24 March 2023 – The University Medical Centre Maribor (UKC Maribor) hosted a presentation of the LFIA–REC project to introduce the recycling of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 with the support of the Norway Grants. “In addition to innovation, the added value of this project is that it brings together the University of Maribor, the local medical centre and companies,” said Aleksander Jevšek, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development.
One of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is the accumulation of large quantities of waste, including rapid antigen tests. The recycling project aims to reduce this waste by separately recycling the white plastic and the gold nanoparticles that make up the rapid antigen tests.
According to Martin Rakuša, project manager at UKC Maribor, their facility alone generated 1854 tonnes of waste in 2020, 276 tonnes of which was an infectious waste, and around 2000 rapid antigen tests per week. It is therefore important for the hospital to find a way to recycle as much waste as possible, Rakuša said.
Project leader Dr Rebeka Rudolf from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Maribor said that once recycling becomes a reality, other healthcare institutions and individuals will be invited to collect used rapid antigen tests so that they can dispose of them in health centres: „At the moment, we incinerate these tests, which are considered hazardous waste. When we incinerate one million rapid tests that use gold nanoparticles for the markings, we throw away 0.1 grams of gold and 5,000 kilograms of plastic used for the cases. This represents an estimated value of €15,000”.
Her colleague Tilen Švarc explained that once the materials are separated, the recycled plastic can be used to make electrical wiring enclosures, while gold nanoparticles can be used especially in many cosmetics and optical products.
“This is an innovative project that follows the concept of the circular economy. It follows the objective of easing the burden on the environment, or the green policy, which is also a priority area of the European Cohesion Policy and the Norway Grants, therefore we will continue to work towards co-financing such projects in the future,” said Minister Jevšek in his opening address. He also stressed the importance of bringing together different stakeholders, both public institutions and companies: “In addition to innovation, the added value of this project is that it brings together the University of Maribor, the local medical centre and companies”.
According to Minister Jevšek, Slovenia has received around €40 million from the Norway Grants in the outgoing period. The Minister announced a meeting with donors from Norway next week, from where he expects to receive approximately the same amount in the next period.
In addition to the UKC Maribor and the Maribor Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the project, which has a total value of just over 700,000, also involves the Faculty of Polymer Technology, the Institute of Metals and Technologies, and the companies Plastika Skaza, Surovina and Zlatarna Celje.
20 March 2023 – Every day over 3,500 people commute to Trata industrial zone. It is located just a few kilometres from the historical centre of Škofja Loka, a beautiful alpine town in central Slovenia. Around 94% of employees working in this industrial zone use their cars to travel to work daily. Thanks to the EEA Grants-backed project Trata 2.1, that is about to change.
An industrial zone fit for the 21st century
Slovenia’s industrial zones accommodate various businesses, including manufacturing, processing, assembly, and distribution. The presence of these businesses is critical for the Slovenian economy. And while many companies are taking steps towards being environmentally conscious, the industrial zones that host them, designed in the 60s and 70s, have not been built with sustainability or clean mobility in mind.
Cycling path towards Trata industrial zone. Copyright: iPoP
That is where the project Trata, an industrial zone for the 21st century – TRATA 2.1, comes into play. An exemplary public-private cross-border partnership is building and piloting a blueprint for companies to enable the change of their employees’ mobility habits.
“The idea has been ‘brewing’ in the head of Gašper Kleč, director of the Development agency Sora for some time. He saw a big problem in the fact that nobody is addressing the generators of mobility when talking about and planning sustainable mobility. This topic is usually dealt with on the local, regional or national level, but not on the level of businesses, although they are the biggest daily generators of mobility”, says Katarina Sladoljev, project manager at the Development agency Sora.
Industrial zone Trata. Author: Vid Slapničar. Copyright: Broad Reach
The partnership brings together eight organisations – among them a municipality, development agency, NGOs, and private companies – to combine their knowledge and expertise in addressing this shared challenge.
