It’s clear this year has been one of transformation, marked by growth, learning, and meaningful progress in championing digital sustainability. Our mission to promote digital sustainability has taken us to new heights, and we are proud of the strides we’ve made in creating awareness and driving change. Here’s a small review of year 2024 – please, enjoy this journey with us.

Educating for impact

Our proudest moments were in holding educational sessions. One of them was with HRPSOR (Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development), where we discussed the importance of sustainable digital practices with ESG leaders from Croatia’s most prominent companies. We also delivered lectures in schools during IT classes, engaging with the next generation about the significance of digital sustainability. On top of that, we consulted organizations like B Lab, Forvis Mazars and Spring+Shift on how to promote and integrate digital sustainability.

Publishing and speaking

In March we released the largest research on digital sustainability in Croatia (research included the websites of the largest Croatian companies and the environmental impact of most visited Croatian websites), shedding light on how companies can reduce their digital carbon footprints. For the first time in Croatia digital sustainability became a topic on a tech conference. We spoke at The Geek Gathering conference in Osijek.

We also talked about it on podcasts like The Ecosend Podcast and Riječ na E by Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Each platform gave us the opportunity to amplify the conversation about a more sustainable digital future.

Volunteering for change

One of our core values is putting good deeds in front of profit. That’s why we were thrilled to support small businesses by helping them develop their websites for free. Additionally, we believe everyone should know their website’s environmental impact, so we conducted nearly 100 free sustainability analyses for websites. That way we’re helping businesses understand performance and sustainability of digital products. Now that we mentioned it, dear reader, you can also apply for a free analysis! 

Our expertise also led us to participate in advisory roles for the EU project Digital4Sustainability. That is a project focused on the integration of advanced digital technologies and sustainable practices. The project aims to create curriculums for educating students to become digital and sustainability professionals. In the next few years, the curriculums will be tested at various universities across the EU. Collaborating at this level is an incredible opportunity to influence policies and practices on a broader scale.

Engaging with industry leaders

Significant shifts are beginning to happen as we’re diving into meaningful conversations about digital sustainability with some of Croatia’s largest companies, including Saponia, Atlantic, HPB, and Podravka as well as Global Compact. Those companies are already implementing many ESG policies both internally and across their value chains, and our discussions are a promising step toward integrating sustainable practices into their digital operations as well.

Recognition and awards

We were honored to be nominated for the most prestigious Croatian design award in the category Design in digital media / Interaction design. This nomination is a testament to the work we’ve done and the impact it has made. It honors our commitment to demonstrating that sustainable websites can maintain exceptional design quality and creativity. Stay tuned for January 2025 and The Exhibition of Croatian Design, where all selected projects will be showcased. And yeah – keep your fingers crossed for our win!

Looking ahead

We keep ourselves accountable with our values and principles, but we also wanted to go step further. That’s why we’ve started the process of becoming a certified B Corp, a step that aligns with our commitment to balancing purpose and profit. This journey is both exciting and challenging, and we can’t wait to see where it leads.

As we celebrate these milestones, we’re reminded that none of this would have been possible without the support of our community. We’ve made digital sustainability a topic of conversation and action in Croatia and beyond.

Here’s to another year of raising awareness, fostering connections, and driving change. Thank you for being part of our journey.