AmCham Slovenia and the Ministry of Public Administration concluded their fifth round of the Partnership for Change program. The participants said that the initiative, which promotes cooperation between companies and the public sector, yet again turned out to be successful, and the project's organisers announced that there would be a sixth round of the initiative, which would start this autumn.

AmCham Slovenia and the ministry have been running the project since 2015, providing employee exchanges and striving to develop effective strategies for better business and living environment in Slovenia. The organisers said that the main goal was to enable employees from the public and corporate sector, proverbially known as the opposite sides, to get insight into the other side, exchange know-how and bridge cultural gaps.

This year's exchanges started on 15 April and will finish by the end of September. A single exchange lasts for a week on average. Since April, the exchanges have involved 15 public sector bodies, including 37 employees, and 32 companies, including 21 employees, with the figures further increasing by the end of this year's round.

At the final event, AmCham Slovenia and the ministry presented three challenges which were the focus of the project's participants during the past eight months.

The challenge I'm a Teacher – Examples of Good Practice of Primary School Teachers, which was established by AmCham Future of work and education committee, was presented by the project's initiator Deana Jezeršek of LanguageSitter language school. According to her, the project involves teachers who regard their profession as a calling and go the extra mile for their students. More than 80 teachers are part of the initiative, which is restoring the reputation of teachers and putting them on a pedestal, said Jezeršek.

The challenge Writing Out a Request for Granting Building Permits – Simple Task Anyone Could Do, launched by the administrative unit of Šmarje pri Jelšah, was presented by the unit's Jasna Junkar and Andreja Krumpak. In cooperation with the public and business sector, the unit has managed to convince the authorities to amend building permit legislation, including making building designers now the ones who submit applications.

The challenge Improving the Capacity or Uptake of E-government Services, set up by the national Agency for Public Legal Records (AJPES) was presented by the agency's director Mojca Kunšek. As part of the project, AJPES raised public awareness about its services in various ways, collaborated with stakeholders, and thus successfully increased the uptake of e-services, said Kunšek, adding that the agency would continue implementing this strategy.

Jelena Tabaković of the ministry and Brina Tomovič Kandare of AmCham Slovenia, who manage the Partnership for Change project, said that they were pleased that the employee exchanges had become a regular feature for both the public and corporate sector. This year saw an upgrade of the initiative, with inter-sectoral exchanges becoming part of the project.

AmCham Slovenija director Ajša Vodnik said that the project proved that "audacity, responsibility and creativity always lead to positive results", stressing the importance of collaboration for sharing the benefits of these changes.

You can watch the video of the event on our Facebook page.

Photos of the event are available HERE. 

Source: STA