Starting in Škofja Loka, we visited the Škofja Loka School centre, which celebrates a 120th anniversary of its foundation in 2019. We were met by the school’s director Mr. Martin Pivk, who gave a short introduction of the School centre and its features as the largest local provider of technical training and education. We had guided tours at the Secondary School of Wood Engineering, where we visited their production site or rather premises for practical vocational learning, and at the Secondary School of Mechanical Engineering where we were shown where and how mechanical technicians and auto-service technicians have their vocational-technical education courses.
Art&Craft Centre of Škofja Loka was our next stop. In Škofja Loka and the wider Gorenjska region, artisanship has a long and rich tradition. Nowadays, the bond between the rich past of craftsmanship and today’s creativity is presented in the Art&Craft Centre of Škofja Loka and by the crafts masters who work there. The rich handicraft traditions are preserved, handicraft skills and knowledge are passed on and upgraded with contemporary creativity.
In the nearby Creative centre KreativNice, situated in the immediate vicinity of the former hat making Factory Šešir, we visited an exhibition and creative space that represents the rich heritage of the textile industry in Škofja Loka and promotes creativity and co-working space for creative community and industry.
Continuing to the town of Kranj, we got to see BSC Kranj’s own coworking centre Kovačnica. It was established to promote entrepreneurship, help unemployed and activate young people. They provide coworking spaces, organize different events and workshops, and are an entity for networking between companies, schools, different organizations and young people. The Kranj visit ended at one of the shops owned by the social enterprise of the Vincent Draksler Foundation (one of our good practices), with used and restored items and new products in Kranj’s old town centre.
An hour’s drive away from Kranj is Bohinj. There we learned about another of our good practices, the collective brand Bohinjsko/From Bohinj. The collective brand is a local network of local providers of produce and culinary products, culinary offers of local specialties, and crafted products with the aim of coordinated cooperation and greater visibility of the Bohinj destination in the Alpine region of the Triglav National Park. We also visited one of local tourist and dairy farms, also included in the From Bohinj brand.
