Values driving green economy everywhere - case study from Croatia

Social changes unfolding in either more revolutionary or evolutionary social dynamics, but holding within the frames of widening and deepening of the process of democratization, depends on the existence and formation of specific value orientations. For restructuring social relations in order to make a shift towards degrowth orientation certain inter- dependent principles, as Latouche argues, are required. His “Rs” of degrowth include eight inter-dependent principles. Re-evaluate what matters. Reconceptualize key notions such as wealth, poverty, value, scarcity and abundance. Restructure the productive apparatus and social relations to fit these new values. Redistribute wealth and access to natural resources between North and South and between classes, generations and individuals. Relocalize which means producing on local level thus descending all economic, political and cultural decisions at that level. Reduce production and consumption, especially for goods and services with little use value but high environmental impact. Re-use products and Recycle waste. The aim of this paper is to empirically explore value orientation and motivation of green economy actors in Croatia and to what extent do they meet the aforementioned degrowth principles.