Greencajt 2026 in Zagreb: sustainability is no longer a marginal topic, but a matter of business competitiveness
The sixth edition of the Greencajt festival will take place from June 1 to 3, 2026, in Zagreb, at a new location, the HNK2 venue, the newly opened second stage of the Croatian National Theatre. The very choice of this year’s theme already shows that in both Croatia and the wider European business environment, sustainability is increasingly less viewed as a separate “green” agenda and increasingly more as part of core business logic. The organizers have built this year’s edition around the business dimension of sustainability, with the message that only those solutions are sustainable in the long term that simultaneously create economic value, reduce pressure on the environment, and contribute to people’s quality of life.
This positioning of the festival comes at a time when sustainability in Europe and globally is being linked ever more strongly with questions of investment, corporate resilience, risk management, regulation, supply chains, and technological transformation. In other words, the issue is no longer only how to operate “more greenly”, but how, under conditions of the energy transition, stricter reporting rules, and increasing sensitivity among consumers and investors, to make decisions that are both profitable and sustainable in the long term. That is precisely why Greencajt is again this year trying to open up space for a conversation that does not stop at principles, but moves toward concrete business decisions, feasible models, and examples from practice.
New location and new symbolism of the festival
The move of the festival to HNK2 is not merely an organizational change. It is a venue that was opened at the end of 2025 as a new stage of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, giving the festival a place that also carries additional symbolic weight. At a time when sustainability is increasingly associated with urban development, public policy, culture, and quality of life in cities, the choice of a contemporary cultural venue as the home of one of the most prominent regional gatherings on sustainability seems like a logical continuation of the topic’s expansion beyond the narrow circle of corporate discussions.
For Zagreb, this also means additional positioning of the city as a place where business, the public sector, creative industries, and the international professional scene meet. Visitors planning to come from other parts of Croatia and abroad will also find the practical side of the organization important, so alongside the festival program, interest is already emerging in
accommodation in Zagreb, especially for those who want to be close to the venue of the program and accompanying events. As the beginning of June approaches, interest in
accommodation for festival visitors in Zagreb can be expected to grow further, especially if the organizers present even stronger names from the international program in the final stretch.
The business dimension of sustainability at the center of the discussion
Through its previous editions, Greencajt has built a reputation as an event that does not reduce sustainability to general messages about protecting nature, but views it as a broad framework that encompasses manufacturing, finance, energy, food, transport, technology, urban planning, and everyday life. This year’s concept sharpens that approach even further. The emphasis is on the business dimension of sustainability, that is, on the question of how companies, institutions, and organizations can grow, invest, and remain competitive at the same time, while reducing negative impacts on the environment and creating broader social benefit.
This is particularly important in a period in which the European economy is facing the pressure of a dual transition: green and digital. Companies can no longer ignore energy costs, the resilience of supply chains, investor expectations, reporting standards, and labor market demands. Sustainability is therefore increasingly turning from a communication and reputational issue into a management issue. Whether a company will gain easier access to capital, whether it will be able to retain customers, reduce regulatory risk, and attract experts, often depends precisely on how convincingly it has combined profitability, resource efficiency, and social responsibility.
The festival slogan “Good for business, good for the planet, good for people” is, in that sense, more than a promotional message. It sums up an attempt to avoid the old conflict between economic growth and sustainability. Instead of setting these two concepts as opposites, the festival wants to show that stable and long-term solutions are precisely those that can satisfy all three criteria: business sustainability, environmental responsibility, and social relevance. Such a framework is becoming increasingly present in international discussions as well, especially among companies that are asking less and less whether they should deal with sustainability, and more and more how to do it seriously, measurably, and without a merely declarative approach.
Around 70 speakers and an international focus
According to available information, around 70 speakers from Croatia, other European countries, and the United States will take part in the festival during the three days of the program. The organizers emphasize that the focus is not only on theoretical insights, but also on concrete business and institutional experiences. That is an important difference compared with events that remain at the level of general messages. In practice, the audiences of such festivals today increasingly expect examples of applicable solutions: how a company changed its production process, how a city adapted its development strategy, how investors assess sustainability, where room is opening up for new technologies, and in what way changes actually affect the market.
Among the announced names are Juan Verde, an internationally known strategist and adviser to three American presidents on issues of global competitiveness and investment, Ben Fogle, British journalist and author of the BBC series “New Lives in the Wild”, Marga Hoek, recognized in international business circles for her work on the concept of “business for good”, Gladys H. Morales from the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Dr. Lollie Mancey, who deals with the relationship between artificial intelligence, innovation, and culture, and Christophe Hansen, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food. The speaker lineup shows that Greencajt is again this year trying to bring together several major fields: capital and investment, food systems, innovation, climate policy, city governance, corporate strategy, and the communication of change.
Such a combination is not accidental. Sustainability today no longer develops in isolated sectors. For example, the issue of food is simultaneously an issue of climate adaptation, trade, logistics, agricultural policy, and consumer habits. The issue of technology is not only an issue of innovation, but also of the responsible use of resources, data infrastructure, energy consumption, and social consequences. The same applies to tourism, transport, construction, or the financial sector. That is precisely why gatherings such as Greencajt try to bring together interlocutors from very different fields, so that sustainability can be discussed as a system of interconnected decisions, rather than as a series of separate topics.
Why the business aspect of sustainability has become crucial
Up until a few years ago, sustainability was often treated in part of the business public as an addition to strategy, something that comes after growth, investment, and business expansion. Today, the situation is significantly different. Companies are facing rising costs of raw materials and energy, changes in the legislative framework, demands from customers and partners, but also the necessity to respond more quickly to market disruptions. Under such conditions, sustainability is no longer a “nice story”, but a matter of efficiency and resilience.
