Timeline: 1996-2002
Head of the Project: Ivan LAJIĆ
Researchers: Dragutin BABIĆ, Saša BOŽIĆ, Carmen-Ljubica BRČIĆ, Tihomir DUMANČIĆ, Sonja PODGORELEC, Melita ŠVOB
Junior Researchers: Sanja KLEMPIĆ BOGADI
In contemporary internal migrations in Croatia, two separate types are to be distinguished. One type is the continuation of traditional migration flows within Croatia between its emigration, primary hill-mountain, island, and rural areas towards main centers of macroregions and partly municipality centers, while the second one is a result of war aggression on Croatia. In the first case, migration is seen as a process within regular demographic development, while war migrations, i.e. forced migrations, among other factors, have defined present demographic development as an irregular one. Adriatic islands present a characteristic area of long-lasting emigration. The consequence of one-way mechanical movement is depopulation and the extinction of entire settlements in places. The program of demographic research of island areas fits in the concept of the National Programme of Island Development for the most part. At the same time, the model of island revitalization is a base for establishing similar models of the revitalization of other Mediterranean (e.g. inland Istria) and hill-mountain areas of Croatia (e.g. Lika). The research is to give knowledge on total demographic war losses of Croatian Podunavlje and propose, with the aim of total socio-political and economic development, models of return,
autochthonous biological revival and population.
The project included the publication of 21 scientific and expert papers in various journals and books, as well as four scientific monographs. The scientific monograph Migracije u Hrvatskoj – regionalni pristup contributes to the latest insights on current internal migrations in our country. Empirical research was conducted on the islands of the Šibenik archipelago and the results were published in the scientific monograph Otoci – ostati ili otići?, 2001.
The results showed that the depopulation on the Dalmatian islands has lately been influenced by the negative biological trend (aging of the population) rather than the mechanical one. The reduced mechanical migration from our islands is also a result of the economic and urban crisis, which is especially prominent in the littoral centers. The project team conducted another empirical research in the war-stricken territories of Western Slavonia. In his doctoral dissertation, Dragutin Babić has analyzed the classification of reintegration processes. He claims that peaceful reintegration is possible and that increased positive processes of social interaction are more visible in the older population.