Sanela Klarić was born on 28 August 1970 in Sarajevo. After completing high school Druga Gimnazija in her home town, she graduated from the Faculty of Architecture, also in Sarajevo. She worked for OSCE, and the UK Government, as an independent consultant on justice and rural development projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as on EU projects focused on civil sector networking and broader support to civil sector in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Ms. Klarić is also an associate of the UK based consultancy Catalyst, a member of the Supervisory Board of the regional initiative “Green New Deal” (set up by the Hainrich Boll Foundation), a member of the Organisational Board of the Sarajevo Green Design Festival, as well as a member of the BiH Association of Architects. She is a Chairwoman of the association Green Council, bringing together experts from various sectors such as architecture, economy, rural development, education, nutrition, and environment and EU integration. Green Council focuses on designing and implementing sustainable projects that aim to enhance prosperity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ms. Klarić is an expert in EU integration issues, in the fields of rural development, environment, energy efficiency and sustainable development. She moderated a number of public events, and designed and implemented a number of trainings for government institutions, nongovernmental sector and political representatives.
Ms. Klarić obtained her MA and PhD degrees at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Sarajevo, with support of the professors from the Technical University in Vienna, focusing on sustainable architecture and natural materials, seen as a great potential for achieving balanced and sustainable socio-economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She published several papers and spoke at a number of conferences. She was one of the first speakers at the TED University event in Sarajevo, nominated by her students.
At the moment, Ms. Klarić is an assistant lecturer with the International Burch University, where she is a Head of the Department for Architecture, cooperating closely with Universities and research centres throughout the Europe and the world.
Her passion for achieving sustainable development in Bosnia and Herzegovina though the use of natural materials is reflected in this book, which is actually her Doctoral thesis, as well as in several of her projects and all other research efforts she undertook. Ms. Klarić’s ultimate goal is to promote great potential of Bosnia and Herzegovina for development through use of its own natural resources, supported by interdisciplinary approach and linking together the fields of architecture, housing, rural development, environment protection, climate change, economy, and employment.
Sanela deems her family her greatest treasure in life.