BTC City, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Source: Desire site experience and future plans, AAU, page 17

Originally a warehouse, BTC City Ljubljana today is one of the largest business, shopping, entertainment and cultural centres in Central Europe, attracting around 21 million visitors annually. The area covers 475,000 square metres and comprises 32 buildings offering space for 450 shops, 70 dining establishments, and various cultural and leisure facilities. 

BTC faces various climate change challenges, including heat islands; traffic congestion; limited public transport accessibility; building energy inefficiency; waste management; and a lack of green social spaces. As a response, BTC City started to initiate various initiatives to promote more environmentally friendly practices and collaborative partnerships. 

Among these initiatives are, for example, the cultivation of a green community through initiatives such as the ‘Green Community BTC City’ and ‘Green Star Club’3, which aim to foster engagement, collaboration, and awareness among stakeholders and contribute to shaping a collective sustainability vision for BTC. 

Green Star is the first certificate for the successful introduction of sustainable - ESG principles and climate action in business operations. It rewards and highlights companies that follow the path of green transformation. It is also a strategic tool that collects all relevant information for a company in one place for a green transformation. (https://www.green-star.si/)

Within the framework of Desire, BTC City aspires to create a greener and more climate-resilient business district. As such, the project partners initiated different initiatives, primarily focused on urban greening and sustainability. 

Within the Desire project, BTC City works with the principles of belonging, movement, and biodiversity. The selection of principles emerged with the project. 

BTC started with focusing on movement and belonging as this connected with their ambition of including stakeholders. As their efforts turned towards working on a sustainable vision and strategy the principle of biodiversity became important. 

Moreover, as the expert organization GXN became involved, principles of aesthetics and circularity became relevant too – to summarise, the principles are viewed as interconnected.

How do we engage the young people in the green transition? One way could be a hackathon like the one arranged at the Desire demonstration site BTC City Ljubljana in Slovenia. As a part of the Desire project, the younger generation is asked to develop ideas for shaping the green future of BTC City Ljubljana, one of Europe’s largest shopping, business, and leisure centres. Back in February, the Slovenia Desire partners, BTC and CER - Sustainable Business Network arranged a hackathon with Generation Z. Have a look at the Desire film, created by Benjamin Hesselholdt in 2024.

In the beginning of the process, BTC City conducted a stakeholder mapping to identify key stakeholders that should be engaged in the process. In May 2023, BTC City organised its first co-creation workshop, which was attended by around twenty experts from academia, the creative industry and non-governmental organisations. The overarching goal was to develop a sustainable vision for BTC City in 2050. 

Participants were invited to engage with the principles of ownership, responsibility and accountability and explore the myriad possibilities they bring. Suggestions ranged from transforming BTC into the region's first commercial-free shopping centre to imagining an autonomous city region or expanding from a consumption-oriented to a production-oriented city.

The second workshop convened 25 of BTC’s business partners to discuss their roles in shaping a sustainable future for BTC. In contrast to the first workshop, the second session produced fewer far-reaching and imaginative ideas but was more focused on energy efficiency, mobility, buildings, and renewables. According to BTC, this can be linked to the familiarity of all business partners within BTC's operating landscape, which led them to focus predominantly on solving current challenges rather than envisioning future scenarios. 

BTC City found it difficult to engage partners in forward-looking initiatives, as their attention remained focused on immediate problems. From June to September 2023, BTC held eight one-on-one meetings with members of the Green Star Club to engage in dialogues about common challenges and opportunities. 

BTC listened to partners’ concerns and aspirations and sought common ground for future projects to strengthen cohesion within the green community. 

In November 2023, BTC City launched a greening campaign and planted 72 trees in BTC City as well as heat-resistant plants and vertical gardens to create green islands and mitigate summer temperatures and stormwater runoff, benefiting both human and non-human species such as bees and other important pollinators.

To promote international dialogue and partnership, BTC hosted a conference on urban decarbonisation in January 2024. The conference presented pilot projects and innovative partnerships to stimulate collective action to achieve decarbonisation goals and was attended by local and foreign experts and stakeholders.

In February 2024, BTC organised a hackathon titled ‘Developing a common sustainable vision BTC City 2050’4. During the hackathon, 30 young people, divided into six groups, worked together for 48-hour to find ideas for innovative services based on sustainable principles within BTC City. 

