The Ljubljana Urban Region has already secured 102 million EUR in funding for European projects, more than half of which are grants.

Following an invitation from the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development for regional development councils to prepare and sign Agreements for the Development of Regions 2021–2027, the Ljubljana Urban Region has been allocated 59.69 million EUR in European and national grants. To date, agreements for nine projects totalling 43 million EUR have been signed, with 22.2 million EUR in co-financing. At the latest sessions of the LUR Development Council and the LUR Council, an additional 22 projects were approved, worth 59.3 million EUR, with 30.9 million EUR in planned grants, for which Minister Dr. Aleksander Jevšek and the President of the Ljubljana Urban Region Development Council, Metod Ropret, signed the second amendment to the agreement on Tuesday, 8 July 2025.
To successfully access these funds, municipalities must submit applications and implement projects in full compliance with the set criteria, and the projects must be feasible and completed by the end of 2029.

Under the leadership of the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RDA LUR), intensive coordination efforts between municipalities and line ministries were carried out, along with thorough project preparation. As the results show, they were very successful, as the third set of projects has already been approved, which represents an important step towards the efficient use of available funds.

The RDA LUR is highly satisfied with the results. The Director of the RDA LUR, Lilijana Madjar, MA, said: »Through close coordination between municipalities and the state, we have already approved a third set of projects under the Agreement for the Development of Regions. We are proud that our region demonstrates a high level of readiness for fund absorption and sustainable development.«

The President of the LUR Council and Mayor of the City of Ljubljana Zoran Janković added that two factors are key to the success of this project financing instrument – first, Minister Aleksander Jevšek, who as a former mayor understands the needs of local communities extremely well, and second, the cooperation of all municipalities of the Ljubljana Urban Region in finding the best solutions. »All 25 mayors, regardless of political affiliation, work hand in hand when approving projects, making decisions in the best interest of the entire region,« he pointed out.

Projects eligible for co-financing cover the areas of entrepreneurship, wastewater collection and treatment, drinking water supply, green infrastructure, sustainable mobility and the national cycling network.

PONI LUR – the first approved project

The first approved project, titled An Entrepreneurial Approach to Challenges in the Ljubljana Urban Region 2023–2027, led by RDA LUR, was approved in December 2023. By 30 June 2025, the fourth group of participants, the eleventh generation, had completed the training, as the project had already been running in the previous period. The project, valued at 1.54 million EUR, is fully funded by European and national sources.

8 projects confirmed, 22 more approved

In April 2025, eight projects related to wastewater management and sustainable mobility were confirmed, and at the July session of the LUR Council, 22 more projects in the areas of national cycling infrastructure, green infrastructure and drinking water supply were approved. Another project, with 960,000 EUR in co-financing, is currently awaiting approval from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, and projects in preparation worth 5.6 million EUR are also awaiting approval and are expected to be included in the third amendment to the agreement.
The Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy has issued a public call for co-financing sustainable mobility measures for 2023–2029. These measures will be co-financed at an 80% rate, with municipalities providing the remaining 20%. In Slovenia, a total of 49.5 million EUR is available from the Cohesion Fund (85% EU funds, 15% national funds) for measures to transform public spaces – comprehensive redevelopment of roads or streets according to sustainable mobility principles, and improved infrastructure for public passenger transport, pedestrians, and cyclists. Among other things, there is a strong interest among municipalities in establishing a regional e-bike rental system, namely, already in October 2024, 21 municipalities in the Ljubljana Urban Region signed a cooperation agreement. The goal is to create a unified network with an integrated information and payment system, including compatibility with the Urbana card, to facilitate easy rental, return and charging of e-bikes, and provide connectivity with P+R systems and public transport.