SUSTAINABLE LJUBLJANA
SUSTAINABLE LJUBLJANA
Ljubljana ranks among the most sustainable cities in Europe. In 2016 it recieved the prestigous title of European Green Capital. In October 2021 it became number one among the 20 Best Green Capitals of Europe.
Sustainable Ljubljana, green and socially responsible tourism is what Ljubljana.info team fully supports and hopefully inspires you, dear reader, to shoulder local, ethical, green and fair trade businesses that are aiming for a better tomorrow.
Resposible consumerism helps prevent negative impacts of tourism and globalization and generates economic benefits for local people with which their well-being is improved.
Please find some socially responsible local stores, products and services in this section.
Sustainable development in Ljubljana and facts
- Since 2008 the city centre has been closed for motorized traffic. The area closed to traffic measures 12ha and is the largest in the European Union.
- Ljubljana is a pedestrian and bike friendly city. If you do not have your own bike, you can borrow it at almost every step with BicikeLJ public bike scheme,
- Many city buses run on methane.
- Ljubljana offers car sharing scheme to its citizens; the fleet consists of electric cars only.
- Ljubljana is the first European capital to commit to the “Zero Waste” strategy. The city boasts the highest share of waste separation at the household level in the European Union (69.5% in 2020). Waste collectors in the city center are installed underground.
- The water in Ljubljana is clean and drinkable. You will find over 30 drinking fountains around the city where you can refresh yourself and fill your bottle with clean drinking water.
- Ljubljana is an accessible city. More and more public areas, as well as city buses, are adapted for people with reduced mobility.
- Ljubljana boasts as much as 542 m2 of public green space per capita; there is access to it from a maximum of 300 meters away from all parts of the city.
- More than 46 percent of the city’s area is covered by indigenous forests. Among the most famous “green” sights of Ljubljana is the extensive Tivoli Park, located in the city center.
- Ljubljana is surrounded by a recreational Path of Remembrance and Comradeship, which counts over 7,000 trees.
- Ljubljana is a city friendly to bees. Flowering areas in the city are pastures for autochthonous Slovenian bees, heroines of pollination.
Invisible Ljubljana Tour
Book over e-mail or write them on FB
E-mail: ture@kraljiulice.org
FB: Nevidena Lublana
Who can show you Ljubljana better than the one who’s been living in its streets?
Our guides have personal experience of homelessness. They don’t show you traditional touristic spots, but instead they will take you through their authentic life stories to a joint exploration of the city.
The purpose of the tour is to show you the hidden places of our city, especially those, that are or were important to homeless people.
Our mission is to build bridges over virtual worlds, to soften our own stereotypes about homelessness and related topics, to be education in action.
These tours are an echo of different life paths, thus contributing to the responsible handling with your life and the lives of the people around you.
Joint exploration of the other side of the city is done in small groups, giving participants a safe place to ask what they’ve been interested in for a long time, but have never dared to.
Come join us in discovering the underworld of the streets of Ljubljana and let yourself really see.
Minimum contributions:
6 € – students, seniors and children
8 € – adults
15 € – individual tour
The cultural-ecological fellowship known as Smetumet combines art, ecology and design. They re-evaluate our attitudes towards nature, consumption, waste and our overall way of life.
The products are carefully designed, handmade, locally produced and carry a strong message of awareness. Through collecting and examining waste, new ideas are born.
Need a
You can purchase their recycled products online from their website or head to the fair trade shop 3Muhe on the Ljubljana`s Old Square.
Electric Attachment for Wheelchairs
Address: 
Krekov trg 10, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 306 45 75
E-mail: stic@visitljubljana.si
The Slovenian Tourist Information Center (STIC) on Krekov trg offers free rental of two electric attachments for wheelchairs.
STIC has thus become the first tourist information center in Europe that provides this kind of service.
The electric attachment for wheelchair makes it easier and faster for users to move and overcome longer distances.
The user can simply attach it to the wheelchair, as its height and width are adjustable. Therefore it is suitable for practically every wheelchair without special adjustment.
With a single charge, the battery reaches up to 40 kilometers. The user is obliged to submit a personal document and a deposit before renting, which is returned upon the return of the undamaged attachment back to the STIC.
Fair Trade promotes a trading system that focuses on people and champions social, economic and environmental justice, strives for a safe and healthy work environment for producers, and builds on long-term work co-operation and fair wages.
Gostilna Dela Restaurant
Gostilna Dela is a restaurant just a stone`s throw away from the open market and from the Ljubljana Castle elevator.
It is the creation of the Job Factory project whereby youth that is threatened with long-term unemployment and social exclusion are helped to enter the world of work.
An important goal of the project is developing a model for social integration for vulnerable groups of young people through training and employment.
Gostilna Dela employs youth between 17 and 25 years of age and they offer meals and snacks in a pleasant environment at affordable prices.
The cuisine is prepared in an open kitchen and is consistent with the principles of a healthy diet. Open from Monday to Friday until 4 pm.
Address: Poljanska 7, 1000 Ljubljana
E-mail: gostilnadela@gmail.com
Second Violin Restaurant
Second Violin is a restaurant that employs mentally handicapped people and thus involves them in a majority of society.
