Croatian Association of the Club of Rome (HURK) is a national branch of the Club of Rome, a global think tank focusing on transformative leadership, sustainable development and innovative solutions for global current and future issues. Throughout the decades of its existence HURK has been gathering eminent Croatian intellectuals, organising conferences and seminars, and has published a number of high-level publications on subjects of global and European relevance. Some of the most influential are: “What is global and what is local in the field of human reproduction”, edited by Asim Kurjak (Zagreb, Croatian Association of the Club of Rome, 1996) and “Nuclear disarmament, prevention of proliferation, and responsibility of intellectuals”, including works by Ivan Supek and Croatian scientists in the Pugwash movement, and edited by Vladimir Knapp and Ivo Šlaus (Zagreb, Croatian Association of the Club of Rome, 2008). Likewise, in cooperation with universities, the HURK has taken part in organising and promoting publications relevant to many topics it covers.
In 1989 the Club of Rome branch was founded in the former SFRY; the founding assembly gathered around 20 intellectuals from all parts of SFRY who elected professor Inge Perko Šeparović as a first president. President of the Club of Rome at that time Alex King was also present. After the Milošević aggression the association was no more active. In 1994 Croatian Association of the Club of Rome was founded; Ivo Šlaus was elected president and Vlado Gotovac and Dalibor Brozović were elected vice-presidents. The position of president was open for re-election biannually, and the following elected presidents were Vlado Gotovac, Boris Kamenar, Vlatko Silobrčić, and Asim Kurjak. The current president is Hrvoje Kraljević. The bulk of the HURK activities included organisation of conferences, with participation of eminent experts, scholars and politicians from Croatia, Slovenia, BH, and Macedonia. The proceedings from the first conferences on the Dayton agreement were published with the financial support of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU). Also, the next conference on demographic challenges was organised with the support of the HAZU.
HURK actively stands for social and economic fairness, peace, sustainable development and climate neutrality. One of the primary HURK goals is analysis for the preparation of the Croatian response to global challenges and key world issues. Analyses are presented at the conferences, roundtables, panels and also to the wider public through media. Special focus is on academic community, students, business and financial experts and NGOs. Publishing is also an important aspect of presenting the work of the Association. HURK advocates for Croatian interests in the process of dealing with global issues and also promotes Croatian national, cultural and economic interests in all its activity. All HURK projects are in line with the proclaimed activity and goals of the Club of Rome.