Common solutions for a shared challenge
The project’s overarching objective is to encourage employees of the three companies taking part in the project to change their mobility habits for more sustainable ones.
We want to promote change in a motivating, positive and obtainable way. We are encouraging the employees to choose sustainable means of transportation for their daily commutes, either active mobility, such as walking and biking if they live up to 5 km away from their work, or using public transport – buses and trains when they live further than that. At the same time, we know that a lot of people who come to this industrial zone live in rural areas that are not very well connected with public transportation, so we also encourage car sharing. We want to make the change as easy and painless as possible.Katarina Sladoljev, project manager at the Development agency Sora
The project is split into several parts, each of them serving a specific purpose that will help achieve their ultimate goal – increase the number of commuters choosing cleaner modes of transport by 4%.
During the first phase of the project, IPoP – Institute for Spatial Policies – one of the project partners, carried out a survey of mobility habits among the employees working in the Industrial zone Trata. The survey revealed that nearly 76% of employees use unsustainable means to travel to work, meaning they commute to work alone in their car. In total, the survey received over 600 responses, which will be used to define the specific needs of the commuters and, later on, measure the change in their habits.
In addition to the survey, IPoP organised focus groups in each of the companies. Their goal was to understand the habits of employees and identify informal ambassadors of clean mobility who would later be appointed as mobility managers in their respective companies.
Copyright: iPoP
The second part of the project is the most tangible. In this stage, the project partners are making sure the right infrastructure is in place. It includes building unfinished parts of the cycling path by the project partner Municipality of Škofja Loka. Meanwhile, each of the companies in the project will purchase several e-bikes to be used by their employees and build appropriate bike storage.
At the same time, project partners CIPRA Slovenia and CIPRA International from Liechtenstein are collecting the best international practices for promoting sustainable mobility in companies.
“We at CIPRA International have years of experience in the cross-border area of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein when it comes to sustainable commuter mobility and supporting the modal shift. The project offers us the unique chance to discuss our measures and activities with experts from other Alpine countries and get new insights.” Jakob Dietachmair, Deputy Director at CIPRA International
“Our international partners are collecting best practices from companies who already have mobility plans in their vision or their business plan, and are implementing them. These practices have to come from abroad because there aren’t many of them in Slovenia yet. We need to learn what are the possibilities, decide what is relevant and applicable to Slovenia, and then propose that to the three companies in the partnership. We are looking for practical solutions. For example, the companies will purchase 45 bikes between the 3 of them. But how will we distribute the bikes among, for example,450 employees in one of the companies? What kind of rental system should be put in place? These are the kinds of questions that we need to have answered” says Sladoljev.
Identifying policy holes
Such a bottom-up approach to clean mobility is not always easy. In this case, project partners identified an issue that could hurt the project. According to them, an oversight in the new tax policy in Slovenia will discourage employees from changing to clean mobility as it favours only electric cars, but not electric bikes.
“In Slovenia, if you get to use a company car, it is taxed as a work benefit. Last year an addendum to the law was accepted that lifts the taxing of the benefit in cases where companies provide electric cars. However, that is not the case for electric (or regular) bikes provided by the company,” explains Sladoljev.
To remedy this, CIPRA Slovenia is working with the Coalition for sustainable transport policies and national institutions to update the addendum and make sure that any employee in Slovenia, who chooses a sustainable vehicle, will enjoy the same tax benefits.
Aiming for measured impact
All the research findings, together with good practices proposals will be put together into so-called ‘Mobility plans’. Each company taking part in the project will get a customised mobility plan that will be implemented with the help of appointed mobility managers.
The pilot project is set to run until the end of April 2024. But as important as all of the steps taken in the implementation, measurement of the impact will be critical for the success of the project.