It is a project that has been working since 2012 and is aimed at sensitizing both groups – the minority and the majority. It enables users to retain and expand new work skills, acquire social and working habits, realize their own ideas and creativity, stimulate a sense of usefulness and self-confirmation.
It’s hard to leave this restaurant completely indifferent. Not only for quality and tasty dishes but also because of the warmth and positive energy that the project encourages.
They offer biologically-produced food, simple dishes of home-made Slovenian cuisine, also non-sugar dietary snack foods and gluten-free food.
Not only the Second Violin contributes to social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, but it also facilitates access to physically disabled, has toilet facilities for the disabled, hearing loop and the menu for the blind for example.
Address: Stari trg 21, 1000 Ljubljana
E-mail: druga.violina@center-db.si
Homepage: www.center-db.si
At
The coffee here is not only about caffeine. It is also about taste and about social and ecological awareness as all the coffee prepared and sold here is a subject of fair or direct trade only.
They roast it by themselves so it is always fresh and mixtures are a subject of their current offer.
At our visit, we were offered a mixture of Ugandan and Mexican.
Coffee is prepared with different techniques and in a variety of ways here. Cold brew, Turkish brew, Chemex, … Feel free to ask the staff what are the options.
Different equipment for coffee making and coffee beans can be purchased too but make sure you bring your own jar as the cafe follows the zero waste principles. The place is fairly small and the atmosphere is warm.
Direction: castle funicular, opposite to the Puppet Theatre.
Zebra Gre na Luno (Zebra Goes to the Moon)
Address: Stari trg 24, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 (01) 320 44 88
E-mail: trgovinica@zgnl.si
Zebra Gre Na Luno is a bookshop and store of the Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children Ljubljana. It is located in a beautiful house from 1710 in the Old Town.
With the store they want to alert the half-hearted and lay public that there are deaf and hard of hearing among us. As well as people with speech-linguistic disorders and people with autism disorder who carry wonderful
They sell the products crafted by their children, pupils and students. These are simple and unique objects that arise during the play in the kindergarten, at the time of artistic creation in elementary school and during practical training at their high school.
The products are also thematically connected with Ljubljana and can be a great souvenir!
They also conduct workshops on various manual skills in the shop for the interested public and for the children and youth of their institute.
A Sustainable Ljubljana Itinerary
- Have a morning coffee at Cafe Cokl
- Nibble your breakfast at Druga Violina or Gostilna Dela
- Tour the city`s sights walking or by bicycle or take one of the walking or bicycle tours
- Quench your thirst at a nearby drinking fountain and try to avoid buying soda or bottled water
- Head for the city market to satisfy hunger and to taste some of the local commodities
- Get yourself a souvenir from Zebra Gre
na Luno or fair trade shop 3Muhe or thrift shop Stara Roba – Nova Raba
- Direct to a local craftsmen market or designers` shops to buy gifts or to satisfy your shopping desires
- Have a lunch or dinner at Druga Violina or Gostilna Dela
- Finish your day with a glass of local beer or local wine, you can also join a Craft Beer Tour
Water
Ljubljana is one of the few European capitals with very high-quality drinking water. Tap water is completely natural as it is not processed with any prior chemical treatments and is safe to drink.
We encourage you to refuse bottled water in bars and restaurants and to order a tap one. There is no need for bottled water to be sold in Slovenia and no need for you to spend more money than you should.
There are also drinking fountains scattered all around the city centre.
Green Means of Transport
You would make the nature, birds, daisies and people of Slovenia, Ljubljana and the world the happiest if when possible you try to use green means of transport: walking, cycling or a public transport at worst.
Ljubljana is a bike-friendly city and of just the right size to see it by bike. It is also relatively flat so you should not worry if you do not feel too fit.
There are more possibilities for bicycle rental, one of them is public and free bike hire scheme called BicikeLJ, which is serviceable for locals and visitors alike.
Ljubljana Farmers` Market
Instead of going to a supermarket to buy food, head to the main market. Products may be slightly more expensive here than in a casual grocery store but you will help the farmer, environment and yourself with your purchase. Besides, products here taste way better and are healthier than those bought in supermarkets.
Many farmers from around Ljubljana and Slovenia bring their produce to be sold on the Ljubljana market. These are often biologically produced, organic, fresh and have not
The main city market works every day but Sunday until 4 pm.
Thrift Shop – Stara roba nova raba
Address: Poljanska 14, 1000 Ljubljana
Phone: +386 (0) 590 10 075
Email: stararoba.novaraba@kraljiulice.org
Homepage: www.robaraba.si
This thrift shop is run by the homeless. It all started in 2008 when a group of homeless, professional workers and volunteers began volunteering at a stand in the
Since then they have been shaping the guidelines of social entrepreneurship.
The basic idea of the project is to sell excessive, used things that are donated by their supporters.
They are sold at low prices and the earnings are appointed to the integration and employment of homeless people and people from related target groups.
They are also ecologically oriented because things that are discarded are returned for reuse.
It is worth taking a peek in this shop as the items sold here are also witnesses of the past….. books, travel souvenirs, clothes, glass, pottery, even cassette tapes with old Slovenian and Yugoslavian music etc.
You can also find yourself a souvenir here and help the project survive.
