Today, alongside Cesta dveh cesarjev, we opened the Safe Mobility Park, a unique space that will become a home for all those whose lives have been marked by the most severe consequences of traffic accidents, a space of knowledge, empowerment, and responsible mobility. The park is also intended for education and practical demonstrations of safe micromobility, especially for children and young people.

The Safe Mobility Park, the first centre of its kind in Europe and beyond, is the result of a public-private partnership between the City of Ljubljana and the Safe Journey Institute (Zavod Varna pot). The project is supported by the company Riko d.o.o., which donated the central wooden facility, as well as numerous other partners committed to social responsibility in the communities they serve.

Robert Štaba, President of the Safe Journey Institute and also President of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims, has turned his personal experience with the consequences of a traffic accident into a life mission to protect those affected by the most severe accidents and to educate and empower young people to participate safely in traffic. »This park will be the place where Ljubljana’s children learn the basics and more advanced forms of micromobility. We will teach them with heart,« Štaba emphasised. He also highlighted the exceptional role of Mayor Zoran Janković, »who supported me most during the hardest times« and who was the first mayor in Slovenia, and among the first in Europe, to sign the Vision Zero commitment.

Mayor Zoran Janković stressed that Robert Štaba’s story should touch everyone. He described him as a model of vision, perseverance and empathy, which is also the foremost value of the Safe Mobility Park. »Signing the Vision Zero commitment was an exceptional act for me. Based on that, we began to develop new safe routes to schools, strengthened cooperation between the Police, Municipal Wardens and volunteers, installed speed bumps and introduced a 30 km/h speed limit on city streets. That limit now applies already to one third of all streets in the city. We can proudly say that in the last ten years, not a single schoolchild has lost their life in traffic in Ljubljana«, the Mayor pointed out. He also thanked the major donor Janez Škrabec and his company Riko, which donated the high-quality wooden structure. »He too is a visionary with great empathy«, said the Mayor.
He expressed special thanks to Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Dr. Robert Golob, reaffirming his unwavering support on this occasion.

The keynote speaker at the opening was Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Dr. Robert Golob, who said: »Sometimes the most beautiful things grow out of pain, and when we add Slovenian persistence, hard work, and dedication, we get results that are the best in the world. So good that we may not even realise it until some time has passed.« He highlighted the pioneering role of the Safe Journey Institute and added that Robert Štaba is the best in the world in this field. He added that this will be a special park, intended as a place where safety grows, which is much more than just knowledge of traffic regulations. Safety that does not come only from the skills children will learn, but also from all of us embracing this culture. He emphasised that we are truly safe only when we embrace the concept that we are the ones who have the duty to act preventively, to teach children about respect, empathy, openness, inclusion and appreciation of diversity. That way, we will be safe every day, in traffic and beyond.

Jean Todt, UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, and Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council, also addressed the audience via video link, highlighting the remarkable work done by the Safe Journey Institute, as well as Ljubljana, in the field of road safety and the implementation of Vision Zero.

About the Safe Mobility Park

The park consists of a building and a training ground for learning micromobility. The building, which has approximately 591 m² of floor space, now houses the headquarters of the Safe Journey Institute. It includes a multimedia multipurpose hall, a smaller group room for programmes, an office, toilets, a storage room, a garage, and a kitchenette. In front of the building stretches a training ground with skill-based obstacles for developing competences for various vehicles used by children, adolescents, and other road users, as well as outdoor classrooms. The Safe Mobility Park places Ljubljana and Slovenia among those European capitals and countries that, through advanced solutions, actively shape and empower children, young people, and other road users in the area of safe mobility, thereby improving the quality of life in Ljubljana. At the same time, the park will further strengthen our city’s position among European cities implementing the global goal of Vision Zero.