Ljubljana related
STA, 9 August 2022 - Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković has promised the residents they will be kept warm this winter despite the energy crisis. Coal reserves are sufficient to provide district heating to nearly half of all homes and there will be enough natural gas, but the question is at what price gas will be available.
Speaking at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Janković said that some 61,000 apartments or 48% of all in the capital city are served by district heating. "We've got sufficient energy sources for the hot water pipeline throughout the heating season, even if it's cold from October to May," he said.
The share of biomass for district heating is to be raised to 20%. There are still over a month's worth of coal reserves with a shipment of 145,000 tonnes of Indonesian coal on its way to Slovenia, plus another such to follow in January, according to the mayor.
He is planning to meet Environment Minister Uroš Brežan later this month to discuss how the financial burden of emission coupons for the use of coal could be alleviated and to determine the energy sources for district heating.
Janković hailed the government's decision to cap prices of energy products, including district heating.
One out of three households in Ljubljana uses natural gas for heating. "We absolutely have the needed quantity of gas secured," Janković said. If necessary, the use of gas will be reduced with industry rather than households. However, he also said it was too early to say how much gas will cost.
The construction of a new gas-steam unit at the Ljubljana CHP Plant is slated for completion in late September. Janković expects it will be ready for a trial start-up in October, by which time it should be clear what happens with gas supplies.
"We need 170 million cubic metres of gas for Ljubljana, which is a negligible amount relative to European consumption." At the moment, the city authorities are negotiating with three suppliers. Another option is heating oil.
The mayor reasserted his case for a waste-to-energy plant, which he said would make Ljubljana 70% self-sufficient if built in five years. "I promise that, if we get the concession, our incinerator will be the most advanced with minimum emissions and a chimney above the temperature inversion zone," he said, adding that heating for end users would be 20% lower than now.
STA, 12 July 2022 - The ŠKUC society, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, will host its annual festival between 22 and 31 July this year, bringing concerts, plays, a fashion show, performances, exhibitions, literary events, and workshops to Ljubljana's old town. All events will be admission free and will feature both established and up-and-coming artists.
The festival Dobimo se pred Škucem (Let's Meet in front of ŠKUC) will take place in the afternoons and evenings in front of the ŠKUC Gallery in Old Square.
The musical section of the festival will feature Lado Jakša's multimedia performance Plečnikova Misel (Plečnik's Thought), a tribute to architect Jože Plečnik (1872-1957). A projection of photos of Plečnik's works will be accompanied by original live jazz music.
Concerts by Jakomini Jazz Trio and trio A Cuerdas, and performances by Martin Adam Stevens and Blaž Mencinger are also planned. Bands Atelje and Malamor, Samuel Blues and Miha Erič, Brencl Banda, Birds of Unknown, Martin Martian and the Universe, and Chris Eckman will also take the stage.
Theatre lovers will be able to choose among three plays for adults and a drag show Eat your makeup. Nine plays for children will be on along with three literary events for children.
Students of textile and fashion design from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering will host an exhibition and a fashion show dubbed Nature + Culture = Future. Young artists will present their work at a separate exhibition entitled Artopolis: Sodobna Neskladja (Artoplis: Contemporary Incompatibilities).
Like every year, a number of workshops will be organised for all age groups.
To mark ŠKUC's 50th anniversary, the festival will this year also present the society's film production. Damjan Kozole's Usodni Telefon (Fatal Telephone) and animation Socializacija Bika (Socialisation of a Bull) by Milan Erič and Zvonko Čoh will be screened.
In case of rain, all events will be moved to the Škuc Gallery.
STA, 12 July - Slovenia's capital has placed 279th among 344 European cities in the European city air quality viewer with its air quality categorised as poor. Maribor ranks 207th having moderately clean air.
The ranking, released on the website of the European Environment Agency, classifies cities from the cleanest to the most polluted on the basis of average levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, over the past two calendar years.
