Spotlight on Velenje, Slovenia

Velenje (Slovenia) was planned as a coal town, and coal continues to play an important role in the city’s culture and economic activity today. Yet, its ambitious just transition work and vision for a climate-neutral future has led the city to win the European Green Leaf award, and be selected to be part of the EU Climate-neutral and Smart Cities Mission, through which the city is committed to being climate-neutral by 2030.

We recently spoke to Mayor Peter Detmol about Velenje’s unique and inspiring path from coal region to climate-neutral region. His responses, which follow, paint a picture of a leading European city.

Velenje has been selected as one of Europe’s 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, which the Velenje Head of Municipality Administration Iztok Mori presented during the recent Just Transition Platform conference, and the city just won the European Green Leaf Award 2024. Would you see your city as a frontrunner in transition in Europe?

Frontrunner is a huge word and we are just a mid-sized town by Slovenian standards. For me, it is most important to underline the joint effort of my team to achieve these successes specifically in the last two years. We implemented several measures in the field of sustainable mobility (we now have more than 30 km of bicycle lanes in the city; with the state we are building regional connections to nearby cities; each year we expand the bike sharing network; for more than 10 years we have had a free public bus in the city; etc.), we started with the green transition of our district heating system, we established an energy office for our citizens, and we prepared and implemented several projects tied to different EU programmes.

We are honoured to be part of the 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 Mission, and to be the winner of the Green Leaf Award 2024, as these honours underline both our ambition and our success to the benefit of the people of the City of Velenje and the Šaleška valley. I can say with certainty that these projects and titles will be put to good use: for Velenje, for the citizens.

 
What is your vision for the City of Velenje and its transition towards carbon neutrality?

My ambition is to live and work in a city which will be green, smart, innovative, and climate-neutral. In cooperation with business entities, we will create 5000 new well-paid jobs for the children of coal miners so that young people will see this prosperous future and stay in the region.

Just 35 years ago, we were a very polluted city because of a thermal power plant. Nowadays, we have the cleanest air in the country. We want to maintain and, in some areas, improve our living environment. For example, our goal is to have carbon-free public transport running on green hydrogen in the near future.

What are the major challenges for the City of Velenje and the Šaleška dolina coal region in this journey?

Our  biggest challenge is optimisation and decarbonisation of the district heating system, which should be done within the next 10 years, for 40,000 inhabitants, thereby providing an affordable, sustainable, and reliable system. Our second challenge is to diversify the economy, to create future-proof and high value jobs, and to build new apartments for young families. Thirdly, we must face the challenge of ensuring that just transition is just for all. That means getting and keeping everybody on board, and aligning regional, national and European policies. Lastly, to support further development of the city and region, it is crucial to have reliable access to interregional mobility, including ensuring that a new highway through Velenje is finished by 2027.

How can we ensure that this transition is just for, and to the benefit of, the citizens?

Local communities are the heart of the transition. We, the local government, are closest to the people, so we play the main role in this transition process. We make use of the existing, strong sense of community in Velenje, and build trust among all stakeholders. We will support domestic and foreign investors to grow or start business in the city business zones and to establish an ecosystem for innovation to diversify the regional economy. We have a lot of knowledge on mining and energy, and we will use and leverage this as a key to our success.

What would be your advice for coal regions across Europe that are in a similar situation? What can others learn from Velenje?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to ensure just transition. Just transition in coal regions is a huge challenge, and solutions need to be developed to fit the local needs. Each governing level has a role to play here: the city is very important as the level closest to communities, there must be trust in the support from the national level, and assistance from the European level should be harnessed via the Just Transition Fund. Furthermore, the European Union has helped forge a community of coal regions, which gives hope that the example of Velenje can be inspiring for peers from other coal regions across Europe.

Our advice from Velenje’s experience: make active use of existing support tools, such as TARGET, START, and the exchangeEU programme, and communicate with peers. After all, communication, clear goals and strong leadership are – in my opinion – key ingredients to deliver just transition on the ground.

For more information, watch our interview with Iztok Mori, Head of Municipality Administration for the Municipality of Velenje below. Revisit Mr. Mori’s intervention at the recent Just Transition Platform conference by clicking here.