“Our objective is to change the mobility habits of 4% of people working in the three companies that are part of this project. We will measure this in several ways. IPoP will carry out a follow-up survey, similar to the one at the beginning of the project, to see how the answers regarding their mobility habits have changed. But we all know that surveys are not always reliable – there is a difference between what people say they will do versus what they do. That is why they will at the same time analyse the parking lot video surveillance footage to see how the actual situation is changing, and physically count over-time increase in car sharing and such. This way, we will be sure of the project’s real impact,” says Sladoljev.
Copyright: Municipality of Škofja Loka
Exemplary cross-border partnership
A diverse partnership between the public and private sectors, a development agency and various experts in the field of sustainable mobility from different countries, and the desire to change the existing situation can make Škofja Loka one of the best Slovenian success stories in the field of sustainable mobility. And since climate change is not a localised problem, it provides one more solution that can be scaled and replicated in Slovenia and other countries.
“The Alps are particularly affected by climate change. Temperatures in this region increased at more than twice the global average rate in the last century. The challenges we see due to climate change are similar in all Alpine countries and do not stop at political borders. Only a well-coordinated approach (for example within the framework of the Alpine Conventions Climate Action Plan 2.0) can guarantee a good life in the Alps for all. Finally, not one alone can stop the climate crisis, everyone’s help is needed.” Jakob Dietachmair, Deputy Director at CIPRA International
“If this project is successful, it will prove that this approach works and that the companies should be investing in similar models. And if we do it in a span of a year and a half, others can probably do it even faster because we will be able to provide them with a replicable model,” says Sladoljev.
More information about the Trata 2.1 project is also available on the website of the financial mechanisms and on the project website. You can also follow the project on Instagram. You are invited to watch the presentation video (in Slovenian).
9. march 2023 – A new project story about Slovenia’s first Barnahus is available also on the Synergy Network website.
The SYNERGY network brings together governmental and non-governmental stakeholders from different countries cooperating to prevent and combat gender-based and domestic violence under the EEA and Norway Grants.
In May 2022, the first Barnahus opened in Slovenia. The Barnahus (Children’s House) is the leading European model for treating child victims of sexual abuse. A unique multidisciplinary and interagency approach brings together all relevant services thus preventing re-victimisation of children and providing a coordinated and effective legal response for all children.
The general goal of the project is to provide child-friendly justice in accordance with EU directives, and to improve interagency cooperation in processes and procedures concerning the treatment of abused children according to the Barnahus model. Abused children are the main beneficiary of the project Barnahus in Slovenia.
For more information about the project, click here or visit the project website, website of the Financial Mechanism Office or website of the Council of Europe.
28 February 2023 – Kristin Dalen and Åge A. Tiltnes from the Norwegian research foundation Fafo visited the EFTA House to present their report “The Effects of the EEA and Norway Grants 2004-2021”.
The report in English is a condensed version of the Norwegian Fafo report “EEA and Norway Grants 2004-2021: What has Norway achieved?”, which the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned as a review of key aspects of the EEA and Norway Grants.
Fafo is a Norwegian independent social science research foundation that develops knowledge on the conditions for participation in working life, organisational life, society and politics, the relationship between politics and living conditions, as well as on democracy, development and value creation.
The report is not an evaluation report. It highlights how Norwegian support provided through the Grants has helped to achieve the following two objectives:
reduction of social and economic disparities in the EEA and
stronger bilateral relations between Donor and Beneficiary States.
The report is based primarily on document reviews. In addition, 40 people were interviewed for their insights into the structure and administration of the EEA and Norway Grants.
21 February 2023 – Due to the change of the GODC to the MCRD, the revised forms annexed to Parts 4 and 5 of the Guide for Beneficiaries have been published on the website.
Annexes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to Part 4 of the Guide for Beneficiaries and the annexes to Part 5 of the Guide for Beneficiaries – forms Report of the Donor Project Partner (substantive and financial part) have been published.
The forms can be found under Documents – Guidelines (annexes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 on the Slovenian side only).
