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1. Governance

2. Cross-sectoral cooperation

Governance

Main actors

The Public Interest in the Youth Sector Act was adopted in 2010 and  identifies that the responsibility for governing the youth sector lies with the State, self-governing local communities and the self-governing national communities, where relevant (see Article 6).

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia proposed a National Programme for Youth for adoption by the National Assembly and in  2012 was adopted. This is the main document that forms youth policy agenda and specific policy measures in the field of youth work and it was valid for 10 years. In 2023 The Governement of the Republic of Slovenia will propose a new program for the period 2023-2032.

Main national public authority is the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and its autonomous body the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth (Urad Republike Slovenije za mladino).

National public authorities/actors are:

• The Office for Youth is an administrative body responsible for youth (see Article 6 and 7 of the Public Interest in the Youth Sector Act). Operating since 1991, it champions the interests of the youth and the youth sector. The Office for Youth is a state authority in the field of youth work, shaping youth policies in a relatively independent manner, including by providing financial support for youth programmes and promoting research on youth. It mainly focuses on promoting youth work, coordinating measures within youth policy and ensuring adequate social dialogue with young people. The Office has been co-funding youth work programmes since its establishment.
• The Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth (Svet Vlade Republike Slovenije za mladino) was established in 2009 by the Slovenian government to serve as a consultative body. Article 8 of the Public Interest in Youth Sector Act states, that the Council for Youth “shall offer assistance in making decisions on matters in the field of youth and the youth sector”. It also considers proposed laws and other regulations and measures of the Government relating to the area of youth work. The Office for Youth coordinates works for Council (for more information on the Council, see Youth Wiki section 5.3 Youth representation bodies).

Other actors involved:

• Private Institute for the development of youth mobility (Zavod MOVIT), performs tasks of the national agency for the European Union programme Erasmus+: Youth in Action. MOVIT manages indirectly centralized EU budget funds and provides support for various forms of learning mobility in youth work and enhances solidarity at local, national and European level, while carrying out activities for the general development of youth work and non- formal learning. An important part of MOVIT's activity is also the publicity, through which some of the basic works for the development of youth work, especially learning mobility in youth work, were created.
• The National Youth Council of Slovenia (Mladinski svet Slovenije) is an umbrella organisation of national youth organisations operating at the national level. The mission of the Youth Council of Slovenia and local community youth councils is to represent the interests of member youth organisations. Their main activities are creating youth policies, conducting dialogue throughout the non-governmental youth field, encouraging the development of youth work and non-formal education, and other youth activities that support the development of youth initiatives and youth organisations. The National Youth Council of Slovenia has 11 full member organisations and two associated member organisations (December 2022).
• Youth Network MaMa (Mladinska mreža MaMa) combines and represents organisations that run youth centres or are active in youth work in Slovenia in order to support the youth, their spending of quality free time and a better life in society. MaMa also provides non- formal education for youth and youth workers. Currently it has 50 members with the status of a youth centre. At local level, youth centres are important agents in promoting youth work.
• Youth organisations and organisations for youth: the entities of public interest in the youth sector are youth organisations and organisations for youth. In order to obtain the status of an organisation in the public interest in the youth sector, organisations in the youth sector must meet the following conditions, one of which is to meet important achievements in the development and integration of youth work (see the Public Interest in Youth Sector Act, Article 9 and Article 11).
• Private Institute Nefiks (Zavod Nefiks) promotes non-formal learning and the recognition of skills gained through non-formal learning activities.
• The public  Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training (Center RS za poklicno izobraževanje) is the central Slovenian public institution dealing with development, research and counselling regarding vocational and technical education. The qualification standard for a youth worker (national vocational qualification) was adopted by the Expert Council of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training (for more information see Youth Wiki section 10.5 Youth workers).

Distribution of responsibilities

The Office of the Republic of Slovenia for youth in the main national governmental body responsible for the implementation of the act of Public Interest in the Youth Sector. There is no regional public authority in Slovenia. The bodies of self- governing local communities are responsible for implementing the public interest in the youth sector at a local level (see Article 6 of the Public Interest in the Youth Sector Act). The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia defines municipalities as local self-governed communities.

Youth councils of local communities areare responsible for the implementation of youth work and youth policy, and furthermore are the entities of public interest in the youth sector at the local level. Youth centres are seen as the main drivers of youth work at the local level. Level of support for youth work varies from municipality to municipality: in some local communities, there is a very high level of recognition and support for youth work (see also country report  Working with young people: The value of youth work). Since most local communities do not have a youth office, the cooperation with local authorities and youth centres is very important. Main actors on the local level are:

• The Youth Council of Local Communities (Mladinski sveti lokalnih skupnosti) is the umbrella association of youth organisations at the local level, which represents the interests of young people and youth organisations relation to municipal authorities and all other institutions. The Youth Council of Local Communities also organizes trainings and other community events for young people or youth organisations.
• Youth departments within the city administrations, for example the municipality of Ljubljana (Urad za mladino) and the municipality of Maribor (Urad za kulturo in mladino) have their own offices for youth. The departments usually coordinate leisure activities in the field of youth work, promote activities and opportunities offered by public institutes operating in the youth sector. However, most local communities do not have specific youth office nor person for youth issues.

Cross-sectoral cooperation

Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, and the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth.

Cross-sectoral cooperation is essential to address the challenges young people face. The co- operation of major actors across sectors is usually project-based, as systemic cooperation would require continuous funding. The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (and its body The Office for Youth) is not covering all youth issues. It cooperates with other ministries on the topics of:

• youth work that increases the employability of young people; social youth work: with the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities;
• youth work and culture in the youth centres: with the Ministry of Culture; youth work and volunteering: with the Ministry of Public Administration;
• youth work and youth cooperatives with the status of social enterprises: with the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology;
• youth work and young farmers: with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food.