User:Zlatka Salopek/Branko Bošnjaković

Branko (Franjo Marko) Bošnjaković (Zagreb, 18 February 1939) is a Dutch-Croatian physicist and professional working in the field of environmental protection and sustainability.

Biography

Branko Bošnjaković studied physics at the Georg-August University| in Göttingen (Germany) and obtained his doctorate in nuclear physics at the State University of Utrecht in 1968. His career included basic and applied research, as well as international management and advisory functions.

Professional activities

He spent the years 1968 to 1975 doing research in the field of elementary particle physics at CERN, Geneva (Switzerland). From 1975 to 1991, as a senior advisor with the Dutch Ministry of Environment, he conceived and coordinated the multi-annual Dutch National Programme on radiation protection. As a member of the International Non-Ionizing Radiation Committee (INIRC, now ICNIRP) from 1979 to 1992, he contributed in a substantive way to the setting and acceptance of world-wide radiation protection standards. In 1990, he advised the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the follow-up to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. From 1991 to 1993, he was a member of the management team of REC (Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe) in Budapest, Hungary. From 1993 – 1994, he acted as adviser for the WHO European Centre on Environment and Health, Bilthoven, the Netherlands. In 1994, he became a member of the Commission for Education and Communication of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). From 1994 to 2001, he was the Regional Adviser on Environment of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, with the emphasis on trans-boundary environmental issues in Central Asia, Transcaucasia and Southeast Europe. From 1994 to 2009, he was affiliated to the Avalon Foundation for the promotion of sustainable agriculture in transition countries, lately as a member of the Supervisory Board. In 2001 he was elected as titular professor at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Croatia, with the emphasis on environmental management. At present, he acts from time to time as a consultant for international institutions like the European Commission, OSCE and UNESCO. He has been author or co-author of more than 120 scientific and professional publications in the fields of nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, radiation protection, institutional and geopolitical issues of the environment, natural resources and energy, and of sustainable development. A frequently quoted book is Human Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation: Risks and Regulations, Editors W. F. Passchier and B. F. M. Bosnjakovic, Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam - New York - Oxford, 1987.

Author or co-author of publications (selection)

Nuclear Waste Disposal in Salt: Long Term Environmental Consequences of Disposal in a Salt Dome in The Netherlands, Atomkernenergie-Kerntechnik 38 (1981) 127-133.
Transfrontier emergency planning within the European Communities, Proceedings of an International Symposium on Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Nuclear Facilities, organised by the IAEA and held in Rome, Italy, 4-8 November 1985 (p. 35-41).
Ultraviolet radiation: risk limitation and protection of the public, In: "Non-ionizing radiations: physical characteristics, biological effects and health hazard assessment", Proceedings of the International Non-Ionizing Radiation Workshop, p. 71-110, Melbourne, 5-9 April, 1988.
Institutional and legal regional frameworks for sustainable integrated coastal area management in the Mediterranean/Adriatic, Public Enterprise, Vol. 15, March-December 1995, p. 23-42.
Environmental security: a regional perspective for countries in transition, In: Proceedings of and International Workshop Environmental Security and Sustainable Development, p. 53-79., Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, 18-19 April 1996, Dutch National Research Programme, Report no. 410 200 003. Bilthoven, The Netherlands, 1996.
UN/ECE strategies for protecting the environment with respect to international watercourses: the Helsinki and Espoo Conventions, In: “International watercourses: enhancing cooperation and managing conflict”, edited by Salman M.A. Salman and Laurence Boisson de Chazournes. World Bank Technical Paper No. 414 (p. 47-64), The World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1998.
Neue Aufgaben beim Management von Ressourcen in der Region des Aralsees, In E. Petzold-Bradley/A. Carius/A March/C. Wilkens(Eds.): Environment and Security, p. 66-73. "Forum Globale Fragen", Berlin 15-16 June 2000. Auswaertiges Amt, Berlin, Germany, 2000.
Regulations of International Watercourses under the UN/ECE Regional Agreements, Water International, Vol. 25, Number 4, December 2000, p. 544-553.
UNECE environmental conventions: their role and potential to promote conflict prevention and settlement of disputes in transboundary environmental issues, In E. Petzold-Bradley/A. Carius/A. Vincze (eds.), Responding to Environmental Conflicts: Implications for Theory and Practice, p. 263-282. Kluwer Academic Publisher 2000.
Conflicts between sectoral and transboundary freshwater uses: causes, prevention and dispute settlement, International Specialty Conference "Globalisation and water management: the changing value of water", AWRA and University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, August 6-8, 2001
Negotiations in the context of international water-related agreements, Proceedings of the International Conference "From conflict to cooperation in international water resources management", Delft, The Netherlands, 20-22 November 2002. UNESCO/IHP/WWAP, IHP-VI / Technical Documents in Hydrology / PC->CP series no. 8., p. 1-50, UNESCO, Paris 2003.
Valuing and paying for ecosystem services: a pre-condition for sustainability, Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology, Vol. 6, Number 1-4, 2006, p. 123-134.
Universität und Universalität – über die Nachhaltigkeit in der Bildung und Forschung, In: Fragmenta Melanchthoniana, Band 3. (Herausgeber: Günter Frank und Sebastian Lalla). Verlag Regionalkultur, Heidelberg/Ubstadt-Weiher/Weil a. Rhein/Basel, 2007.

Distinctions

Branko Bošnjaković received a plaquette of recognition by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1992, and the golden award for civil protection of the Republic of Slovenia in 1994. He was appointed Honorary Associate by the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) in Dundee, Scotland, in 1998, and a Life Fellow of the REC (Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe), Hungary, 2000. He received the Gouden Tientje (Golden Coin) from the Dutch Ministry of Environment in recognition of achievements for environment and sustainable development.

Other interests

From 1985 to 1991, Branko Bošnjaković acted as a coordinator of the Dutch Section of Amnesty International for the human rights in East Germany (former GDR) and witnessed some of the historic changes on the spot. From 1990 to 1995, he was a member of the Board of the Foundation Netherlands-Croatia. He is also a member of the Ignaz Lieben Society, and was co-organiser of a scientific meeting, held in November 2009 in Vienna, on the history of science and technology in Central Europe between the world wars.

Private

Branko Bošnjaković originates from a scientifically oriented family. His father Fran Bošnjaković (1902-1993) had international reputation in technical thermodynamics, his grandfather Srećko Bošnjaković (1865-1907) was a pioneer of chemistry and sports in Croatia. He is father of a daughter and a son, and his residence is in Switzerland.