17 February 2023 – Project promoter ZRS Bistra Ptuj and project partners of the project StudioKroG – Studio of the Circular Economy, which is implemented under the programme Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, held a technical workshop to showcase the third phase of the project implementation at the studioKroG location in Slovenske Konjice. The workshop was intended for a wider audience (general public, students, architects, builders, local community, SMEs, social enterprises, etc.).
As part of the activity called pilot approach to using waste – furnishing the interior of shipping containers, project partners showed how old bricks can be reused on the example of a mobile studio facility made from shipping containers. Project partner CPU (Reuse Centre) acts as a social enterprise; it carries out activities of circular use of resources and through the process of preparation for reuse redirects and repurposes waste, thereby significantly contributing to reducing consumption of new resources. The process of pilot use of old bricks for the purpose of making rustic wall cladding was shown at the workshop.
The third phase of the project will include the installation of the interior walls. The possibility of using different types of waste for entrepreneurial ideas, such as waste ceramics, glass, glass packaging, textiles, clay, wood, CDs, vinyl records, etc., will be shown at the Circular Economy studio. This phase will also include internal wall insulation through the application of waste textiles, green flooring and green (also called plant or living) walls, all delivered according to the reuse method, and installed depending on the type of waste material used. Renewable energy sources (solar energy, air-to-air heat pump) will be used as an energy source for lighting and underfloor heating (pipe system in recycled polystyrene).
6 February 2023 – The Predjama Sustainable Mobility Plan has been designed as part of the project called Sustainable Mobility Management at the Tourist Location Predjama (Predjama Sustainable), which is implemented under the programme Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. The Mobility Plan outlines challenges and solutions to reducing heavy traffic and congestion due to high numbers of visitors that flock to the village of Predjama, especially in peak season. The Mobility Plan is set to gradually start this year.
Municipality of Postojna aims to reduce motorized traffic in the wider area of municipality to contribute to climate change mitigation. Predjama, a popular tourist location which has seen a threefold increase in visits in the last 10 years, is one of the targeted areas that will benefit from a traffic solution. Due to an insufficient number of parking spaces, expanded tourist offer and large numbers of visitors, the peak season usually faces a parking chaos, which calls for a sustainable solution that involves a reduced number of cars at the location but retains visitor numbers.
The mobility plan is one of the main deliverables of the project and the springboard for a pilot implementation of key measures that will help change travel habits of visitors and local population. The project brings together Municipality of Postojna as Project Promoter, Institute for Spatial Policies and Municipality of Strand from Norway. The project partners were joined by the Bukovje local community and the interested residents of Bukovje and Predjama; they all joined forces to develop the mobility plan. The document preparation process was all-inclusive – workshops, interviews and surveys were carried out to collect the views, proposals and needs of other residents of Predjama, Bukovje and neighbouring villages, local associations, Institute Knowledge Postojna, Regional Development Agency Green Karst and destinations facing similar traffic issues.
The mobility plan was prepared on the basis of the presentation of the project to the residents of Bukovje local community, the study visit to Norway and the creation of a working group. Later, a situation analysis and a location-based accessibility analysis were conducted, starting points for the mobility plan identified, survey, interviews, field visit with residents carried out and challenges and goals identified. After this all-round analysis, four different visions were formulated and presented at a public debate, to the project partners and the working group. For each of the four visions, a set of measures, the corresponding timeline and the financial framework were proposed. The measures were approved by the working group, the mayor of the Municipality of Postojna and the director of the Postojna Cave Park, which later followed in the design, approval and adoption of the plan.
The mobility plan consists of four actions that are broken down into five key areas or so-called pillars:
31 January 2023 – The Creative Centre is launched in Koper, with an innovative programme aimed at creating a work-life balance. It is part of the project Creative Work-life Balance (acronym BalanCed), implemented under the programme Education, Scholarships, Apprenticeship and Youth Entrepreneurship. The project promoter is the Center for Communication, Hearing and Speech Portorož and the project partners are the CONA B.P. Institute, the NOMED Institute (and Zelenci movement), thee Association for Culture and Education PiNA and Culture Break Borders (Norway).