This is also visible in the way the organizers present this year’s festival. The message is not that sustainability should be viewed separately from business, but exactly the opposite — as a tool for making better business decisions. When long-term competitiveness is discussed, it refers to a company’s ability to operate under conditions of changing energy prices, ever stricter market standards, and growing stakeholder expectations. When quality of life is discussed, it refers to the broader effect such decisions have on employees, local communities, consumers, and public space. And when the environment is discussed, the emphasis is increasingly on measurable effects and increasingly less on declarative communication.
It is precisely this shift from general principles to operational models that business audiences need most today. Managers, entrepreneurs, and public officials are not satisfied merely to hear that changes are necessary; they want to know how to implement them, how much they cost, what effect they produce, and where the room for growth lies. That is why it can be expected that a large part of this year’s program will be focused on case studies, practical experiences, and discussions on how to turn sustainability into a real business tool.
Greencajt as a regional platform
In its first five editions, according to available data, Greencajt brought together more than 400 speakers from 12 countries, profiling itself as one of the most visible regional events dedicated to sustainability, business transformation, and social change. Such continuity is important for at least two reasons. First, it shows that an audience for this topic exists and that interest does not depend only on current trends. Second, it confirms that Zagreb has gradually strengthened its position as a meeting place for the domestic and international scene dealing with the green transition, ESG, innovation, and the future of work and consumption.
In the regional context, this is not insignificant. The countries of Southeast Europe often face similar challenges: slower transformation of industries, a lack of investment capacity, uneven implementation of regulations, and differences between political goals and implementation on the ground. In such an environment, events that bring together the business sector, institutions, and experts can play an important role as places for exchanging experiences, making comparisons, and building connections. Not because they solve problems by themselves, but because they create a space in which both obstacles and possible answers become visible.
Greencajt has also long been building the identity of a festival rather than a classic conference. In doing so, it seeks to combine expert content with a more open atmosphere, a wider range of participants, and formats that are not strictly closed within the corporate or academic environment. Such an approach may be especially important for the topic of sustainability, because it is an area that by definition requires the linking of sectors and disciplines. If the conversation about a sustainable future is confined only to expert circles, its reach remains limited. If, however, it succeeds in linking business logic, public policy, science, culture, and everyday life, then it gains real social impact.
Zagreb, the audience, and the broader impact of the event
For Zagreb, hosting a festival like this is important beyond the profession itself. Large international gatherings affect the city’s visibility, create additional economic activity, and attract audiences who, alongside the business program, often also use the city’s cultural, hospitality, and tourism offer. In that sense, it is not irrelevant that Greencajt 2026 is being held at the beginning of June, in a period when Zagreb traditionally records increased activity in events, conferences, and urban manifestations. This means that some visitors, while following the program, will also be looking for
accommodation offers in Zagreb, especially in parts of the city that allow quick access to HNK2 and other amenities.
For the domestic audience, the added value of the festival lies in translating international discussions into a context that is understandable and applicable in Croatia. Namely, a large part of the public discussion on sustainability is still burdened by general formulations, while at the same time entrepreneurs, institutions, and citizens are seeking very concrete answers: how the labor market will change, what the green transition means for industry, whether new standards will make business operations more expensive, what the opportunities for innovation are, how to reconcile tourism development with pressure on space and resources, and how to prevent sustainability from remaining merely a rhetorical framework without real application. If the festival succeeds in offering convincing discussions precisely on these questions, its importance will surpass one-day media interest and become relevant for business decisions made even months after the program ends.
From reputation to responsibility
One of the reasons why events such as Greencajt are talked about differently today than a few years ago is also the change in the perception of the very concept of sustainability. In an earlier phase, for many organizations it was above all a reputational topic. Today, however, it is increasingly becoming a matter of management responsibility and the measurability of decisions. Companies that use sustainability only as a communication tool are exposed to the risk that the market, investors, or the public will recognize them as insufficiently convincing. On the other hand, those that embed sustainability in operational and development decisions have a greater chance of reducing costs in the long term, increasing resilience, and taking a stronger market position.
That is precisely why a program that brings together the economy, the public sector, technology, and social impact carries increasing weight. Such conversations are no longer reserved only for environmental experts or corporate communications departments. They concern management boards, chief financial officers, investors, regulators, cities, food producers, technology companies, and all those who today plan development under conditions of increasingly complex rules and expectations. Greencajt 2026 is clearly trying to respond to exactly that change: sustainability is no longer an addition to business, but increasingly one of the conditions for its survival and development.
In that sense, this year’s edition of the festival could be one of the most important in terms of programming so far. Not only because of the names of the speakers and the new location, but above all because it comes at a time when the business sector is expected less and less to make general statements, and more and more to make clear moves. If Greencajt succeeds in offering content that connects international insights with regional experiences and concrete business practices, Zagreb will once again at the beginning of June be a place where people discuss not only what a sustainable future looks like, but also how to actually build it.
Sources:- Greencajt Festival – official festival website with dates, HNK2 location, a description of the focus on the business dimension of sustainability, and information about approximately 70 speakers (link)
- Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb – official announcement on the opening of HNK2 as the new stage of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, published on November 4, 2025 (link)
- Dnevnik.hr – overview of the announced international speakers for Greencajt 2026, including Juan Verde and the thematic framework of the festival (link)
- Green.hr – article on the sixth edition of Greencajt with an emphasis on business competitiveness and the continuity of the festival in the regional context (link)
- Glazba.hr – festival announcement with data on more than 400 speakers from 12 countries in the first five editions (link)
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