The Slovenian local YOUMIG kick-off was held in Maribor on May 16th, 2017. Maribor is the second largest Slovenian city, located to the north-east of the country, with three international borders nearby:

-              20km from the border with Austria,
-              50km from the border with Croatia, and
-              70km from the border with Hungary.

While still a part of Yugoslavia, it was one of the biggest industrial centers, with significant (up to 20%) population from other republics. Those people were not considered international migrants, although they were of a different nationality to the native majority and have in general received Slovenian citizenship upon independency gained in 1991. Currently the proportion of foreign citizens with registered residency in Maribor is about 7,5%.

With Maribor being a cultural, educational, sports, and technological center of the region, it attracts many immigrants, while at the same time being a city with a jobless rate of over 15%, facing strong emigration.

In order to move forward a quality management of migration as part of city and regional development, the Maribor Development Agency (the regional development agency) welcomed its role in the YOUMIG project.

The day of the kick-off event started with a press conference where the YOUMIG project was introduced to local and national media, generating interest of the general and targeted public.

Next, Amna Potočnik, Project manager at the YOUMIG partner Maribor Development Agency and Nada Stropnik, senior researcher at the YOUMIG partner Slovenian Institute for Economic Research, opened the Migration Forum by presenting the project and its goals.                                                         

A lively discussion followed of various experts on both local and national level (among others: the Government's Office for Slovenians Abroad, the National Statistical Office, the Maribor Financial Office – branch of the National Financial Administration, the University of Maribor, Youth Cultural Centre Maribor, etc.). The Migration Forum ended with the conclusion that the integration of young migrants cannot be successfully dealt with at the central government level only and that the Ministry of the Interior does not seem to be an appropriate body for that task. All relevant institutions/bodies have to co-operate, and the participation of NGOs is also essential, the forum agreed.

The proposed concept of a one-stop-shop, a municipal service offering information about migration all in one place, was recognised as the best option for various administrative bodies to cooperate.

One participant, a migration researcher, reported that currently some migrant groups are not given any attention at all. In her opinion, joined by others, there should be special programmes for forced migrants, who are refugees and internally displaced people fleeing conflict or environmental disasters, and are too often overlooked. Another participant pointed out that only Slovenian language courses are available to asylum seekers, but there are more (though not sufficient) programmes for refugees. On the other hand, a local migration expert added that since there are more programmes for asylum seekers than immigrants, the latter are left to their own devices even to a greater extent. Or they might be taken care of by their diasporas, or fellow countrymen who live abroad but support their home community. In many cases, the integration of immigrants depends on the whims of their employers, who more often than not only aim for a personal profit. Surprisingly, there are also no programmes for EU citizens, the researcher noted.

The participants shared the view that high-skilled immigrants are needed in Maribor and that immigrants to Maribor have not affected public safety. The majority of participants agreed that many high- and low-skilled people emigrate from Maribor, but the opinion prevailed that they manage to find jobs abroad which correspond to their education and/or skills.

Borut Jurišić, YOUMIG’s communication manager in Maribor, who moderated the migration forum, introduced the issue of migration management and said it was needed locally to prevent or alleviate negative consequences of migration and to make use of the potential that migrants bring.

The Slovenian YOUMIG team consists of core team members at MDA and IER:

Dr. Amna Potočnik is the head of the department of International Cooperation at the Maribor Development Agency (MDA) and the project manager of the MDA’s team within YOUMIG project. She has vast experience in project implementation and management as well as thematic expertise in the fields of preparation of strategic documents such as action plans, policy recommendations, development strategies on the broadest scope.

Mag. Borut Jurišić is the senior project manager at the department of International Cooperation at the MDA and the communication officer within the YOUMIG project team. With his background in humanistic studies and both professional and personal experience, he is also the thematic expert on the topics of migration and youth migration.

Sabina Šneider is the project manager at the department of International Cooperation at the MDA and the financial officer within the MDA’s YOUMIG team. She has vast experience in project implementation and management of project on local, national, cross-border, transnational and interregional level.

Dr. Nada Stropnik, is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Economic Research, Ljubljana, Slovenia. She holds a PhD in economics. Her main research areas are social policy, social inclusion, poverty, family policy and work-life balance.

Klemen Koman is a researcher at the Institute for Economic Research and holds a MSc degree in economics from the University of Economics in Ljubljana. His research interests have been focused on the innovation and technology transfer policy  as well as the regional projects. He has acquired a wide spectrum of experiences and knowledge on the international programmes (Framework programmes, Interreg programmes, Structural funds schemes, etc.).

Dr. Natasa Kump is a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research, Ljubljana, Slovenia.  Her main research areas are tax- and social policies, income inequality, poverty and social exclusion, and microsimulation.