after the 2020 Zagreb earthquake, was extended, but the second round only saw 25% uptake. When a crisis creates an immediate need, the market often responds faster than public funding mechanisms can, making subsequent calls less effective.
03
The Fund's acting director clearly advocates for heat pumps, anticipating EU recommendations that will likely phase out gas boilers for new installations after 2026. Public funding isn't just about addressing today's problems; it's about steering the market towards the energy solutions that will be mandated tomorrow.
04
Implementing shared heat pump systems in multi-apartment buildings faces significant resistance, primarily due to the difficulty of achieving consensus among residents. For collective energy upgrades, the social engineering of agreement can be a greater challenge than the financial or technical engineering.
05
The Fund expanded its co-financing for civil society organizations, tripling the budget to 6 million kuna and including energy-related NGOs alongside traditional environmental groups. To accelerate new policy goals, look beyond direct subsidies and empower a wider network of community-level actors who can drive local adoption.
06
The upcoming public call for house energy renovation will specifically target "ABC certificate buildings" — those that already have an insulated envelope — by offering co-financing for rooftop renewable energy. Rather than starting from scratch, incentivize further upgrades for those who have already made initial energy efficiency improvements.
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