Branko Bošnjaković
Encyclopedia
Branko Bošnjaković (born 18 February 1939) is a Dutch
-Croatian
physicist
and professional
working in the field of environmental protection
and sustainability
.
. He studied physics
at the Georg-August University in Göttingen
, Germany
and obtained his doctorate
in nuclear physics
at the State University of Utrecht, Netherlands
in 1968. His career included basic and applied research, as well as international management and advisory functions.
, 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
in the living environment. 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 participated in the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) Expert Group establishing the Chernobyl
Centre for International Research.
From 1991 to 1993, he was a member of the management team of REC (Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
) in Budapest
, Hungary
. From 1993 to 1994, he acted as adviser for the World Health Organization
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
. He has he acted since 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.
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.
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 Vienna in 2009 on the history of science and technology.
(1902–1993) had international reputation in technical thermodynamics
, while 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.
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
-Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
working in the field of environmental protection
Environmental protection
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
and sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
.
Biography
Branko Bošnjaković was born in ZagrebZagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. He studied physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at the Georg-August University in Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and obtained his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in nuclear physics
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
at the State University of Utrecht, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
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 CERNCERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
(Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
). 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
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
in the living environment. As a member of the International Non-Ionizing Radiation
Non-ionizing radiation
Non-ionizing radiation refers to any type of electromagnetic radiation that does not carry enough energy per quantum to ionize atoms or molecules—that is, to completely remove an electron from an atom or molecule...
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 participated in the International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
(IAEA) Expert Group establishing the Chernobyl
Chernobyl
Chernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....
Centre for International Research.
From 1991 to 1993, he was a member of the management team of REC (Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe is a non-profit, non-advocacy, independent international environmental organisation...
) in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. From 1993 to 1994, he acted as adviser for the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
European Centre on Environment and Health, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. 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
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe was established in 1947 to encourage economic cooperation among its member states. It is one of five regional commissions under the administrative direction of United Nations headquarters. It has 56 member states, and reports to the UN Economic and...
, with the emphasis on trans-boundary environmental issues in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, Transcaucasia and Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a relatively recent political designation for the states of the Balkans. Writers such as Maria Todorova and Vesna Goldsworthy have suggested the use of the term Southeastern Europe to replace the word Balkans for the region, to minimize potential...
. From 1994 to 2009, he was affiliated to the Avalon Foundation for the promotion of sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...
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
University of Rijeka
The University of Rijeka is situated in the city of Rijeka with faculties also located in cities throughout the regions of Primorje, Istria and Lika....
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, with the emphasis on environmental management
Environmental management
Environmental resource management is “a purposeful activity with the goal to maintain and improve the state of an environmental resource affected by human activities” . It is not, as the phrase suggests, the management of the environment as such, but rather the management of the interaction and...
. He has he acted since as a consultant for international institutions like the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, OSCE and UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. 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
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
and energy, and of sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
. 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
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
- New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, 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 RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 4-8 November 1985 (p. 35-41). - UN/ECE strategies for protecting the environment with respect to international watercourses: the HelsinkiHelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
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.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, 1998. - 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.
- Valuing and paying for ecosystem services: a pre-condition for sustainability, Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology, Vol. 6, Number 1-4, 2006, p. 123-134.
- After Copenhagen: Climate, Energy and Geopolitics. Proceedings of the 22nd Scientific Conference on "Energy and the Environment", OpatijaOpatijaOpatija is a town in western Croatia, just southwest of Rijeka on the Adriatic coast. , the town proper had a population of 7,850, with the municipality having a total 12,719 inhabitants.-Geography:...
, Croatia, October 18-22, 2010
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 SloveniaSlovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
in 1994. He was appointed Honorary Associate by the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy
Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy
The Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy is a graduate school at the University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom, focused on the fields of international business transactions, energy law and policy, mining and the use of natural resources.It is affiliated with, but not part...
(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 InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
for the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
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 Vienna in 2009 on the history of science and technology.
Private
Branko Bošnjaković originates from a scientifically oriented family. His father Fran BošnjakovićFran Bošnjakovic
Fran Bošnjaković was a noted Croatian engineer.Bošnjaković was born in Zagreb, where he was initially educated. He continued his education at the Technische Hochschule in Dresden, Germany...
(1902–1993) had international reputation in technical thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
, while his grandfather Srećko Bošnjaković (1865–1907) was a pioneer of chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and sports in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. He is father of a daughter and a son, and his residence is in Switzerland.