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Sustainability Vision of the Ljubljana Castle

Green Oasis Above the City

The Ljubljana Castle is a technologically modern, sustainable and accessible complex. It has been completely renovated and maintained in accordance with the guidelines and trends of the protection and presentation of cultural heritage. It offers innovative ways of cultural expression and the organisation of business and social meetings. At the Ljubljana Castle, the excellence of Slovenian cuisine is reflected. The Ljubljana Castle is the flagship of Slovenian (cultural) tourism, as it sets trends with its tourism products, which are sustainable and socially responsible. Through its operation, it conveys to the world an awareness that the castle and its surroundings are a place with a historically rich past as well as a place of outstanding and diverse creativity.

The potential of the Castle Hill is fully exploited. The removal of stationary traffic from its green areas means that it is even more connected to the castle and forms an integral part of its offer. With the help of advanced technologies, it also offers the possibility of expanding existing activities or establishing completely new content in the fields of culture, education, leisure and interactive tourism. All of the events on the Castle Hill take place in such a way that they do not endanger its natural and cultural features, so it remains a green oasis above the city. Together with the castle, it provides visitors with an opportunity for spending quality leisure time and is worth devoting a whole day to.

The Ljubljana Castle is a unique intertwining of history and the present, with an orientation towards the future. As such, it has become a recognisable symbol of the capital city and a cultural attraction that, due to its uniqueness and its historical and natural features, attracts visitors from all over the world. During the period of operation of the Ljubljana Castle Public Institute (since 2011), it has established itself in the field of culture as a nexus of various arts, always leaving a lasting imprint and memory of the past in visitors.

Below we present the Ljubljana Castle’s involvement in sustainable stories and the activities we carry out in order to contribute to our common good.

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The Green Key Environmental Certificate

In 2020, the Ljubljana Castle, as the central tourist attraction of Ljubljana and Slovenia, joined the Green Key, the leading standard of excellence in the area of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation in the tourism industry. In doing so, we committed ourselves to complying with the criteria established by the International Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).
As a monument of cultural importance, the Ljubljana Castle endeavours to preserve the cultural heritage, manage tourist infrastructure and develop a sustainable tourist offer by fulfilling various environmental criteria. With its everyday operational decisions, the Ljubljana Castle acts as a good proprietor.

The sustainable perspective is incorporated into the day-to-day operation of the Ljubljana Castle, playing an important role in the following areas:
environmental management: with our environmental policy, we are committed to respecting and preserving the green environment in which we operate;
staff involvement: we encourage all of our employees to act responsibly and sustainably with playful inscriptions on stickers (more below). We regard external partners, suppliers and everyone involved in the day-to-day operation of the castle as part of our staff. We organise our own cleaning campaigns and participate in cleaning campaigns within the framework of the Municipality of Ljubljana, which further contribute to ensuring a more beautiful and cleaner environment;
informing visitors: in view of the fact that we have more than one million visitors annually, taking care of their wellbeing is our top priority. We encourage visitors to use drinking fountains, to take advantage of sustainable access to the castle on foot or via the funicular railway, to walk on the Castle Hill, and to suggest further initiatives;
water: we encourage visitors to use the drinking fountains that are installed in several locations throughout the castle. Employees are requested to use water sparingly and water consumption is monitored regularly;
washing and cleaning: one of the fundamental guidelines is the use of environmentally friendly cleaning agents on all castle surfaces, as well as toiletries with appropriate environmental labels;
waste: at the castle, we constantly inform users about the correct separation of waste, and we also pay attention to appropriate packaging at events;
energy: saving energy is an important responsibility of every castle employee. All of our systems and devices are regularly maintained and inspected, and electricity consumption is monitored on a monthly basis;
food and drink: like the Ljubljana Castle, our partner catering service providers are committed to using food that has an environmental label, a fair trade label or comes from the local area. In addition, they strive to reduce food waste and offer a varied range of vegetable/vegan dishes;
indoor environment: smoking is prohibited in public spaces and restaurants;
green areas: the Ljubljana Castle stands on the Castle Hill and is surrounded by green areas. Part of the Castle Hill is covered by the Castle Vineyard, and there is a herb garden inside the castle walls;
corporate social responsibility: In addition to ensuring that we have happy and healthy employees, we also have a lot of activities that are aimed at various target groups of the local population, especially vulnerable groups, for whom we provide tours of the castle or arrange participation in our educational programmes and performances (for example, cooperation with the heroes of the third floor);
outdoor activities: visitors to the castle are provided with information about nearby parks and the possibility of renting or borrowing bicycles. The Castle Hill is a green oasis above the city that is intended for walking, running, cycling and recreation on the equipment available at the ‘sports island’. Our tourist offer includes an interactive tour of the Castle Hill with the application The Wisdom of Castle Wine, as well as the adventure game Friderik and the Hunt for the Prison Number;
administration: we ensure the economical use of office materials and the digitalisation of business processes. We use less and less printed matter and more digital content. We always consider green procurement when it comes to public procurement.

