Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Skip to main content
European Commission logo

YouthWiki

EACEA National Policies Platform
Slovenia

Slovenia

8. Creativity and Culture

8.6 Developing entrepreneurial skills through culture

Last update: 28 November 2023
On this page
  1. Developing entrepreneurial skills through cultural activities
  2. Support young entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors

Developing entrepreneurial skills through cultural activities

In terms of education, Slovenia abolished the special department for cultural management and/or cultural policy. The proposed postgraduate study of cultural policies and cultural management was also rejected.

In general, the business environment for cultural management in Slovenia is poorly developed; public funds which achieved enviable levels in the past have shrunk significantly. (Between 2009 and 2014, the funds of the Ministry of Culture fell by 21%.) Between 2014 and 2019, the funds of the Ministry of Culture slightly increased again (for 6.8%). There are no measures in the field of entrepreneurship in culture and the cultural and creative industries.

However, according to the report on Arts and Cultural Education at School in Europe, the Slovenian education system comprises curricula which establish a link between the development of pupils’ creativity and the importance of encouraging an “entrepreneurial spirit”. The Chair of Cultural Studies was established in 1994. It unites the emphases of British cultural studies, anthropology, religious studies and insights from contemporary sociology and philosophy. The Chair offers undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in Cultural Studies.

There are study programmes at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana (Fakulteta za družbene vede, Univerza v Ljubljani) in the field of culture: Undergraduate Programme Cultural Studies (Kulturologija), Master’s Programme Cultural Studies – Studies in Culture and Religion (Kulturologija – kulturne in religijske študije) and several interdisciplinary doctoral programmes: Balkan StudiesCultural StudiesDevelopmental StudiesEthnic and Migration StudiesReligious Studies and Social and Political Anthropology. The Cultural Studies programme provides with a broad understanding of the various layers of cultural reality, allowing students to move between different planes of contemporary cultural landscapes. No emphasis, however, is put on entrepreneurship.

The Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (Filozofska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani) implements study programmes in the field of art and culture: Undergraduate and Master's Programme Sociology of Culture (Sociologija kulture), Undergraduate and Master's Programme Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Undergraduate and Master's Programme Musicology (Muzikologija) Undergraduate and Master's Programme Comparative Literature and Literary Theory (Primerjalna književnost in literarna teorija), Undergraduate and Master's Programme Art History (Umetnostna zgodovina). The study programmes provide an insight into different cultural and artistic spheres, but no emphasis is put on entrepreneurship.

The situation is more favourable in the field of design, where the Faculty of Design, an associated member of the University of Primorska (Fakulteta za dizajn, pridružena članice Univerze na Primorskem), has implemented the study programme of Design Management at the under- and postgraduate levels.

The Summer School of Cultural Management (Poletna šola kulturnega menedžmenta) has existed since 2015. This school is a university project within the Art Council, jointly organised by four faculties of the University of Ljubljana: the Faculty of Economics, the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (Akademija za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje), the Academy of Music (Akademija za glasbo) and the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (Akademija za gledališče, radio, film in televizijo).

 

Support young entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors

There is no specific programme for young entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors. It should be noted that the National Programme on Culture 2014–2017 (Nacionalni program za kulturo 2014-2017) envisaged the creation of the Centre of Creativity (Center za kreativnost). It was established in June 2017 as part of a project aiming to foster further development of the cultural and creative industries in Slovenia. The centre gives priority to supporting innovative forms of the new economy emerging from the creative industries (“start-ups”, “co-working”, “service jam”), linking products with companies and supporting the development of social innovation and social entrepreneurship projects. Some of their activities target young people, such as the competition within the Creative-Engineering Green Incubator (Kreativno-inženirski Zeleni Inkubator) in 2020. In the cycle of Pop-Upstart events in Maribor, young Slovenian artists from various fields of the creative sector are enabled to present their products to a wider audience.