This year’s Ljubljana Forum addressed the topics of energy resilience of cities, sustainable mobility and digital transformation in the context of development initiatives of cities until 2030. At the Roundtable, within the aforementioned topic addressed at the Forum s, the mayors discussed the challenges that the cities encounter and the projects that are underway. In addition to the mayor of Rijeka, the Roundtable was also attended by the mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Janković, the deputy mayor of Belgrade Vesna Vidović, the deputy mayor of Sarajevo Anja Margetić, the deputy mayor of Podgorica Marjan Junčaj and the mayor of Pristina Perparim Rama.

The mayor of Rijeka, Marko Filipović, presented projects promoted in Rijeka, related to digitization, ecology and energy, i.e. to the topics addressed at the Forum, so he presented, among other things, the development project in accordance with the “smart city” concept, and he also spoke about solar power plants in kindergartens and schools in Rijeka and further plans for the development of a network of solar power plants, the project of energy renovation of schools and kindergartens, the renovation and construction of heating pipes and heating plants, the project relating to the acquisition of new, more environmentally friendly buses, the systems of electric bicycles and electric scooters, as well as the Rijeka traffic centre and other projects .

Mayor Filipović at the Ljubljana Forum

“Numerous public and private projects are currently being implemented in Rijeka, whereby enabling the creation of new jobs and promoting competitiveness”, said Filipović, adding that Rijeka was readily awaiting Croatia’s soon entry into the eurozone, i.e. the Schengen area, which would encourage better cooperation between citizens and businessmen and would certainly give added momentum to the further development of the city.

In addition to the projects presented by Mayor Filipović, the project CEKOM – Competence Centre for Smart Cities, which is implemented in Rijeka, was also presented at the Ljubljana Forum. Nenad Antolović, director of the company Smart RI, which is the promoter and main coordinator of CEKOM for smart cities, held a presentation for the gathered participants and took part in a panel discussion within the thematic unit Industry solutions for cities. The presentation of the CEKOM project gave the audience an insight into as many as 36 solutions for improving life in smart cities developed by 20 project partners. Taking into account the topics discussed at the forum and the challenges that cities face today, it was concluded that the principle of CEKOM, which simultaneously researches, develops and offers solutions, is the right way to approach the global problem of continuous growth of urban areas. Additionally, the example of the innovation cluster that brings together Smart RI was highlighted as an example of good practice of cooperation between the economic sector and institutions for the dissemination of knowledge and research.

The participants of the Ljubljana Forum also received information at the promotional stand of the CEKOM project for smart cities, where they could talk with project partners and representatives of the Smart RI company.

project CEKOM – Competence Centre for Smart Cities was presented at the Forum by SmartRi

The Ljubljana Forum is an annual gathering organised by the City of Ljubljana and the GoForeSight Institute, which combines knowledge and experience of city management and defines key areas, visions and strategies for the future development of cities. The goals of the Forum are to connect, enable and encourage examples of good practice and concrete cooperation between different stakeholders, and also to strengthen cooperation for a better performance of cities and regions in Europe and the world and to present industrial solutions for cities.

In addition to representatives of numerous cities, the Forum brought together businessmen and experts in various fields.