On Thursday and Friday, 9 and 10 November 2017, the 5th regular meeting of the Rainbow Cities Network is held in Ljubljana. It is attended by representatives of 26 cities from 15 countries.

 The City of Ljubljana joined the Rainbow Cities Network in 2014. The aim of the network is primarily the exchange of good practices and experiences in the LGBT field. Currently there are 32 cities in the network: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bergen, Berlin, Beşiktaş-Istanbul, Bologna, Brighton & Hove, Bruges, Brussels, Vienna, Esch-sur-Alzette, Gent, Hamburg, Hannover, Köln, Leuven, Ljubljana, Mannheim, Mexico City, Munich, Nilüfer, Nuremberg, Oslo, Paris, Parma, Ripollet, Rotterdam, São Paulo, Şişli-Istanbul, Turino, Zürich and Geneva. More about the Rainbow Cities Network: https://www.rainbowcities.com/.

Within the framework of the meeting Prof Dr Roman Kuhar is going to present the research on the rise of neoconservatism in Europe. In addition, the results of the DARE project using different short films to raise awareness and overcome prejudices against LGBT+ people are going to be presented (short films are available at: https://www.facebook.com/kajpatiopazis/). Representatives of rainbow cities are also going to talk about their good practices. Non-governmental organisations in Ljubljana active in the LGBT field are going to introduce themselves at the meeting, as well. An LGBT tour of Ljubljana is going to be organised on Thursday, and on Friday NGO representatives are going to moderate round tables on different topics: health, sports, youth, culture and transsexuality.

Ljubljana is very proud to be a member of the Rainbow Cities Network as it has many good practices it can share with others less or even more active cities in this field. In 2013 we have published a brochure Rainbow Ljubljana, and in 2014 we have launched the LGBT Friendly certificate which has been since then awarded to as many as 27 organisations (among them the City Administration of the City of Ljubljana, public institutes of the City of Ljubljana, kindergartens and primary schools, faculties, IBM...). We are very proud of our close cooperation with non-governmental organisations. We are working with them and supporting them in different ways: we are financing their programmes through tenders, we offer premises for their activities and cooperate with them and support them in different awareness-raising activities (for instance, the Mayor is the sponsor of the Pride Parade and the City Hall hosts different discussions). For example, currently the Main Atrium of the City Hall is hosting the exhibition by Jasna Klančišar 30” – Portraits of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Persons.

Our coexistence is also evident in Pritličje (Ground Floor), an LGBT friendly bar. Ljubljana is namely the only city in Europe where some of the premises of the City Hall are dedicated to the LGBT community. With the Pritličje social area Ljubljana gained an LGBT friendly space which is not intended only for socialising while eating and drinking but is also for hosting different events (artistic events, exhibitions, literary readings, round tables …).

We are delighted that our activities are well received abroad, as well. In 2015 we have received the certificate for good practices at local level for our activities awarded within the framework of the European Public Sector Award (EPSA 2015) by the European Institute of Public Administration.