Ljubljana is helping Slovenia to reduce CO² via good practices in the fields of sustainable mobility, energy, sustainable production and consumption and adaptation to climate change.

As part of the ‘Slovenia reducing CO²: good practice’ project, Umanotera, the Slovenian Foundation for sustainable development and its project partners have showcased 15 Slovenian and five foreign examples of good practice that significantly reduce CO² emissions and at the same time contribute to implementing the principles of sustainable development. Ljubljana is among them with exemplary cases in the fields of sustainable mobility, energy, organic farming, sustainable production and consumption and adaptation to climate change. “The selected cases of good practice prove that achieving ambitious European and national targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not just possible and practical but also brings with it a range of other benefits, among others cost reductions, development opportunities and a higher quality of life” pointed out Vida Ogorelec, project leader and director of Umanotera. The project is part of a partnership in the field of communicating EU issues between the European Commission, the Slovenian Government and the European Parliament.

Dr Aljaž Plevnik of the Slovenian Urban Planning Institute, who as a member of the project group assessed the area of sustainable mobility, highlighted a package of measures in this category that deserve praise as good practice in Ljubljana. The first is cycling, where the main step forward has been the introduction of the Bicike(LJ) bike borrowing system – a network of 31 stations with more than 300 bikes whose use is free for up to an hour. The second is walking, as recent years have seen a significant increase in pedestrian zones, as well as which four new bridges or footbridges dedicated to pedestrians have been built. The third group of good practice involves public transport, where the city’s main achievements have been the introduction of the uniform Urbana card, the extension of bus routes and the introduction of real time bus arrival display boards. The positive effects of these measures are the reduction of emissions due to the use of public transport and public bikes, while free-of-charge bike use is also financially beneficial for the people. The closure of the city centre to traffic draws in more tourists and visitors, while also increasing safety in the pedestrian zones. Walking and cycling also impact on the improved health of residents. Traffic in the city is calmer, there are fewer traffic jams and less pressure on car parks. All this results in better quality of life in the city.

As a good practice case in the ‘organic farming’ category, the ‘School ecogardens’ project was selected, among others, in the assessment of project group member Anamarija Slabe, professional manager of the Institute for Sustainable Development. A network links 144 schools, kindergartens and student halls of residence as well as Ljubljana educational institutions, the primary schools of Milana Šuštaršiča, Miška Kranjca, Vič, Martina Krpana, Polje, Sostro – Janče branch school, Zalog, Roje, as well as Šentvid primary school and kindergarten and Šiška high school. The project goals are to encourage the creation of school organic gardens throughout Slovenia and their inclusion in lessons and children’s education and to create an active network of school organic gardens that will live on after the project ends. The purpose is to enable children and young people to establish closer contact with nature and to produce food in a way that enables protection of the environment and nature and enhances the understanding of local produce and self-sufficiency in organically produced food. The activities directly affect emission reductions with partial self-sufficiency, and indirectly by enhancing the understanding of local produce and self-sufficiency in organically produced food. It is also important to emphasise the contribution to schools and kindergartens of partial self-sufficiency which brings financial savings, and education for sustainable development is also significant.

In this category, Slabe also highlighted as good practice a partnership farming project, involving the Ekologičen web portal working with four organic farms. One of these is in Ljubljana, Brevkina svežina at Obrije between Šmartno and Tomačevo, which was the first organic farm in the City of Ljubljana. The project brings recognition that encourages interested farms into partnership farming, and helps establish direct communication between farms and consumers. The positive effects are to stimulate local production and food consumption and sustainable and ethical consumption with special emphasis on solidarity with smaller farmers who farm organically. We should also emphasise the reduced environmental footprint of food and the contribution to the strengthening of the local economy, linking the city with the countryside and cultivating the traditional culture of food production.

Vida Ogorelec, who covers sustainable production and consumption in the project, marked out as good practice the Re-use Centre, which is currently only in Tuncovec near Rogaška slatina, but intends in the near future to set up in another seven Slovenian towns. This is expected to include Ljubljana, in partnership with the Technological Centre for Applied Ecology and the Snaga public company. The Re-use Centre works as a social enterprise employing people that are hard to employ and enabling training and thus contributing to the social integration of these groups. Its activities are diagnostics, innovative renovation, and the restoration of used equipment and products that without such treatment would be discarded as waste although they are still functionally useful. The centre has an important effect on the general public in raising environmental awareness and spreading the awareness that our planet has limited resources and that we must not throw everything we no longer need into the rubbish. The Reuse Centre also runs various practical workshops whose main purpose is to showcase the possible reuse of second-hand equipment and the use of waste materials to make new products. The extension of product life cycles, the reduction of the quantities of waste disposed of in landfills, saving raw materials and natural resources; the inclusion of the hard-to-employ in the labour market and access to goods; the creation of local jobs and training possibilities; the promotion of trade crafts which have practically died out in Slovenia, are just some of the positive effects raised by the assessors.

In the field of efficiency and renewable energy resources, Dr Sašo Medved, Professor at Ljubljana University Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, among others highlighted the Slovenian Photovoltaic Industry Association, which is an example of the coming together of renewable energy source technology providers and other members, some from Ljubljana. They deserve particular merit for the preparation of industry standards, education, granting internal quality standards and the presentation of operating photovoltaic plants. The successful construction of photovoltaic systems has also been enabled by the professional interest of the Slovenian Photovoltaic Industry Association, which today unites 25 manufacturers, providers and educational institutions, as was written in the justification. The showcasing of operating photovoltaic plants is also important for the general public, with cases of good practice being the construction of photovoltaic systems at primary schools, which have significant educational importance. The measures have positive effects above all on reducing CO² emissions – together, photovoltaic systems in Slovenia save 40,700 tons.

Ljubljana and 136 other local authorities can certainly be praised for their actions in last year’s floods, when central Slovenia was hit by an average of 170-180 mm of rain in 48 hours. Dr Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, climatologist and professor at Ljubljana University Biotechnical Faculty, who ‘covers’ the field of adaptation to climate change in the project, justified the selection of cases of good practice by pointing out that the civil protection, rescue and assistance forces were able to be well prepared for the impending deluge due to timely warnings from the Slovenian Environment Agency. 39 local authorities, whose own resources were insufficient for the effective implementation of anti-flooding measures, were sent the necessary protection and rescue equipment from government reserves. An additional 100,000 anti-flood sandbags were purchased. The emergency response forces in addition to protection, rescue and relief operations organised at local, regional and state levels (23,503 participants), were also assisted by the police (1,958 participants) and the Slovenian army (1,238 participants), who prevented additional damage.
Project group members also assessed recorded cases of good practice in the categories ‘the value chain of wood’ (Dr Franc Pohleven, professor at Ljubljana University Biotechnical Faculty) and ‘sustainable development of the countryside’ (Anamarija Slabe), where good practices from other cities or countries were at the forefront.

Civitas Elan, Vita Kontić