23. 6. 2025 | PR, Regional cooperation, Slovenian Development Assistance, U-LEAD: with Europe, Ukraine
Hrastnik, 2 July 2025 – The Centre for European Perspective, in cooperation with the Municipality of Hrastnik, is organising an event titled “Global starts Local: Youth for Solidarity with Ukraine”, taking place on 2 July at 17:00. The event will take place during the official visit of a Ukrainian delegation from Drohobych Municipality and in the context of Hrastnik’s municipal holiday.
The event is aimed at young people from Hrastnik and the wider Zasavje region and will be held in English. It will focus on themes of solidarity, the importance of development cooperation, and the role of Slovenia and local communities in supporting Ukraine’s recovery after the war. Participants will hear insights into the current situation in Ukraine, discuss the role of youth in building a fairer and more resilient society and raise awareness about global issues in an accessible and interactive way. The programme will be enriched by the online participation of young people from the Drohobych Youth Centre, enabling direct peer-to-peer exchange between Ukrainian and Slovenian youth.
The event is part of a broader mentorship exchange programme between the municipalities of Hrastnik and Drohobych, taking place in Hrastnik from 30 June to 11 July 2025.
The ‘Recovery and Reconstruction in Ukraine’ programme is funded by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs through the Slovenian Aid and Partnerships. In cooperation with ‘U-LEAD with Europe’.
15. 5. 2025 | Enter: Change, PR, Slovenian Development Assistance, Youth
On Wednesday, 14 May 2025, as part of the Enter Change project—led by the Centre for European Perspective (CEP) with the support of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and the Embassy of the United States of America in Slovenia—project participants visited the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Through an open dialogue, the participants learned about the functioning of the Slovenian Embassy in Sarajevo, diplomatic processes, as well as the challenges and opportunities in the relations between Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The young participants highlighted the importance of direct dialogue with diplomats, which provided valuable insight into the workings of institutions that shape international relations and contribute to regional stability.
A sincere thank you to H.E. Ambassador Damjan Sedar and his team for their exceptional hospitality, time, and willingness to engage with the participants’ many questions. The Enter Change project continues with activities that promote inclusive leadership, interethnic dialogue, and regional cooperation.
13. 12. 2024 | Enter: Change, PR, Regional cooperation, Slovenian Development Assistance, Youth
We’ve closed BiH’s Visionary Voices: Leading the Change forum with an inspiring session highlighting recent achievements and future aspirations for young BiH politicians.
The concluding ceremony opened with a keynote by H.E. Mr. Borut Pahor, Founder and Director of the Institute Friends of the Western Balkans and former President of Slovenia (2012–2022). His talk, Charting Bosnia’s Future: Leadership Lessons for and by Youth, offered participants interesting insights and encouragement.
The concluding session featured participants presenting key takeaways, sharing lessons learned, and reflecting on how these insights will shape their future efforts. These presentations underscored their dedication to applying new ideas in practical and impactful ways.
The successfully concluded forum highlighted the need for further cooperation, promoting meaningful discussions, skill-building, and networking. We will continue our work within the Enter: Change project and we look forward to hosting another forum next year.
12. 12. 2024 | Enter: Change, PR, Regional cooperation, Slovenian Development Assistance, Youth
Portorož, 12 December 2024 – We are halfway through ‘BiH’s Visionary Voices: Leading the Change’ forum, offering an enriching experience for our participants.
Participants have delved into some crucial topics, including:
- The challenges and opportunities of the Western Balkans and pathways to progress
- The principles of rule of law and democracy
- Shaping impactful messages for the media through effective communication
- Using strategic communication to build democratic resilience and social cohesion
- The role of media in fostering social change, with a focus on youth and citizenship
Two workshops further encouraged participants to explore leadership in depth—examining its core competencies, reflecting on their own leadership experiences, and considering how they can create meaningful change in their communities.
In the remaining two days, participants will focus on two very important topics: gender equality and diversity and the role of women in the political context.
4. 9. 2023 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR, Young BSF
Ljubljana and Bled, Slovenia, once more hosted young leaders within the activities of the Young Bled Strategic Forum and Bled Strategic Forum. More than 40 young perspective leaders from 25 countries (Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United States of America) joined forces, experience and creative energy in a three-day training and capacity building organised between Friday 25th of August and Monday 28th of August 2023. The Young BSF strives to empower young leaders from different sectors (academia, civil society, private sector, public administration, and other fields of expertise) to build joint solutions for joint challenges of our societies through transnational cooperation. Young BSF 2023 was organised under the title ´Mitigating our Butterfly Effect´, underlining the power and responsibility of all stakeholders within our societies to make positive changes and contributions in the short and long term. The activities of the Young BSF continued with active participation within the Bled Strategic Forum, organised on Monday, 28th and Tuesday, 29th of August 2023 at Bled, focusing on contributions to ´Solidarity for global Security˙.
Day 1, or the opening day of the Young Bled Strategic Forum 2023, stressed the importance of cooperation and networking to share ideas to solve today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. New knowledge and development of skills will enable us to build a world we want to live in.
The Young participants were addressed by Mr Peter Grk, Secretary General of the Bled Strategic Forum and Ms Nina Čepon, Executive Director of the Centre for European Perspective, who commended the wide participation of young experts from different fields of expertise and countries. The opening discussion set the stage for the work and capacity-building of young leaders.
Day 2 began with a practical session focused on traditional and media literacy. Following was the Pillar I session, which focused on understanding our shared history, noting the role of narratives in our lives and the importance of critical thinking, followed by the Pillar II discussions focused on empowering youth through cooperation with the government, CSOs and various initiatives aimed at supporting and promoting active citizenship. Each pillar consisted of an expert panel followed by a world cafe, where Young BSF participants embarked on a deeper exploration of topics.
The second day concluded on a high note with a conversation with H. E. Ms Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, on the importance of solidarity, current global issues, Slovenia in UN SC, feminist foreign policy and more. “Be curious and brave. Curious, I say, as we live in this polarised world where everything is changing so fast, where we have to think outside the box to adapt,” was Minister Tanja Fajon´s opening call to the Young Bled Strategic Forum participants.
Day 3 of the Young Bled Strategic Forum continued with thematical Pillar III, focusing on the leading question: “How do we address our present actions to secure the future us and for the younger generations?”. The Young Bled Strategic Forum participants transferred from Ljubljana to Bled in the afternoon using a train. The last closing elements of the Young BSF included two capacity-building and inspirational sessions. The Young BSF was closed on Monday, August 28 2023, with presentations of participants’ group work that once more exposed the importance of ideas and work of young leaders that contribute to positive changes within our societies. Their ideas, recommendations and proposals will be joined within the Young Bled Strategic Forum Declaration, which will be published following the event. The Young perspective leaders joined the activities of the Bled Strategic Forum in the following days as panellists and active participants.
Young Bled Strategic Forum and Bled Strategic Forum are honoured for the opportunity to have hosted the first meeting of the CEI Youth Reference Points organised by the CEI Secretariat at Bled, Slovenia, on Tuesday, 29th of August, to exchange best practices, experiences and ideas for youth empowerment within the CEI region. The discussions pave the way for closer cooperation in the field of youth policies and transnational and cross-sector cooperation.
The Young Bled Strategic Forum is supported by the Central European Initiative, the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana grant, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung think tank, implemented within the activities of the Slovenian Presidency to the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region and supported as part of the Priority Area 10 Institutional Capacity and Cooperation, an Interreg Danube Region Programme project co-funded by the European Union.
