The BTC Company has for several years been paying special thought to the sustainable development programmes, one of the first being the building of BTC’s own eco-station. In addition, BTC Company is very successful in reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The Company has put up its own solar power station and acquired the ISO 50001 energy management standard. Upgrading and bringing these efforts to the next level is part of the raising awareness project Mission: Green.
Sustainable development has for some time been one of the main concerns of the BTC Company, devoting a lot of attention to concrete projects and sustainable development programmes. Among the initial projects was also the building of BTC’s own eco-station that enables sorting of 24 fractions of different types of waste, accumulated in the BTC area – an achievement that meets the highest environmental standards. There are also several other endeavours, such as reducing the energy consumption and the carbon dioxide emissions, building of three solar power stations with a yearly production of 2 million kWh, and acquiring the ISO 50001 energy management standard.
European CSR Award
In the category “large enterprise” the BTC Company received the European CSR Award in June 2013 for the project “BTC City and women’s ski jumping” and for being a long-time sponsor and supporter of the Ski jumping club Ljubno BTC. The BTC Company also supported the organisation of the first women’s ski-jumping world cup competition and was the general sponsor of both competitions in Ljubno ob Savinji. The European CSR Award ceremony took place in Brussels and was sponsored by Antonio Tajani, the vice-president of the European Commission, who also held the ceremonial speech. The award was presented to Petra Novak, the Head of the Business Office and Chief of Protocol in the Administration Cabinet. With this project the BTC Company has managed to make the long-ignored Nordic event of women’s ski jumping more recognizable. They have managed to achieve nearly the impossible, i.e. make an unrecognizable sports discipline popular and known to a wider circle of international sports audience.
Rapid boom of women’s ski-jumping on international level in merely two consecutive world cup seasons
From reducing energy consumption to wind power station
The BTC Company persistently strives towards reducing the negative effects on the environment. The Company has invested more than 30 million Euros in environmental projects in the last 10 years alone. The first results are already starting to appear on the horizon, especially with considerable reduction of energy consumption in 2012. This year the optimisation of electric energy has also proved successful, since the energy consumption has been reduced by about 1 million kWh compared to the same period last year. Next month Ljubljana will become the proud owner of its first high-performance wind power station located at the Šmartinska cesta roundabout with the capacity of 50 kW, producing 241.312 kWh of electric energy yearly. The purpose of the wind turbine will also manifest itself in reminding people about BTC City’s awareness of the environmental and sustainable development as well as respectful treatment of the environment.
Workshops and young talents producing new architectural concepts
Not only in sports disciplines, the BTC Company is also realising its social responsibility within different social fields, such as education, culture, science and humanitarian matters. Between July 8 and July 19 the Company will participate as the sponsor of architectural workshops which will be visited by 32 students of architecture from 7 countries along with their mentors and professors from the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana, and from Barcelona, Paris, Lisbon, Rome, Thessaloniki, Oldenburg and Istanbul. The Smanful workshop will be held in Ljubljana, the central subject being the “citification” of the BTC area which conceptually relates to past endeavours and the formation of BTC City. The lobby of the Crystal Palace will exhibit all the project results at the end of the workshop, making it possible for the professional and general public to appreciate the results in the biggest possible manner. The BTC Company Management is already looking forward to fresh inspirations and ideas which will, at the end of the project, lead to a different and innovative way of thinking.
Business incubator for a better future for the young
The BTC Company strives towards repaying the community and having an active part in it. One of the recent projects and a good example of a business incubator was the BTC Campus that took place between February and May this year. The project was designed to help young people find employment in these harsh economic times. Together with the Centre for Business Excellence of the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana and the Employment Service of Slovenia the BTC Company organised additional education courses to help young unemployed people find employment and start their independent business practice. On top of that, the project contributed to higher self-esteem and made the search for employment opportunities for young people easier. The group of 30 participants executed 12 programme modules in first 3 months through which “they were given definite knowledge and skills and learned different ways of thinking which they will find useful in their private and business life as well,” said Jože Mermal, the president of the BTC Management Board. From the beginning of the project and up to present day some of the participants have already found their first employment or have established and signed their first business contracts, based on their services and acquired recommendations.
Celebration of cycling
The BTC Company is not only the general sponsor of the Marathon Franja BTC City, but has as many as 50 of its employees contributing to a well organised, safe and perfectly executed event. Marathon Franja BTC City can most definitely be regarded as the biggest cycling celebration, extending over three days this year and uniting recreational as well as professional cyclists from all over Slovenia, who showed up in a record breaking number of 7200 participants. Some familiar faces could be seen participating in the marathon, among others also the Governor of Carinthia Peter Kaiser, PhD, and the major of Bad Kleinkirchheim, Matthias Krenn. According to many this year the Marathon Franja BTC City has seen its most exquisite realisation in all its history. Even Andrea Marcellini, the Commissioner of the World Cycling Organisation UCI emphasized that the Marathon Franja sets an example to the World Cycling Organisation UCI and to the organisers of marathons all over the world. What better confirmation and demonstration of trust in the light of the upcoming World championship for recreational cyclists which will be organised at the end of August next year in BTC City Ljubljana together with the City Municipality of Ljubljana and the Tourism Directorate within the framework of the Government of Republic of Slovenia. The estimated number of cyclists from all continents is 1500 which presents a great marketing opportunity for all of us in Slovenia.
