CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

Study visit to for municipalities »STEP BY STEP TO TOWN-TWINNING«

1-4 July 2013

The aim of the study visit is to enable municipalities to make links with Slovenian municipalities interested in town-twinning with municipalities from abroad, exchange experience with them, and see if there is common ground for meaningful future partnership.

Aims of the study visit

• To enable participants to get to know the reality of the municipalities in Slovenia, their functioning and their policies, • To encourage possible partnerships between municipalities with similar interests or backgrounds/history, • To enable exchange of experience and best practices among the hosting and visiting municipalities, • To encourage mutual understanding and learning.

Profile of participants

This call for participants is targeting municipal officials, interested in developing long-term cooperation with Slovenian municipalities, who are interested in town-twinning with municipalities from abroad, exchanging experience with them, and see, if there is common ground for meaningful future partnerships.

Participating municipalities must be located in any of the programme countries of the EU Europe for Citizens programme, which means either in any of the 27 EU countries (Slovenia excluded, as we are hosting) or in Croatia, FYROM, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, and BiH.

Participants must be able to communicate in English language.

There are 10 places available. The selection will be based on the information provided in the application form.

Language

As we expect to have participants from different countries, the language of the study visit will be English.

Financial conditions

The costs of the programme, accommodation, food and local travels during the study visit will be covered by the organiser. Participants or their municipalities must take care of the travel costs to and from , Slovenia.

Programme

Participants are expected to arrive to Ljubljana on Monday, 1 st of July (anytime) and depart from Ljubljana on Thursday, 4 th of July (anytime).

During the 2 full days of the programme, the participants will visit 3 Slovenian municipalities, interested in establishing new international partnerships, and have an informal gathering with some other interested Slovenian municipalities.

The programme will be developed so that it will enable a thorough exchange of realities, experience and best practices, and exploring possible common grounds for possible future international cooperation.

Detailed programme: Tuesday, 2nd of July 2013 8:00 Departure from Ljubljana 9:00 Arrival to Presentation of the , exchange of experience, 9:00-12:00 exploring possible cooperation 12:00-13:30 Lunch 13:30 Departure from Sevnica 14:30 Arrival to Kidričevo Presentation of the Municipality of Kidričevo, exchange of experience, 14:30-17:30 exploring possible cooperation 17:30 Departure from Kidričevo 18:30 Arrival to Radenci and accommodation in a hotel 19:00 Dinner and free evening Wednesday, 3rd of July 2013 8:00-9:00 Breakfast and check-out Presentation of the Municipality of Radenci, exchange of experience, 9:00-12:00 exploring possible cooperation 12:00 Departure from Radenci 13:00-14:00 Lunch in Celje 14:00 Departure from Celje 15:00 Arrival to Ljubljana and accommodation in a hotel Presentations of some other Slovenian municipalities interested in town- 15:30-18:00 twinning, informal discussion, evaluation of the study visit 19:00 Dinner and free evening

Application procedure

You can apply by filling in the enclosed application form and sending it to [email protected] or fax it to +386 1 430 47 49.

The application deadline is Thursday, 30 st of May 2013.

The selected participants will be notified on Friday, 31 st of May 2013.

Organiser

The study visit is organised by the Institute Movit – Slovenian Europe for Citizens contact point. Should you have further questions regarding this activity, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or call us at +386 1 430 47 47.

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More information on the hosting municipalities

More information on the municipalities we will visit during this 2-day study visit:

Municipality of Sevnica Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Sevnica Official municipal website: http://www.obcina-sevnica.si/

Municipality of Kidričevo Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Kidri%C4%8Devo Official municipal website: http://www.kidricevo.si/

Municipality of Radenci Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radenci Official municipal website: http://www.radenci.si/

Some of the following municipalities will participate in the informal gathering in Ljubljana (the final list will be confirmed in the following weeks, the gathering will take place on the 3 rd of July, please see the programme):

Municipality of Kočevje (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Ko%C4%8Devje ) Municipality of Krško (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Kr%C5%A1ko ) Municipality of Velika Polana ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velika_Polana ) Municipality of ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Pivka ) Municipality of Starše ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star%C5%A1e ) Municipality of Benedikt ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Benedikt )

APPLICATION FORM

Study visit to Slovenia for municipalities »STEP BY STEP TO TOWN-TWINNING«

1-4 July 2013

MUNICIPALITY

Name of the municipality Address of the municipality Country of the municipality

PARTICIPANT

Name and surname Phone number E-mail Official function/position in the municipality

Special dietary needs Possible other special needs

EXPERIENCE IN TOWN-TWINNING

Does your municipality already have any international partnerships with municipalities from abroad? If yes, with which municipality from which country/ies? Are you interested in any particular topic or field of cooperation? What is your motivation to participate in this activity?

PROFILE OF YOUR MUNICIPALITY

Population (number): Size of the municipality (km2): Average age of the population: Education profile of the population: Main economic activities in the municipality: Active CSO's in the municipality, interested in international projects:

Please, tick (double-click the box and select checked):

I confirm, that I will actively participate in the full duration of the activity and that I am aware of the financial conditions for participation in this study visit.

Please send us the form to [email protected] or fax it to +386 1 430 47 49.

The application deadline is Thursday, 30 st of May 2013.

The selected participants will be notified on Friday, 31 st of May 2013.