Branimir K. Hackenberger: "Stories of Waste and Other Croatian (Mis)adventures" – Lecture

"Stories of Waste and Other Croatian (Mis)adventures" is the title of a lecture by Prof. Branimir K. Hackenberger, PhD, at the University Library in Pula on 20 November 2026 at 6 pm. The lecture is part of the Green Library project, organised by the Istrian Librarians' Society and the University Library of Juraj Dobrila University of Pula. This year, the waste in Gospić became a national issue, and the public was offered two equally bad stories: "everything is toxic" and "everything is within legal limits". The ecotoxicologist explains why "within legal limits" is an administrative rather than a biological statement, why findings depend on what we decided to look for, and what microplastics in groundwater really tell us. The lecture will also explain why pollution in karst spreads over days rather than decades, and why poorly executed removal can cause more harm than waste left undisturbed. Through (mis)adventures with diagnoses pronounced with one hundred percent certainty and findings that say less than we think, it shows what a serious risk assessment looks like and what citizens have the right to know. Branimir K. Hackenberger is a biologist and ecotoxicologist and a tenured full professor at the Department of Biology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, where he leads the ecological modelling group at the Division of Quantitative Ecology. He studies the effects of pollutants on individual components of ecosystems and on ecosystems as a whole, using experiments and in situ and in silico tools. This year he has become one of the most recognised expert voices in the debate on waste in Lika. Together with his colleague Tamara Đerđ he published the free publication "Otpad na području Like" (Waste in the Lika Area), and his Facebook posts are regularly picked up by national media. When: Friday, 20 November 2026, 6:00 pm Where: University Library in Pula, Herkulov prolaz 1 Organisers: Green Library, Istrian Librarians' Society and University Library Pula