Our Community at Work
Connected and Organised
Dynamic and diverse, the Slovene community in Italy thrives through a network of very active institutions: from schools and media outlets to cultural centres, sports clubs, businesses and religious organizations. These foundations help us preserve our language and culture while strengthening the bonds between our people. They support our members’ growth and development while enriching the diversity and vitality of our shared territory.
Representation
Political representatives of the Slovene national community are regularly elected to various political and administrative bodies: to the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, to the Regional Council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and municipal bodies. In the context of civil society, the Slovene Cultural and Economic Association (Slo: Slovenska kulturno-gospodarska zveza – SKGZ) and the Council of Slovene Organisations (Slo: Svet slovenskih organizacij – SSO) are the two main representative organisations of the Slovene national community in Italy and act as interlocutors with various European, state and local institutions in Italy and Slovenia.
Cultural institutions
The cultural activity of Slovenes in Italy is very rich and spans various arenas of artistic expression, e.g., music, theatre, cinema, literature, fine arts, research, etc. Such activities are carried out within the framework of institutions and professional bodies as well as at the amateur level – within cultural associations and other voluntary or non-profit organisations. Individual associations conducting amateur cultural activities of Slovenes in Italy operate within various organisations that bring together their member associations by organizing major events and creating opportunities for their performances. They also play an integral role as providers of consultations, financial support, education and other services.
Cultural Unions
Theatre, Music and Film
Libraries and Bookshops
Research Institutes
Sports
Sports activities, which are very popular especially among young people, are just as diverse as they are prolific. The umbrella sports organisation Association of Slovene Sports Societies in Italy (Slo: Združenje slovenskih športnih društev v Italiji – ZSŠDI) brings together many organised sports societies operating within the Slovene national community in Italy. The most popular sports are basketball, football and volleyball; however, the sports in which members of these societies participate are very diverse – from rollerblading and skating to cheerleading and sailing. Mountaineering, organized by various mountaineering societies of Gorizia, Trieste and Udine, is another very appealing and popular sports activity for the Slovenes in Italy.
Economy and agriculture
The prevailing economic activities of Slovene entrepreneurs in Italy are crafts, commerce, agriculture, catering, tourism, international trade and services. Entrepreneurs can join the two central Slovene business organisations in Italy – the Farmers’ Union (Slo: Kmečka zveza) and the Slovene Regional Economic Association (Slo: Slovensko deželno gospodarsko združenje – SDGZ) – which offer their services in all three provinces of the Slovene area of settlement. The banking, financial and real estate sectors are also well developed. In this field, there are institutions which operate also in Slovene.
Media and publishing
Slovene media contributes to the preservation and expansion of the Slovene language and awareness, while at the same time keeping people informed about issues concerning minority communities, which seldom get any mass media coverage.
Radio and TV
Newspapers and Magazines
Publishing Houses
Education
In the provinces of Trieste and Gorizia there is a wide network of state schools with Slovene as the language of instruction for the entire educational cycle: kindergartens, elementary schools, lower-secondary and upper-secondary schools. In these schools, all subjects except for Italian and foreign languages are taught in Slovene, in line with the same ministerial guidelines as those applying to schools with Italian as the language of instruction. Furthermore, in all three provinces of the area of historical settlement there are day-care centres (crèches), various educational centres and residence halls for secondary-school students.
The essential information for understanding the school system, education legislation, hiring procedures in Slovenian schools, and the recognition of foreign qualifications for teaching is available on the Regional Education Office’s website.