More information about the Green Key certificate is available at https://www.zelenikljuc.si/

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The Inclusion of the Ljubljana Castle in the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism

Operating under the umbrella brand SLOVENIA GREEN, the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism is a national tool for implementing sustainable tourism in the operation of destinations and tourism companies.
The Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism is a quality certificate that indicates the fulfilment of a wide range of requirements in the area of sustainable tourism. It is a tool for both assessing and improving sustainable performance.

More information about the Green Scheme of Slovenian Tourism certificate is available at: https://www.slovenia-green.si/sl/o-slovenia-green/

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The Ljubljana Castle with its Own Sustainable Story: Think. Act. Share.

The sustainability strategy is visually communicated at the Ljubljana Castle through the inscriptions THINK, ACT and SHARE. THINK encourages visitors and employees to reflection on and awareness of the importance of sustainability. ACT encourages active participation and the achievement of the established goals and measures. SHARE invites visitors and employees to spread the idea of a sustainable vision of the Ljubljana Castle.

The sustainability vision of the Ljubljana Castle has three areas: management, the environment and the community.

Management

With its renovation, which has largely been completed, the Ljubljana Castle has become an example of good practice due to the fact that it constantly follows trends. In the field of renovating old buildings, it is an example of how environmental impact can be reduced by persistence and by finding the most suitable solutions, thus contributing to solving the environmental issues of sustainable tourism. By creating new programmes that do not burden the environment, the Ljubljana Castle has strengthened its locally and internationally recognised role in a capital city that is itself a model and example of finding excellent solutions to a range of environmental issues. Among other things, this is reflected in the title of Green Capital of Europe, which was held by Ljubljana in 2016.

The Ljubljana Castle SHARES its vision and its leading role in connecting cultural heritage and tourism both locally and internationally.

Environment

The optimal reduction of negative impacts on the environment, how to reduce energy and water consumption, is one of the main tasks of THINK, which the Ljubljana Castle follows both in the creation of new programmes and in the renewal of ACTS that have already been realised. The Ljubljana Castle has also demonstrated its orientation in an interesting way throughout the period of renovation, during which awareness of negative impacts on the environment has become more and more present. In this way, the Ljubljana Castle SHARES with others, serving as a role model for all those who have opted for similar or identical paths.


SAVE WATER.
-    Don’t flush the loo more than you have too.
-    “Zap the tap.”                                                                                              
-    If anything leaks, be the first to report it.

Water Consumption
-    Water consumption is regularly monitored. Staff identify major deviations on an ongoing basis and determine the necessary measures to reduce consumption.
-    Employees regularly inspect the state of the castle’s rooms and other public areas. In the event of a leak or other irregularity in the plumbing system, we respond quickly and rectify the problem.
 

REDUCE ENERGY.                                                          
-    Turn the lights off when leaving the workplace.


Energy Consumption
-    Some years ago, we decided to make a large investment in energy-saving LED lamps and installed them wherever possible. Today, about 90 percent of all of the lights at the Ljubljana Castle are LED lamps. Wherever possible, we have installed sensors to automatically turn lights on and off.
-    We installed an ice bank several years ago, which allows us to use significantly less energy to cool rooms.
-    We regularly monitor the consumption of various energy sources. If, with the help of our staff, major deviations are identified, the necessary measures to reduce consumption are determined.
-    If it is not possible or feasible the repair electrical appliances, we replace them with energy-saving ones. If electrical devices break down, we verify whether they can be repaired. If the repair turns out to be unfeasible, we purchase an energy-saving replacement device. For appliances that consume a large quantity of energy, we undertake regular preventive inspections, thus ensuring continuous optimal operation.

RECYCLE WASTE
The best way to manage waste is not to produce it, but we are aware how impossible that sounds. The least we can do is to RECYCLE. There is a list on every rubbish bin cover, which makes recycling easy and smooth.

Community (employees/ tenants/ suppliers/ local community)

We THINK about local providers and actively contribute to the success of their businesses by promoting local products, services and experiences among our guests.

At the Ljubljana Castle, we have three tenants in the field of hospitality, all of whom ACT by choosing the best local products and services for our common guests, thus ensuring that they enjoy unique experiences with a local touch. With our guests, we SHARE:


•    locally produced food and drinks,
•    a unique opportunity to access drinking water from drinking fountains,
•    information on walking paths and opportunities to explore the city on foot or by bike,
•    information on local providers of trips and excursions in Ljubljana and Slovenia.

It is the employees of the Ljubljana Castle who take care of the realisation of the basic vision of the Ljubljana Castle, so we follow a responsible personnel policy:


•    by carefully selecting all new employees, students and external collaborators,
•    by regularly updating work standards, enabling all employees to work according to the same norms,  
•    by goal-oriented leadership and motivation of employees,  
•    by verifying employee satisfaction with an annual survey,  
•    by mutually fulfilling the agreed rights and duties.

Our goal is to employ the best and provide them with fair pay for the ACTS they undertake.

At the Ljubljana Castle, we offer a diverse range of exhibitions in cooperation with the Ljubljana Fine Artists Society and the Slovenian Association of Fine Arts Societies. In the field of musical cultural events, we cooperate with the music society ETNOBEAT, the institute Godibodi and the public institute Imago Sloveniae, among others.

In this way, we promote Slovenian culture and encourage guests to SHARE cultural experiences