At this year’s Third Age Festival the City of Ljubljana and Mayor Zoran Janković received a recognition for the longstanding cooperation in organising the festival.

In the justification of the recognition it is stated, among other things, that: »The City of Ljubljana, in the years under the leadership of Mayor Zoran Janković, has done much to facilitate active aging of the elderly, prevent their exclusion and incorporate them in the social relations network, including those who bring together different generations, so they can continue living in their familiar home environment where they can make decisions about their lives with the highest degree of autonomy, and last but not least, to support them in active aging, participating in all forms of social dialogue and decision-making processes as well as engaging in civil and political matters. Aging in Ljubljana is no longer sitting at home and waiting for the inevitable end to come. Under the leadership of Mayor Zoran Janković the City of Ljubljana has developed a chain of support services which should make this approach towards aging part of everyday life as they encompass everything from counselling services, activity day centres and home assistance to palliative care. Ljubljana is one of the world’s pioneers in integrating the elderly into the society, preventing discrimination of the elderly as well as overcoming generational prejudices and developing intergenerational cooperation. It should be noted that in this respect Ljubljana has served as a role model for some other Slovenian environments. Since the very beginning Mayor Zoran Jankovič has been a strong supporter of the Third Age Festival and an advocate for active cooperation of city organisations and institutions within the framework of the festival, and has thus contributed to its wider establishment.« F3ŽO (Festival za tretje življenjsko obdobje – Third Age Festival) is a unique event for the elderly in Slovenia and the biggest event in this field in Europe. It offers diverse educational and cultural activities and presentations. At the festival the City of Ljubljana and its public institutes also present their programmes and activities for elderly residents. This year’s programme is published here.