Earth Hour: We Are All Connected

Posted on 24 March 2024

We joined forces with the Festival of Lights Zagreb and organized the largest Earth Hour event in Croatia so far!

Seventy Croatian cities, numerous companies, and many citizens participated in the world's largest environmental action "Earth Hour" by turning off the lights on Saturday from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., highlighting their dedication to the Earth.

The walls of Dubrovnik and Diocletian's Palace - UNESCO heritage sites in Croatia, also spent an hour without decorative lighting this year, joining around forty UNESCO landmarks worldwide that have been participating in this WWF initiative for years. Alongside them are the Arena in Pula, Zagreb Cathedral, central squares of continental cities, and numerous promenades along the Adriatic coast, which also turned off their lights as a sign of support of Earth Hour.

WWF Adria, the regional branch of WWF - the world's largest nature conservation organization, organized an event in Zagreb commemorating this action, which has been in the Guinness World Records book for 15 years as the largest volunteer action in the world. At the invitation of the Zagreb Tourist Board, WWF was the partner of this year's Festival of Lights Zagreb, and throughout the festival, visitors could enjoy the 3D mapping spectacle "We Are All Connected" on the facade of the Croatian State Archives on Marulić Square, which depicts biodiversity loss and the role of humans in it.

"Since 1970, when we started measuring, populations of wild species have declined by two-thirds, which is evidence that we are losing the natural world at lightning speed. Nature conservation must become a priority, not only for state leaders but also for the CEOs of the world's largest and local corporations, as well as for us, individuals. That is the main message of our initiative, which we have been implementing in Croatia since 2009," emphasized Petra Boić Petrač, Regional Director of Communications, Individual and Corporate Resource Mobilization at WWF Adria.

While all 29 Festival locations turned off all of the lights for 15 minutes, visitors at Marulić Square could hear a unique musical-sound composition titled "Echoes of Survival: Audio Landscapes (Odjeci Opstanka: Audio Pejzaži )" by conceptual artist Alex Brajković. Designed to immerse the audience in the world of endangered species in Croatia, this composition combines orchestral music with electronic elements, along with authentic natural sounds. Created especially for this occasion, the composition is based on the official Red list of threatened plants and animals of the Republic of Croatia, a document containing important information about the risk of extinction and necessary conservation measures for wild species.

Earth Hour started in 2007 when the action was only carried out in Sydney, Australia. Since then, this action has reached global proportions, with 190 countries participating this year by turning off public lighting at 8:30 p.m. local time at iconic landmarks in cities around the world.

Festival of Lights and Earth Hour 2024

Earth Hour: We Are All Connected

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