From 15 till 30 June 2015, at the world exhibition EXPO 2015 in Milano, many events will be organised to showcase Ljubljana and the Central Slovenia Region.

On 19 June 2015, Mayor Zoran Janković and the delegation of the City of Ljubljana visited EXPO.
The Mayor used this opportunity to emphasize that Ljubljana is steadily treading the path of sustainable development which also led us to the prestigious title European Green Capital 2016. In his opinion the title is not only considered an honour but also a commitment to live according to our plan which is set up in the Development Vision 2025. He pointed out that we have been implementing the Vision and living in line with its guidelines even before the award of the title European Green Capital 2016.
Furthermore, the presentation of Ljubljana at EXPO is important because Italians represent the highest number of tourists in Ljubljana. One million of overnight stays in Ljubljana were recorded last year, a record number, and as the Mayor says we wish to see a further increase to 1.25 million stays – initial data indicates that this goal will be reached. The Mayor also mentioned the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards which ranked us first among future sustainable destinations in the world.
Mayor Zoran Janković used the opportunity to invite EXPO visitors to Ljubljana, a remarkably friendly city where everyone is welcomed with open arms.

EXPO 2015

Slovenia is presenting itself at the world exhibition under the slogan »Green. Active. Healthy.« The Central Slovenia Region with the capital Ljubljana, the European Green Capital 2016, is at the heart of Slovenia, and its lifestyle, which is in harmony with nature and sustainably oriented, is the pure embodiment of the country’s slogan.

An interactive installation titled WOW invites the visitors of EXPO to come to Ljubljana, the appearance of which brings to mind the logo of Ljubljana Tourism and associations with oxygen, cycles, drinking water and the expression of amazement »wow«. The installation WOW, which is 7 metres long with 2 metres high letters and 1.3 metres wide, is equipped with discrete and attractive LED lighting. Within the glass letter O water is being pumped to make gentle waves and if visitors come up very close to the letter they can hear soothing water sounds.

The project of the City Museum of Ljubljana and the public company Vodovod-Kanalizacija called Museum Water with water-filled bottles underlines the unequal distribution of drinking water among countries, emphasises our gratitude that Slovenia is one of those rare countries which possesses rich reserves of high quality drinking water, and at the same time serves as an announcement of the upcoming big exhibition titled Water.

In Ljubljana and the Central Slovenia Region the culinary scene has been flourishing in the past few years, and renowned culinary masters, restaurants and traditional local dishes are becoming ever more recognisable in the world. The main emphasis of the showcase of the Central Slovenia Region is therefore on contemporary local culinary scene which is best characterised by the revival of traditional dishes with a new and modern twist. This focus of the presentation is completely in line with the slogan of the world exhibition EXPO in general, namely, »Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life«. Renowned culinary masters will be preparing dishes from the projects Tastes of Ljubljana and Tastes of Kamnik. With the selection of cooks and chefs from the Central Slovenia Region we want to show our gastronomic identity – from haute cuisine to family restaurants. There will also be cooking shows where chefs will present typical dishes and the visitors will be able to taste them.

Presentation events will also include creative workshops for printing comics on recycled paper and T shirts. Motives as the Ljubljana dragon, green Ljubljana, drinking water (which is still entirely natural in the Central Slovenia Region) and many others will emphasize our unique local characteristics.

Every day an award competition will be held. The visitors will get to know Ljubljana and its green identity through different activities and compete for interesting green awards. The competition will be moderated by Evgen Ban, the popular television and radio host from Trieste with his own show called Radioaktivni val at the Radio Trst A (Radioactive Wave at the Radio Trieste A).