Based on the chosen Desire principles, i.e., belonging, movement, and biodiversity, participants iteratively developed ideas, gathered feedback from visitors and received advice from local and foreign mentors who supported the participants in developing their concepts. At the end of the event, the teams presented their solutions to a jury of experts, who awarded prizes for the three best ideas. Reflecting on the process, BTC highlights the importance of prioritising collective learning and collaboration over competition.

In May 2024, BTC City carried out another greening project on an area of around 12,000 square metres, in which 270 trees and various shrubs from 20 different species were planted. 

The aim was to improve the microclimate, manage rainwater drainage and increase the comfort and well-being of visitors.

Looking back on its initiatives, BTC City emphasised the importance of stakeholder involvement and interdisciplinary collaboration. Workshops with experts from bioengineering and architectural disciplines proved invaluable in designing effective greening strategies. 

Feedback from stakeholders, including businesses and non-governmental organisations, underlined the importance of biodiversity and the aesthetic appeal of urban greening projects. 

Another key finding was the empowerment of employees as 'green agents'. This initiative aimed to integrate sustainability practices into the different areas of BTC City to ensure a holistic implementation of green strategies. The success of these efforts was emphasised by the positive feedback and active involvement of sustainability managers and partners. 

Materials and helpful links

BTC’s project partners employed a variety of tools. Among them was, for example, stakeholder mapping to identify and engage key stakeholders crucial for advancing sustainability goals. 

One of more prominent tools employed within this project were co-creation workshops conducted with various stakeholders such as experts from diverse backgrounds, business partners, and other stakeholders, held to foster both collaborative visioning and strategic planning.

In addition to the larger-scale workshops, project partners conducted a series of one-on-one meetings with the Green Start Club members to elicit an open dialogue on shared challenges and aspirations. Lastly, to foster creativity and bring in fresh perspectives and unconventional ideas to developing a sustainable vision, BTC organised a hackathon for young people.

Find links below and at the top of the page.

• Transformation theme: Establish and nurture ownership
• Transformation theme: Raise and sustain ambitions
• Tool: Hackathons
• Tool: Co-creation workshops

Territorial transformation plan for BTC City Ljubljana - Green Vision

Through a series of workshops, a hackathon and use of different tools with the Desire partners CER Sustainable Business Network and GXN, an independent design-driven research studio, part of the Desire consortium, a comprehensive Green Vision for BTC City has been developed.

Green Vision main elements

• the first aims to establish a new green identity for BTC City Ljubljana,

• the second focuses on enhancing urban greening throughout the area, and

• the third emphasises the implementation of sustainable buildings.

These three main elements form key parts of the overall outcome of the involvement in Desire, and actions, resources and partnerships needed for the implementation are outlined in the table below.

Green Vision for BTC City Ljubljana: Key Outcomes and Long-Term Vision 2050

The Green Vision 2050 for BTC City Ljubljana presents a comprehensive plan for sustainable urban transformation, positioning the area as a model for environmental quality, resilience, and community engagement. Through collaborative efforts with several partners, BTC City aims to foster a new green identity that enhances the quality of life for all visitors, employees, and residents.

Key elements of the plan include:

• Urban Greening: Increasing green spaces with tree planting, green islands, and pocket parks to mitigate the urban heat island effect, improve air quality, promote biodiversity, and elevate the experience of the area.

• Climate Resilience and Mitigation: Investing in sustainable buildings (renovation and upgrading), sustainable infrastructure (mobility, water, waste, IoT) and renewable energy will reduce the carbon footprint, increase resilience to extreme weather, and enhance the area's adaptability to climate change.

• Aesthetic Enhancement: A focus on aesthetics will create a visually appealing environment, fostering social interaction and establishing a distinctive green identity for BTC City Ljubljana.

The Green Vision 2050 presents a long-term transformation that will position BTC City Ljubljana as one of Europe’s greenest and most sustainable business hubs, setting a regional benchmark for best practices in climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity enhancement, circular economy development. This vision integrates social inclusivity and design excellence, fostering a sense of belonging and creating visually engaging spaces that resonate with the community, enriching both the environment, social health, and urban experience.

A phased development strategy, outlined in designated time horizons, will guide this journey, ensuring BTC City Ljubljana leads in sustainable urban planning and community-centered design.