On 6 March 2019, at one of the largest and most important travel trade shows in the world, the Berlin ITB, prestigious awards were presented to the best destinations on the Global Top 100 Sustainable Destinations list.

Ljubljana won in the Best of Cities category and received the Best Practice Award for the Locally Grown Food Exchange (Borza lokalnih živil).

This year, 44 finalists were competing for prices in seven categories. The highest recognition we won in the Best of Cities category is already the fifth award Ljubljana has received from the Green Destinations organisation.

The jury chose Ljubljana based on three criteria: the sustainable assessment of Ljubljana at the Green Destinations organisation (the Green Destinations Gold Award), the implementation of the innovative project Locally Grown Food Exchange (Borza lokalnih živil) and the option of following such a practice elsewhere.

The Director of Ljubljana Tourism Petra Stušek, MA, accepted the award and said: “The basic reason for organizing the first locally grown food exchange of this type was the wish of its organisers to encourage local food self-supply. Short supply chains have a positive effect on several aspects of sustainable development of the city and the wider region in the field of economy, impact on the environment and social relationships, guidelines followed by the City of Ljubljana for over a decade. At Ljubljana Tourism we are also introducing environmental and society-friendly componentsin our products, services and projects, namely, we are aware of the ever-increasing recognizability of the concept of sustainable tourism development and the tourists’ demand for sustainable products. The locally grown ingredients represent a trend in contemporary cuisine, an increasingly important element of Ljubljana’s tourist services, that is why we are going to carry on with the Locally Grown Food Exchange and encourage more suppliers and consumers to join us.”

Innovative Locally Grown Food Exchange

The Locally Grown Food Exchange was organised twice in 2018, in February and November. On the initiative of Ljubljana Tourism, the City of Ljubljana, the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RRA LUR), the Agriculture and Forestry Institute and in cooperation with the EKOmeter institute food producers from Ljubljana and the Central Slovenia region as well as potential buyers from the public and private sector gathered in one location.

The Exchange is the continuation of the Green Supply Chain project under way since 2015 with which we are connecting local food producers with hotel and restaurant managers, encouraging them to use 100% locally grown ingredients in their kitchens.