• Add new programme content to existing cultural options, particularly world-class international art events and exchanges
• Establish new connections between culture and other fields, such as ecology, healthcare, social work, education and sports
• Create new and modernize existing cultural infrastructure
• Bolster the creative potential of our artists, as well as the economic potential of the cultural and creative industries
• Improve international recognition of the city of Ljubljana and its region
• Improve accessibility of quality culture for all inhabitants of the city of Ljubljana and its region
• Create new jobs
• Increase the number of tourists visiting primarily for our rich cultural heritage and various cultural events
• Connect various producers of culture to create a new regional cultural identity, and foster mobility of artists and visitors of cultural events to develop new audiences
• Improve social cohesion and inclusion of vulnerable groups through participatory initiatives and community projects
• Encourage the development of innovative partnerships between public, civil and private organizations at local and regional levels

Strong and broad political support and a solid commitment of local and regional authorities

• March 21, 2016:  The City Council of the City of Ljubljana unanimously adopts the Strategy for the Development of Culture in the City of Ljubljana 2016–2019, wherein the candidacy for the ECoC 2025 title is listed as one of the primary strategic goals of the City of Ljubljana with regard to culture
• April 16, 2018: The City Council of the City of Ljubljana unanimously decides that the City of Ljubljana should compete for the title of European Capital of Culture 2025
• July 11, 2019: The Council of the Ljubljana Urban Region unanimously decides to support the candidacy of the City of Ljubljana for the ECoC 2025 title
• September 13, 2019: Mayors of the 26 municipalities of the Ljubljana Urban Region sign a collaboration agreement for the ECoC 2025 project
• September 20, 2019: The Open Call for Programme Ideas for Ljubljana – European City of Culture 2025 is published 

Ljubljana – winner of international accolades and a great host to major international events

The City of Ljubljana holds, among others, the following international titles:  

• European Cultural Month (1997)
• UNESCO World Book Capital (2010)
• Holder of the permanent City of Literature title (since 2015)
• European Green Capital (2016)

All these titles, along with numerous other international accolades, testify to our efforts to improve the lives of Ljubljana’s residents and represent a commitment to keep setting for ourselves new and ambitious goals that reinforce the international image of Ljubljana as an open, cosmopolitan and multicultural city that can play a great host to even the biggest international cultural events.

The candidacy of Ljubljana for the ECoC 2025 title is being handled by numerous distinguished experts

The cultural programme as well as the whole application with which the City of Ljubljana and the other 25 municipalities of the Ljubljana Urban Region are competing for the ECoC 2025 title are being designed in close collaboration of municipal, regional and national public institutes in the field of culture, cultural NGOs, amateur arts societies, cultural and creative industry organizations, freelance artists and other cultural actors. Furthermore, the planning of the programme and the application also actively involves other institutions, organizations and individuals that deal with e.g. tourism, education, welfare, environmental issues, minorities, etc.