Implementation of the Declaration for Sustainable Development relates to the Savinja Region, Slovenia, where more than 255,000 people live on 21,301 km2 within 31 local communities. The signatories of the Declaration for Sustainable Development of the Savinja Region undertake to take care of the overall welfare of the region in a socially responsible manner.
The success of the region will be realized through the integration of economic, social and environmental goals. The implementation shall include participation by human resources employed by governmental, non-governmental and economic actors. Natural resources shall be managed sustainably and in an environmentally friendly manner. They shall promote self-sufficient supply within the region by managing available agricultural, forest, energy, economic and other resources in harmony with nature. They shall integrate the principles of sustainable development in their development documents and take them into consideration during preparation and execution of planned investments. They shall seek economic initiatives for environmental investments and sustainable and technological restructuring of the companies. The region shall be built based on ethical principles, whereby the region shall be promoted as a social ecosystem.
The declaration’s signatories shall implement positive social changes and raise awareness among their fellow human beings within their working and living environment. The results of the progress in the field of sustainable development within the region shall be monitored and evaluated by conducting activities under the scope of the regional project called “Savinja Region – Ecoregion”. They shall monitor and measure the ecological footprint in the Savinja Region and will gradually improve it by implementing various development activities, which shall allow them to responsibly implement standards for achieving sustainable development within the region into process phases.
The Development Agency of the Savinja Region (Razvojna agencija Savinjske regije) shall, as the active body, ensure that the project is open to the inclusion of the knowledge, experience and good practices of project partners. They perceive the commitment to carry out developmental efforts in a privileged and emphasized manner along with taking into consideration the principles of sustainable development as a competitive advantage for the Savinja Region.
The holders of the social and economic development symbolically adopted the Declaration for Sustainable Development of the Savinja Region on World Earth Day on 22 April 2011. They undertake to execute this Declaration by solemnly signing it.
The Municipality of Celje adopted the vision for sustainable development for the first time in 2003 when the municipal environmental protection program was elaborated and continued in the newly adopted municipal program. In the area of sustainable energy, they upgraded the energy strategy of the city of Celje with the adoption of a local energy concept, which includes an action plan for measures for the efficient use of energy and its renewable resources. In 26 public buildings, energy accounting is introduced, which allows annual monitoring of energy use. Based on the measures taken in the Action Plan, in public buildings in 2012, energy consumption decreased by 15% compared to 2011, while CO2 emissions decreased by 13%. In 2011, thermal heat treatment of light municipal waste fractions and sewage sludge was obtained in Toplarna Celje, which enabled the production of 7.101 MWh of electricity and 22.454 MWh of heat.
- Mayor of Municipality of Celje Bojan Šrot.