Creating an environment where connecting habits such as acceptance, encouragement, listening, cooperation, trust, respect, coordination, creativity and responsibility are developed contributes to greater employee satisfaction, resulting in greater commitment and innovation. Active participation in the present project means just that to us – a new opportunity, a new environment for the development of increasingly satisfied individuals, employees,” said Ms Anja Cerkvenik, acting director of the Center for Communication, Hearing and Speech Portorož.
Ms Mateja Hrvatin Kozlovič, deputy mayor of the Municipality of Koper, also attended the opening, welcoming those present and pointing out that “… both children and adults will have the opportunity to test their creative expression here. Regardless of whether we are stepping into a new, unknown territory for the first time, or whether we are upgrading our creative skills.”
Why do we need creativity? Why be creative? “When we create, we express our feelings, we are in better contact with ourselves, we learn to solve problems, build self-confidence and overcome obstacles. We allow ourselves to be proud when we look at the results of our work and we socialize with like-minded people,” said Ms Barbara Gogala, head of the project.
The premises of the Creative centre were renovated with sustainable materials, whereas an important part of the project is also raising children’s awareness in the field of environmental protection. Ms Katarina Parovel, director of the Nomed Institute: “Children will (and already have) brought colour, playful energy and a lot of laughter to this space. Throughout the project, we will conduct several sets of workshops, some of which we have already conducted. They were aimed at furnishing the space – no, we did not go to the store to get furniture, but to get rid of it. At the handicraft workshops, we involved the children in sanding and painting the chairs, and at the environmental protection workshop, we sewed and upholstered the seats of the chairs together. We repainted the scrap cupboards and sewed aprons for the upcoming workshops. Together, we arranged a space in which we will feel good and will be happy to return to.”
They will soon go out into the field with the children and hold biodiversity workshops for them, discovering together the secrets of nature, both plants and animals. They will also offer thinking workshops that will encourage children to think critically, argue and find compromises through active debates.
With the desire that the content and activities within the Creative centre were tailored to the needs and wishes of the employees and their families, an analysis of their needs was carried out as part of the project. “We invited representatives of employees and employers to the focus groups, and in guided discussions together with them we identified the challenges they face, such as finding suitable care, and we also held focus groups with employers, where we determined what they needed for support employees in harmonizing their professional and private lives,” pointed out Ms Jasna Ratoša, expert associate at Association PiNA.
In the form of free courses and workshops, the Creative centre will offer the acquisition of skills in modelling clay, sewing, making natural cosmetics and photography. It will also offer a programme to strengthen soft skills for employees in organizations, and a diverse programme for children. Now, the activities of the Creative center are already full, but you can follow the upcoming ones on the project’s website and Facebook page.
31 January 2023 – A mobility breakfast titled “Together for effective alternatives to the car” was held in BTC’s Crystal Palace as part of the project SmartMOVE: Smart solutions for sustainable mobility, implemented under the programme Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.
Sustainable mobility experts, representatives of Ljubljana Passenger Transport, Slovenian Railways – Passenger Transport, Ministry of Infrastructure, and providers of new forms of transport – companies GoOpti, Nomago and Avantcar participated in the roundtable to discuss the potential synergies and find solutions for a multimodal travel system that would allow people to travel efficiently without owning a car.
One of the biggest challenges to sustainable mobility is the mass use of private cars that are used for the travel of only one person. It is the single most common cause of congestion and takes up too much space causing lack of parking spaces, which many people are faced with on a daily basis. It also has a huge environmental impact that will be felt by future generations. The development of a multimodal mobility system that can compete with the efficiency and convenience of a private car is one of the best chances to free ourselves from being trapped in the loop of automobility.
