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Sandra Vlašić
Episode · #57

50 NIJANSI ZELENE Sandra Vlašić

Guest Sandra VlašićHosted by Julije DomacMay 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation

Sandra Vlašić, a biologist by training, found her way into the complex world of international development, energy, and social innovation. She argues that this path is more logical than it seems: "Everything around us is energy. Without energy, we cannot live." As a co-founder of TerraHub, she explores alternative financing and social innovations, always with an eye on environmental impact. This conversation challenges the pervasive negativity surrounding climate action. Vlašić insists that despite the overwhelming scale of the challenge, optimism is not just a choice, but a necessity. She offers a compelling case for why individuals, communities, and even small nations must act, and how focusing on solutions can shift the narrative. You'll walk away considering how to turn broad societal challenges into concrete, local opportunities for change.

Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Sandra Vlašić, a biologist by training, found her way into the energy sector, explaining that "everything around us is energy. Without energy, we cannot live." Her trajectory illustrates how disciplines often seen as separate — like ecology and energy — are deeply intertwined, and a foundational understanding of one can offer crucial insights into the other.
02
Faced with the daunting scale of climate change, Sandra Vlašić insists, "We must be optimists." This isn't a passive hope, but an active stance: optimism becomes a prerequisite for action, a commitment to future generations, and a refusal to surrender to despair when scientific consensus still indicates a window for change.
03
Sandra Vlašić observes that in Croatia, "it's terribly popular to talk about how something can't be done." This focus on impossibility, rather than asking *how* to achieve a goal, is a societal hurdle that stifles progress, making it vital to amplify stories of success and practical solutions.
04
When a friend suggested Croatia is too small to matter in global climate change, Sandra Vlašić countered: "When you put your finger in the sea, you are actually in contact with the whole world." This illustrates that even seemingly small actions or local initiatives are connected to the global system, and collective micro-efforts are essential to the larger picture.
05
The Zlarin "plastic-free" initiative was described by media as becoming "globally known overnight," yet Sandra Vlašić clarifies it was "after more than a year of persistent work and enthusiasm." This gap between public perception and reality shows that significant change is rarely sudden; it's the result of sustained, collaborative effort by dedicated teams and local stakeholders.
06
The Zlarin initiative succeeded because multiple stakeholders — from a local association to the Tourist Board and Local Board — signed a charter, committing to eliminate single-use plastics two years ahead of EU directives. This demonstrates that deep local commitment and broad collaboration can drive policy implementation faster and more effectively than top-down mandates alone.
07
Asked about entering politics, Sandra Vlašić admits, "I don't think I'm resilient enough to be involved in politics," while acknowledging that such people are needed. This reveals the personal toll of political life, and the challenge of attracting principled individuals to a domain that often demands a different kind of fortitude than entrepreneurial or expert roles.
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