The Sustainability Festival at Tehnopark Celje, held as part of the European Sustainable Development Week 2024, attracted more than 3,000 visitors to interactive workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and other events over three weeks. Among them were 2,000 students and pupils from across Slovenia and neighboring Croatia.

This year, we at Tehnopark Celje joined the European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW), which promotes the organization of events and activities to raise awareness about sustainable development in Europe. During the three weeks, we organized 12 different activities. “We are pleased that our workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and other events attracted more than 3,000 visitors to Tehnopark Celje, including 2,000 students and pupils from 22 different towns in Slovenia and neighboring Croatia. Even more than the numbers, we are delighted that everyone, through active participation, learned concrete practices for reducing their carbon footprint, gained new knowledge, and encountered practical examples of innovative solutions for the future, such as upcycling, sustainable fashion, and eco-design,” said the director of Tehnopark Celje, Andreja Erjavec, at the conclusion of the Sustainability Festival.

The highest attendance was recorded at the workshop Green Jobs, which we prepared in collaboration with Umanotera, the Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development, and the innovative clothing auction Kurja omara, as well as during the knowledge-testing quiz Food and Sustainability. Considerable interest was also shown in the international multimedia exhibition Atmospheres, the exhibition of products from Tehnopark Celje's sustainable kREativnics, and the exhibition Pilot's Living Room. The latter is still on display (until October 13, 2024) and features exceptional and unique furniture pieces made from recycled aircraft parts, which under the brand Papa Juliett Aviation Art combine innovation, art, and sustainability.

In addition, we conducted numerous sustainability workshops during the festival, where participants learned how to create new, useful items from waste materials. We also held a workshop on making safe toys from used textiles for dogs and cats and organized sustainable shopping in the Tehno shop.

Even after the Sustainability Festival, Tehnopark Celje will continue to promote sustainable development and environmental protection. Ahead of the upcoming European Week for Waste Reduction 2024 (EWWR), taking place from November 16 to 24, 2024, we have announced a competition in collaboration with the public company Simbio titled My Day with Less Food Waste. Individuals, school groups, families, and others are invited to submit their proposals for a day of eating with minimal food waste by November 11. A panel of experts will select the best solutions and reward them at a special ceremony. We encourage sustainable practices in the community and reflection on the human relationship with food and the environmental, economic, and social impacts of food waste.