Urban ecology and permaculture – Elements of sustainable and contemporary living

U 21. stoljeću, suočeni smo s činjenicom da svjetska populacija rapidno i kontinuirano raste. Taj rast odvija se stihijski, a rezultira neravnomjernom raspodjelom stanovništva, velikim jazom u gospodarskom razvoju zemalja, neadekvatnom uporabom prirodnih resursa, te nažalost sve većim onečišćenjem planeta. K tomu, sve veći broj stanovnika živi u gradovima i urbanim sredinama, te se prognozira da će ta brojka i rasti. Urbani život svakako ima svoje prednosti - veće mogućnosti zaposlenja, bolja koncentracija proizvoda i usluga, adekvatnije razvijanje ideja kreativnog i inovativnog sektora itd. - ali su i mane sve više izražene, te su danas gradovi najveći zagađivači okoliša. Svjetsko stanovništvo se, doduše, polako budi iz zimskog sna, te diljem svijeta jača ekološka svijest građana i prihvaćanje da ovaj način života nije održiv društveno, ekonomski, a naročito ekološki. Posljednjih desetljeća u teoriji i praksi se javljaju pojmovi „urbana ekologija“ i „permakultura“ te se danas promatraju i koriste u suzbijanju gore navedenih problema, te kao čimbenici suvremenoga i održivoga načina života. Provodeći istraživanje o svjesnosti hrvatskih građana o urbanoj ekologiji i permakulturi nastojala se stvoriti slika realnog stanja urbanog, ali i ruralnog stanovništva. Glavna prepreka istraživanju svakako je bila neinformiranost i neznanje ispitanih građana o navedenim pojmovima, što je na svojevrstan način i rezultat istraživanja budući da ukazuje na problem slabe educiranosti građana. Sukladno tomu, ovaj rad služi suzbijanju tog problema te je stvaran iz potrebe za naglašavanjem važnosti urbane ekologije i permakulture, budući da „stari“ način dokazano potiče daljnju degradaciju urbanog, a samim time i svjetskog okoliša.In 21st century, we are faced with the fact that the world population is growing rapidly and with no signs of stopping. Said growth is happening uncontrollably while resulting with an uneven distribution of population, expanded gap in economic development of world countries, inadequate use of natural resources, and unfortunately, increased pollution of our only planet. In addition to that, urban population worldwide is growing, and the trend seems to be continuing for decades to come. Urban life certainly has its benefits - it increases workforce, has more effective concentration of goods and service, strengthens the creative and innovative industry etc. - but the disadvantages are very present as well, resulting with the fact that, today, cities contribute environmental pollution the most. The world population, however, is slowly waking up from hibernation and environmental awareness is increasing worldwide. People have come to terms that this lifestyle is far from sustainable, in every way possible. In recent decades, concepts „urban ecology“ and „permaculture“ have appeared in practice as well as in theory, and today we look at them and use them not only to combat the problems mentioned above, but also as key factors of modern and sustainable lifestyle. Permaculture is defined as an interdisciplinary scientific approach whose main goal is to care for the Earth and people but with limited resource consumption. Accordingly, urban ecology represents a set of ecological tools and principles adjusted to urban living, primarily created out of the urgent need for a better, more efficient and adequate management of natural resources and waste, considering the fact that „old“ way only seems to encourage further degradation of urban and world environment