Langugae SWITCH
In recent years, several doctoral students have developed their research and dissertations within the framework of the Institute’s urban research projects, approaches, activities, and workshops: Mirna Tkalčić Simetić from the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research, Iva Grubiša from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, and Marko Senčar Mrdaković from the Anton Melik Geographical Institute of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU).
On 27 August 2026, Marko Senčar Mrdaković successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, Konflikti v procesih družbenih inovacij pri upravljanju zgodovinske urbane pokrajine Kopra [Conflicts in Social Innovation Processes in the Governance of Koper’s Historic Urban Landscape], prepared under the supervision of Jani Kozina and co-supervision of Valentina Gulin Zrnić at the ZRC SAZU Graduate School (Comparative Study of Ideas and Cultures programme).
In his dissertation, he theoretically and empirically examined the concepts of the “social” and “innovation”, further developing them by introducing the dimensions of conflict and social inequalities, proposing a new typology, and linking it to processes of urban governance. The dissertation is based on several years of qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Koper’s historic city centre. Around fifteen examples of social innovation in Koper were examined in detail through ethnographic research. The dissertation concludes with recommendations and guidelines for the future governance of the historic urban landscape.
Dissertation defence committee: David Bole, Aidan Cerar, Neža Čebron Lipovec
Congratulations on the successful defence!
Marko Senčar Mrdaković is a researcher at the Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU.
Cover photo by Sara Gradišnik
