At today's session on promoting social innovation, which is one of the six thematic topics in the focus of this year’s European Week of Regions and Cities, Minister Jevšek touched upon some of Slovenia's best practices in social innovation. Social innovations are geared towards improving services in the labour market, education, health system, and tackling pressing issues, such as poverty and discrimination to bring about positive and meaningful change in the society.

In his intervention, Minister Jevšek paid particular attention to the projects that received cohesion funding. ‘’We have successfully relocated two social welfare institutions with the help of cohesion funds. We have secured a new, more independent life for more than 200 individuals with mental health problems in Slovenia, where the system is currently based on providing care in institutional settings,’’ said the Minister.

He also underlined that retaining talents or making sure they come back to where they came from is a particular challenge for less developed regions. ‘’In Slovenia, we are establishing a talent center that will provide young people with the necessary support they need as they embark on their career path. Another example is the project PONI - An entrepreneurial approach to challenges. It has been implemented since 2019. It is a training programme helping potential entrepreneurs develop and realise their business ideas. Thanks to the project, Slovenia is richer for as many as 249 companies,’’ explained the Minister.

He also mentioned Pušče, the largest Roma settlement in Slovenia which is recognised as a good example of Roma integration and proves that Roma community members and others can live side by side. He told that leading Roma representatives greeted Commissioner Ferreira during her visit last year with the words ‘welcome to our settlement, we pay taxes!’

Finally, the Minister underscored that after the recent devastating floods in Slovenia a major challenge and opportunity for social innovations is how to work with people after natural disasters. In this context, Minister Jevšek was clear that ‘’it is not enough just to build new infrastructure; we also need to rebuild hope and trust of people in the functioning of a social and solidarity-based Europe.’’