I Wanted To Include The People Of Our City In The Decision Making: Deputy Mayor Of Ljubljana, Capital City Of Slovenia

Deputy mayor of Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia Tjasa Ficko, is an unassuming Business graduate with extensive experience in public relations and communication.  

“I never envisioned myself in the field of politics, but here I am,” she shares.

Tjasa was picked up by her ex-boss and jumped into politics blindly.

She was elected City Councilor and then subsequently appointed Deputy Mayor.

Ljubljana a small quaint town, has won multiple awards for the work it has done to contribute to the green revolution. They want well-being and quality of life at the top of their agenda.

A city with 288000 number of citizens. It boasts of multiple accolades in greenery and sustainability.

In conversation with BW Businessworld, Tjasa shared the journey of their legislators and public, the successes they have achieved and what has worked for them.

“Once I got elected as deputy mayor, I knew one thing that I wanted to do for sure and that was that I wanted to include the people of our city in the decision making. When that happens there is a sense of ownership and pride. Everyone wants to be a part of a story. So we decided to take inputs from stakeholders across the board. With a vision to change the heartbeat of the city and motivation to succeed under our belt, we have come a long way.”

“In 2016 we were awarded the European green capital award by the European Commision. In 2015 we were listed in the copenhagenize index: top 20 bike friendliest cities in the world and ranked number 8.”

This was all a product of the work over the last 12 years.

In 2007, the government realized the burden of traffic, pollution and noise in the city centre we decided to close it down to vehicles. With 130000 vehicles entering the city, it seemed like the prudent thing to do.

“We took a call to close 10 hectares of the city centre to vehicles. We created green public spaces. We built bridges to shorten distances. Electric cars free of charge were made available for commute within the city centre. We have 58 bike stations from where people can pick up bikes, and have - close to 5 million journeys since 2011. A green corridor to connect city centre to the suburbs with 7000 trees planted. There is an app for which we have tied up with a private partner for electric cars to be used across the city. We also created an app for high potable water to inform people of the closest water fountain. Garbage segregation has been at the helm of our projects-we removed 8500 bins and have created 65 underground stations for collection and segregation.”

"A consequence of which is there is less emission and noise. More and more people are spending time outdoors. The pulse has changed with people getting more educated, aware and motivated,” she highlighted.

A lot to learn from such a small city, but which huge lessons.

‘The Library under the Treetops’ in around 10 locations is the cherry on the icing of the pretty cake of Ljubljana.

She says,“We set out to change the heartbeat and we did!”