Event 7: LJUBLJANA (Slovenia)

Participation: The event involved 180 citizens, including 151participants from the city of  Ljubljana and Litija (Slovenia), 3 participants from the city of Altea (Spain) etc.2 participants from Brussels (Belgium), 3 participants from Agia (Greece), 5 participants from Noto and Avola  (Italy), 3 participants form Warsavia and Krakow (Poland), 3 participants from Sofia (Bulgaria),  3 participants form Athienou Cyprus

Location / Dates:The event took place in Ljubljana (Slovenia), from 20/11/2019 to 23/11/2019

Short description:

In Slovenia, Ljubljana the prefinal stage of the project was implemented trough event number  7 where the participants embraced the EU is home stage of the project and preparations were  put in place in order to prepare for the final concluding event in Brussels.

On the first day of the meetingprograme the emphasis was put on the previous tasks  completed and further details were forwarded in order to comply with the project  management. The internal follow up was concluded with the short workplan for the street action which was aimed to local Slovenian population gathering impressions from pedestrians  at the Ljubljana Centre square. The participants engaged, interviewed and recorded their interactions among different age groups to gather the responses of locals on the topic of their  perception of EU. After the street action the participants have expanded the knowledge on cultural heritage of city of Ljubljana trough a guided tour of historical centre of the capital of Slovenia. The lunch was organized in a special place with the aim to showcase a social business  enterprise contributing towards migrant integration in the Slovenian society and to ensure the  livelihood of migrants. The participants experienced different cuisine from the native countries  prepared by migrants living in Slovenia. The rest of the programme was held in a special venue  of House of Europe in Slovenia where they were greeted byMr.Zoran StančičHead of the European Commission Representation in Slovenia. The e vent continued withmoderated round  table with youth. All international participants were tasked with guidance and support to Slovenian high school pupils during the round table with renown Slovenian politician and ex MEP, Mr. Ivo Vajgl. Round table was excellent opportunity for over 140 pupils of 3 rd grade of  Gymnasium for direct interactions,discussing the current issues, forming views and planting foundations among the high school population for furtherdevelopment of interest in EU political agenda. Before the round table The Slovenian pupils have explored the interactive multimedia centre of House of Europe in Ljubljana and got to knowthe opportunities for formal and informal education through EU funded opportunities.

On the second day of the meeting the programme continued in the venue of the House of Europe where the active citizenship was addressed through the work of Slovenian NGOs dealing with migrant related issues. The representatives of Amnesty

International and SlovenskaFilantropija introduced their organizations and their work in this field which also sparked the debate among the participants on how the situation is dealt with in their countries. After the debate the participants continued with the group work on the final retouch of the project declaration for the public reading and sharing of ideas for dissemination of declaration. The work done in the street action was revised and viewed by all participants.After the group work meeting the programme concluded with the guided tour of Multimedia centre of the house of Europe and lecture with quiz where participants reinforced their knowledge on functioning of EU bodies and their role in decision making process. Also on the second day another round table with mr. Vajgl for 3 different classes of 3rd grade pupils was held.

All the programme activities where implemented with the great impact from all participants which were also creators of parts of the program, mutual interactions among participants and active involvement was achieved through different work methods such us group work, rotations, quizzes, roleplay- making interviews, implementation of street action: ˝How should the perfect European Union be” (doing videos with locals) and excellent animation of the pupils at the round table.

The project event was officially concluded at the farewell dinner where participants got a little taste of typical local rural cuisine and got insight in the intangible cultural heritage and Slovenian folk traditions.