The story of Integral Green Slovenia takes us to Slovenia: a country located at the historic crossroads of European civilisation; a country dedicated to the European Union which it only joined in 2004; a country with a unique human and natural potential, but which faces enormous economic and political difficulties; a country searching for a new, sustainable economic model that is authentic to its own social and cultural context, that can serve to address its difficulties and release its full potential, and that can, simultaneously, make a contribution to the sustainable development of the European Union.

Integral Green Slovenia is framed by real-life stories of integral communities and organisations on a path of social innovation for sustainability.

Municipalities Solčavsko, Šentrupert and Poljčane, regional development model of the Heart of Slovenia, Biotechnical Centre Naklo, Kindergarten Slovenska Bistrica, high-tech companies Domel and Pipistrel, Institute Metron, green social enterprise Tekstilnica, Ekoci, InTerCeR, Cooperative Dobrina and Urban Furrows as cases of grassroots developments, Slovenian Forum of Social Entrepreneurship, young creators succeeding with coworking and crowdfunding, and other distinguished practice cases draw on the Slovenian history and on each other. Among the successful models from the past, sustainable forestry, common land management and classical cooperatives are highlighted. From searching for Slovenian identity to study circles and co-creating a network society; from geomancy and geoculture to biodynamic school gardens; from addressing climate change to education for sustainable development – all this is Integral Green Slovenia.

Furthermore, Slovenian integral green cases show that “smart integration” of EU policies is already happening in practice: nationally and internationally recognised successes of these cases are also the result of smart use (integration) of EU programmes and measures for green economy (including organic food self-sufficiency and energy self-sufficiency, sustainable local development, green tourism), social economy (with cooperatives, social enterprises and economic democracy), social responsibility, strategic environmental assessment … As a whole, this book serves as a global showcase for an integral European economy, dealing with an entire society at the geographic heart of Europe.

As you read through Integral Green Slovenia, you are not confronted with a discordant set of chapters, but invited into an interdependent storyline. Inspired by the nature and culture as well as historical evolution of Slovenia, all contributors see each other as a continuation of this foundational story.

The Integral Green Slovenia is dedicated to Slovenia, to Europe and to the World, in the spirit of the Slovenian anthem, with the words of the poet France Prešeren:

“Long live all the nations,
Who long to see No more shall foes,
That all men free but neighbours be.”

Check Post on the Swiss Launch of Integral Green Slovenia in July 2016