The list is topped by Umea, Sweden, followed by Faro and Funchal in Portugal, with all other cities whose air quality is categorised as good located in North Europe. The annual mean concentration of fine particulate matter in those cities does not exceed the annual guideline value of the World Health Organisation of 5 micrograms per cubic metre.
Ranked lower down on the list are cities whose air quality is categorised as fair (up to 10 micrograms/m3), moderate (up to 15 micrograms/m3), poor (up to 25 micrograms/m3) and finally very poor, the cities whose levels are at or above the EU limit value of 25 micrograms/m3.
Placing 279th, Ljubljana ranks slightly above its Croatian counterpart Zagreb, in 282nd, but below the Hungarian capital of Budapest, in 268th, or the Croatian port city of Rijeka, in 155th, for example.
The cities with the poorest air quality are Italy's Padua and Cremona and Nowy Sazc in Poland. Venice places 341st, which makes it the lowest ranked city among those whose air quality is categorised as poor rather than very poor.
STA, 27 June 2022 - The 4th Ljubljana Street Art Festival kicks off on Monday, bringing graffiti, murals, concerts, workshops and much more to the capital under the theme of peripheral street art and street art as a peripheral art form.
The festival will see more than 60 artists participate in all forms of street art, focusing on the geographical periphery of this art form, as well as its political and activist components.
The artist will demonstrate how street art has transformed into various forms of expression, including new media and intermedia formats, according to the organisers, the Institute of Urban Questions.
Running until 4 July, the festival will take place at venues including Kino Šiška, the Metelkova Mesto alternative culture centre, the Ljubljana Dance Theatre, Sax Pub, and the DUM Project Venue.
Artists will paint murals and do graffiti art on the streets, bringing together an international array with Germany's ZEBU duo, France's Mathieu Tremblin, Slovenian-Swiss art duo Veli & Amos, and many more.
Metelkova will see a mural created with fire extinguishers filled with paint, and a group graffiti art installation that will include an audio-visual performance at Metelkova's Hall of Fame.
The programme also features concerts and art exhibitions. The Kino Šiška will host Slovenian music producer Drone Emoji, and Metelkova Mesto a concert by the group SBO - Smrt Boga in Otrok.
STA, 17 June 2022 - More than ten years after becoming the first city in Slovenia with a bike sharing system, Ljubljana has now also got its own e-bike rental system with 75 Nomago Bikes made available at 25 docking stations.
With Thursday's launch of the new system, Ljubljana has become the 12th municipality with an e-bike rental system operated by Nomago, a travel and transportation company.
The bikes have a battery capacity from 60 to 80 km. Renting the bike for 30 minutes costs EUR 1.3, with different subscriptions also available.
Of the 25 docking stations, 17 are in public spaces, of which 15 next to existing BicikeLJ stations, one in the P+R Stanežiče parking lot and one in the parking lot at the foothill of Šmarna Gora, the popular Ljubljana hiking spot.
Some companies have joined the project as well and set up stations next to their buildings.
Attending the launch, Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković said he long opposed Ljubljana having an e-bike system. "Our city is ideal for non-motorised biking," he said, adding that his colleagues convinced him e-bike rental was a good opportunity to connect Ljubljana and the neighbouring municipalities.
Marjan Beltram, executive director for tourism and mobility at Nomago, said the company aimed to double the capacities in Ljubljana in a year and connect the system with neighbouring municipalities to set up a unified system for the whole urban region around Ljubljana.
Before the first use of the bike, users are required to register over the mobile app or website Nomago Bikes and connect a payment card, PayPal or Urbana to their account.
Accounts for e-bike systems in other towns can be used in Ljubljana as well and up to three bikes can be rented simultaneously with one account.
All bikes are equipped with smart locks so they can be returned even when the charging station is full.
A monthly subscription fee is EUR 15 and a yearly EUR 45, for international student card (ISIC) holders it costs EUR 10 a month and EUR 25 a year. For subscribers a 30-minute rental is free with every 30 minutes after that costing EUR 1.3.
