Associate Professor
Department of Sociology Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Zagreb
Address: Ul. Ivana Lučića 3 10000 Zagreb, CROATIA
Email: ttrako@m.ffzg.hr

Tijana Trako Poljak is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, where she teaches undergraduate, graduate and doctoral courses in social ecology, rural sociology, sociology of space and environment, environmental ethics and society-environment relations. Her teaching and research are strongly oriented toward the societies of Central and Southeast Europe, with particular attention to rural areas, social-ecological systems, environmental governance and regional development processes.

Her main fields of research interest include social ecology and environmental sociology, rural sociology, environmental attitudes and policies and social-ecological resilience in Southeast and Central Europe. She has led or participated in several nationally and internationally funded research projects, most notably as principal investigator of the Croatian Science Foundation project “Social-Ecological Challenges of Rural Development” (SECRURAL, 2020-2024) and “Rural Transformation” (TRANSFORM_RURAL, 2025-2028), which combine qualitative and quantitative research on rural quality of life and resilience in Croatia. Her work frequently engages in comparative regional analysis, linking Croatian cases with broader regional and wider European social and environmental transformations.

She is the author and co-author of a number of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters published in international journals and edited volumes, addressing topics such as rural development, wellbeing/quality of life, environmental values, energy strategies in the Adriatic region and social-ecological inequalities. In addition to her research activities, she is actively involved in mentoring graduate and doctoral students and has contributed to the development of interdisciplinary and international academic networks related to Southeast European studies, social ecology and rural research.

She has held a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles, and currently serves in several academic and professional roles, including editorial responsibilities for scholarly journals and book series, as well as membership in national and international scientific associations.

Complete bibliography: https://www.croris.hr/osobe/profil/28071