BTC City, Ljubljana, Slovenia

BTC City - successful green transformation with the partners’ engagement

BTC City (Ljubljana, SI) aims at a transformation of the city center to become a regionally leading green, climate resistant and attractive symbiotic business city with shared value for different stakeholders (users, businesses, city, local community) by integrating nature and non-human species more directly in strategies for future investments

Stories and photos

HACKATHON: Development of BTC City 2050 shared sustainable vision

In February 2024, the BTC City in partnership with CER - Sustainable Business Network hosted a hackathon for young people to create ideas for “Development of BTC City 2050 shared sustainable vision”. Six groups with 30 young sustainability enthusiasts were challenged to create a comprehensive vision of BTC City Ljubljana's built and open space, which will go beyond mere spatial arrangements and include innovative services based on sustainable principles. Click to enlarge

BTC City - Hackathon February 2024. Credit: BTC d.d.

Picking up great ideas to support the sustainable future of the BTC City area in Ljubljana

On May 31, 2023, an inspiring workshop took place, gathering stakeholders from various sectors to envision a sustainable future for the BTC City area in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Representatives from the educational, cultural, business, and creative sectors gathered to share their ambitious ideas and collaborate on shaping a vision for the area in the year 2050. The workshop aimed to foster innovation, sustainability, and community engagement while reimagining BTC as a vibrant and environmentally friendly urban space.

This collaborative effort demonstrated a shared commitment to sustainable development, community engagement, and the well-being of future generations.

BTC City Ljubljana is an excellent test environment for the implementation of new solutions that will demonstrate how to improve the quality of living and reduce the impact of cities on climate change. The green upgrade of the BTC City area in Ljubljana will thus become an example of good sustainable practice in the region, also through international cooperation.

"The workshop united professionals and visionaries from various sectors, igniting ambitious ideas for BTC City's transformation by 2050. Fueled by innovation, sustainability, and community engagement, this collective effort exemplifies our commitment to a greener, more vibrant urban oasis by 2050. This green transformation of BTC City will serve as a shining exemplar, illuminating the path towards sustainable practices within our region and beyond, fueled by the power of international cooperation," says Ana Struna Bregar, CEO at CER Sustainable Business Network.

Andrej Janko, Head of Sustainable Development Department at BTC City, is also very satisfied:

“We are happy to hold our first Desire workshop with various stakeholders, who gave us a wide range of innovative and sustainable ideas for creating a sustainable vision of the BTC City 2050. We are already looking forward to our second workshop in September with our business partners and employees, who share our vision and want to be part of our green transformation.”

On May 31, 2023, an inspiring workshop took place, gathering stakeholders from various sectors to envision a sustainable future for the BTC City area in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Anže Krže.

Photo: Anže Krže.

The site

We have prepared a Design Manifesto and five design principles (engagement tools) to steer us and the activities. This site has been chosen: Principle: Belonging | Principle: Movement
Learn more here

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BTC City Ljubljana is one of the largest business, shopping, recreation, entertainment and cultural centres in CEE. It is located in the city of Ljubljana (3 km from the city centre), the capital of Slovenia.

BTC City, Ljubljana consists of different programs, customer and business segments, as well as construction, traffic, and technological infrastructure, it attracts more than 21 million visits per year (visitors, guests, daily workers, tourists). BTC City covers a surface area of 475.000 m2, which include 300.000 m2 of business premises (with 32 buildings): shopping halls with more than 450 shops, 70 bars and restaurants, food market and other services e.g. banks, post offices, carwash, pharmacy, diagnostic centre, dance studio, two tower buildings for offices and parking space, Atlantis Water park, Sports centre Millenium, SiTi Theatre, parking garage, 11 km of roads (streets) with infrastructure for cyclist and pedestrians, 15 roundabouts, more than 4.000 m2 of green area, 1.500 trees.

The BTC City Ljubljana’s successful growth and development are based on a broader and clear vision of our management board. They have pursued an intensive restructuring of the storage facilities into a diverse, carefully planned urban space created as a response to the changing demands of modern times.

With a new long-term strategy which is based on sustainable development, BTC is pursuing its goal of becoming carbon neutral City by 2040. By that, we are addressing a global challenge concerning climate changes as well as local challenge of being recognized as a heat island in the summer time.

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At our partner meeting in Amsterdam in May 2023, we asked Ema Henič from CER Sustainable Business Network to tell us about the work at BTC City. Press the icon at the bottom right of the video to expand the image and see the entire video.

The vision

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The vision of BTC City is to become the most innovative and attractive hubs (districts) in CEE to foster green transition and achieve climate neutrality.The goal is to prepare the strategy and action plan:

For redevelopment and future investments in the district which will support the DESIRE principles (+New European Bauhaus concept), BTC’s strategic sustainable goals, city of Ljubljana in EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Citiesfor climate mitigation and climate adaptation of the district: increase of green spaces, energy efficiency of buildings, renewable energy, sustainable mobility, circular economy, reducing climate footprint, improving the microclimate, the comfort and well-being of visitors, employees and business partners.

With the partnership of CER and Knauf Insulation, we are currently preparing the strategy and action plan called green transformation of BTC City Ljubljana which includes the creation of a sustainability hub, green community, and communication plan.

Future activities will also be planned based on the measures of our current climate footprint as well as on the basis of our ESG evaluation (Green Star certificate). The focus will be on collaboration with the different stakeholders (stakeholder mapping) to develop new innovative and sustainable solutions based on DESISRE principles. We will use different methods like workshops, interviews, contests, hackathons and conferences.