STA, 18 June 2022 - Slovenia will get a Computer Museum (Računalniški muzej) on Saturday, located in Ljubljana's Šiška district and opening its doors with an exhibition highlighting computer software, among other things. The museum will feature one of the largest collections from the world of computers in this part of Europe.
The actual museum comes after the Computer Museum has already been active as an NGO since 2004. Its head Gaja Zornada told the press on Thursday the decision had been made because of the rapid changes in society, which was constantly in contact with technology.
Zornada stressed the museum was not only meant for computer scientists, but for anyone unfamiliar with the history of computers. It also provides a supportive environment for educational processes.
"The Computer Museum is a place for active engagement, which is why we have several different volunteer programmes through which individuals can join specific museum projects to the best of their abilities, spend quality time together and learn new skills."
The opening exhibition, entitled "What About Software?", focuses on the less enduring side of computing - computer software.
It will also feature an item that will be part of the museum's permanent collection - one of Slovenia's most famous Internet servers from the 1990s, Stenar, which was ceremoniously handed over by the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (Arnes) on Thursday.
The server was bought in 1991 to connect Slovenia to the world, allowing information to flow freely, and was also used by researchers and journalists at the Slovenian Press Agency to send information from Slovenia to the world in the 1990s.
The collection, which has been growing steadily for 18 years, now contains more than 1,500 items.
"I think we can comfortably say that this is one of the largest collections in this part of Europe," said Boštjan Špetič, head of the museum's collection.
It ranges from computers to software and also includes an extensive collection of books related to computers, books that libraries normally refuse to hold on to nowadays.
Precious rare pieces featured at the museum include the first scientific pocket calculator HP35 and the first laptop computer of the Jožef Stefan Institute.
Learn more at the website: https://www.racunalniski-muzej.si/
STA, 13 June 2022 - Ljubljana's Trnovo borough will get a new science centre in 2024, a demonstration facility dedicated to the promotion and popularisation of science, research, technology, and lifelong learning. The EUR 26 million project will be co-funded from the state budget, EU and municipal funds.
The centre will offer experiments and demonstrations of major achievements in science, culture, and economy with a plethora of interactive gadgets.
It will put on display innovative products made in Slovenia and visitors will be able to learn about breakthrough advances in science in a comprehensive and interesting way.
Designed as a collection of pavilions and single-storey buildings, it will cover roughly 11,000 square metres between Barjanska and Riharjeva streets in Ljubljana.
The total value of the project is around EUR 26 million, with EUR 16 million to come from the European Regional Development Fund.
The rest of the funds will be provided by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, while the municipality of Ljubljana chipping in EUR 924,000 for municipal infrastructure.
Construction works are scheduled to start in February 2023, to be completed by December 2024, says a decree unanimously adopted by the city council on Monday.
The first phase will entail a footpath and maintenance of green areas, and street lighting, followed by measures to reduce traffic along Riharjeva and Barjanska streets, and arranging public transport to and from the area.
The council's also decided to name two new parks in the capital.
Park Gazel, which translated as the park of fast growing companies, will be landscaped near the Technology Park in Brdo borough.
The city centre will get Park of the Erased, in honour of the people who were erased from the register of permanent residents in 1992 after Slovenia declared independence.
STA, 27 May 2022 - Contemporary art lovers can look forward to an eventful three days in the capital, as the first Ljubljana Art Weekend festival kicks off today. Connecting the most important venues of contemporary art in the city, the festival will bring more than a hundred exhibitions, guided tours, workshops, round table debates, and performances.
More than 300 artists will be presented at various locations around the capital, with most of today's events taking place at the Cukrarna art centre.
This afternoon an event called Young Collectors: Speed dating will be held there to help beginners embarking on the path of collecting. Young collectors will seek advice and guidance on how to build their own art collections from seven representatives of the professional community.
