Matej Slapar

Member of the National Council

matej.slapar@ds-rs.si

Matej Slapar was elected to the National Council as a representative of local interests (2. electoral unit – Kamnik).

In the National Council, he is:

member of the Interest Group of Local Interests,
vice-president of the Commission for Economy, Trade, Tourism and Finance,
member of the Commission for Education, Culture, Science, Sport and the Youth.

About the member of the National Council

Matej Slapar was born 17 September 1984. He grew up in Mekinje near Kamnik, where he still lives with his family. He attended primary and secondary school in Kamnik and graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana in 2010 with a Bachelor's degree in Economics.

He started his social activities 20 years ago as a member of the Mekinje Sports and Cultural Association. He was first elected to the Municipal Council of Kamnik in 2006, and from 2010 to 2014 was elected as the President of the Council of the Mekinje Local Community, where he actively participated in the development of the municipality. During this time, he contributed to the construction of a sports field in his home town, the installation of public lighting, the renovation of the local branch school and the road infrastructure. He was employed by an international company, where he was responsible for the processing, presentation and timeliness of data for proper decision-making by owners and managers. He specialised in accounting and bookkeeping. During the 2014-2018 term of office, he served as Vice-Mayor of the Municipality of Kamnik. During this time, he and a group of colleagues founded the Kamnik Entrepreneurship Club and the KIKŠtarter co-working space. He was the coordinator of the group for the adoption of the Strategy for the Development and Marketing of Tourism in the Municipality of Kamnik. With the aim of revitalising the old town centre of Kamnik, he led the Town Centre Management project and was involved in other projects of the municipality of Kamnik. From an early age, he has been closely following the developments and needs of the local community and has been looking for solutions to implement challenges that contribute to a better quality of life in the municipality of Kamnik for the benefit of the community. This was recognised by the voters who elected him Mayor of Kamnik in 2018, where he received 60.56% of the vote in the 2nd round of local elections, and after his first term in office, he received 71.65% of the vote in the 1st round of local elections in 2022. He is a professional mayor. During his time in office, the municipality has developed in a number of areas.

The municipality is striving to create conditions for the development of business, agriculture, social activities and infrastructure. The municipality has successful sportsmen and sportswomen who have developing conditions for training and competition. There is a well-developed countryside, where resources are being invested in modernising sewage, water and road infrastructure, developing cycle routes and rail infrastructure that encourage forms of sustainable mobility, a strong culture where, in both urban and rural areas, cultural practitioners work in cultural centres and, proud of the heritage of the past, outstanding museum collections are kept.

The Municipality of Kamnik, in the context of the complete renovation of the Kamnik Culture Centre, installed the first photovoltaic power plant on public buildings on the roof of the latter, and an important step of integration in this field was taken in July 2022, when the Municipality of Kamnik signed a letter of intent to participate in the European City Facility (EUCF) project with the Municipalities of Grosuplje, Ivančna Gorica, Dobrepolje, Ig, Škofljica and Log-Dragomer. Recently, at the invitation of the Municipality of Kranj, the Municipality of Kamnik joined the consortium of partners of the ELENA project, co-funded by the European Investment Bank. Grants will be provided for technical documentation in the fields of energy renovation of buildings, public lighting, solar power plants and energy efficient heating systems. The Municipality of Kamnik has in the past participated in several Interreg transnational projects in the fields of civil protection (MUHA), creative and cultural industries (STIMULART) and sustainable mobility (CITYWALK). Currently, the Municipality of Kamnik is the lead partner of the PopUpUrbanSpaces project, which is implemented under the Central Europe Programme and involves 10 partners from 7 countries. The project addresses sustainable mobility or changes in travel habits through tactical urbanism. The area of Kamnik's city centre and the former Smodnišnice area are also being developed, and the municipality of Kamnik will continue to participate in various consortia addressing sustainable mobility, self-sufficiency in both food and energy, and infrastructure development.

Its vision is to develop the Kamnik-Domžale region and the whole of Slovenia through networking and joint projects. By developing tourism and tourist farms and tourist associations, he wants to prevent the out-migration of young people. He sees mutual support, cooperation and assistance as key aspects of the region's development. For several years now, the Municipality of Kamnik has been successfully cooperating with the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region as well as with the LAS Heart of Slovenia, with which a number of successful projects have been implemented.

The Mayor and State Councillor Matej Slapar brings his experience to support the development interests of local communities and to help solve the problems that often arise on the way to a destination. He is convinced that with will and perseverance, and above all with knowledge and experience, many a problem or obstacle that arises on the path of development can be solved.