Two group exhibitions will open at Cukrarna - Created in Slovenia and Marcin Rusak Studio: DNA of Things - and a round table debate will be held on collecting art, featuring experts from Vienna, discussing the connections within the art community, the specifics of contemporary art collecting and the role of galleries, art experts and art fairs in encouraging a new generation of art lovers and collectors.
A performance by Mateja Bučar dubbed I would've been a palm tree will also take place at Cukrarna tonight. The performance, which can also function as an installation, shows movement (dance) that is connected to a single point in space, but is constantly engaging with the space around it.
In the Ajdovščina underpass, a guided tour of an exhibition by Janja Kosi and Tytus Szabelski Significantly Local will be held, while a commercial pop-up exhibition by the Študio photographic studio and creative space will present their existing and latest zines, artist books, photographs and prints.
Another guided tour will be organised at the City Art Gallery, presenting group exhibition Artist - Collector - Public. The Hilger Collection, while at the Photon Gallery visitors will receive a tour of the group exhibition Back to Black. Contemporary Analogue and Hybrid Photography.
It will also be eventful at the Alkatraz Gallery, P74 Gallery and Pešak Gallery where guided tours and exhibition openings will take place.
Several events were held on Thursday and many more are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. During the festival, entrance to the galleries is admission free between noon and 6pm. The whole programme is available here.
The festival is organised by the Ravnikar Gallery Space in cooperation with Cukrarna/Muzej and Ljubljana city galleries and the municipality.
House of Experiments’ 13th Festival Brings Science to Ljubljana Street Friday to Sunday
STA, 27 May 2022 - The House of Experiments is hosting the 13th Znanstival, a festival promoting science, education and critical thinking, which will occupy the streets, squares and bridges of Ljubljana from Friday to Sunday to turn the capital in "one of the largest science centres in the world."
As part of the festival, a number of scientific shows and workshops will take place in and around Ljubljana, also featuring international guests from all over the world, in addition to performers from the House of Experiments.
Apart from the centre of the capital, the event will this year also visit the nearby towns of Polhov Gradec, Medvode, Zalog and Grosuplje, as a "bus full of experiments" will stop there for one hour and open its doors to visitors.
Meet the People: Miha Kos, Founder and Director of Hiša Eksperimentov
Today's opening event is taking place in Prešeren Square, presenting the guests and their activities to make it easier for visitors to decide which show or scientific workshop to see first. The three-day programme is available at www.znanstival.si.
Interactive experiments will also take place - on Saturday, a "scientific adventure" called Busology will be held in a city bus that will travel around Ljubljana. The entry and exit station is the Dragon Bridge in the city centre.
A series of interactive presentations, called The Garden of Experiments, will also take place on Saturday and Sunday, featuring a selection of institutions that promote science and education.
The House of Experiments in Trubarjeva Street will also open its doors free of charge for a limited number of visitors.
STA, 9 May 2022 - Zoran Janković has declared his intention to stand for his fifth straight term as mayor of Slovenia's capital in the autumn local elections. "It's nice to be Ljubljana mayor," he said on Monday.
Janković has served as Ljubljana mayor since 2006, winning every election since with an outright majority, including after a brief foray into politics at the national level in 2011 when his party Positive Slovenia won a plurality in the general election but Janković failed to form a government.
The 69-year-old mayor announced his renewed bid at Monday's City Council session marking Ljubljana Day in memory of the city's liberation in World War II. He praised his team and listed the projects implemented and planned by his administration, noting the importance of cooperation with the national government.
Listing the challenges ahead, including an energy crisis and a potential food crisis. "We must be prepared for all that, that's why I'm looking forward to our next government to be led by Robert Golob," he said, describing the prospective PM as one of Europe's biggest energy experts.
Janković, who used to be Golob's party boss, commented on the 24 April general election by saying that Slovenians said a no to PM Janez Janša and his divisive politics, disrespect for the rule of law and attacks on free media.