Slovenia selected to host IMEX Challenge 2012

Although there is a general opinion among people that due to our preoccupation with ourselves we are less attentive and compassionate to others whose lives could become better with our aid, we can always discover initiatives that present us with a different picture. This is surely the concept of the project that has convinced the main organiser, the international company of IMEX; namely, intertwining the care for bees and the natural environment with a positive impact on the lives of less privileged groups.

Ljubljana and Slovenia were selected to host IMEX Challenge 2012, an international social responsibility project that will gather a group of foreign volunteers working in the congress industry between 2 and 4 July 2012.

With the professional support of the Slovenian Beekeepers` Association and the help of local partners, the participants will, within three days, construct a learning beehive for the wards of the Education, Training and Work Centre Dolfka Boštjančič in Draga, who will later help with the breeding of bees and honey production. In this way, they will develop new knowledge and skills and strengthen their self-confidence, which will contribute to their more successful integration into the social environment and higher quality of living.

The IMEX group, an organiser of two global business exchanges for the congress industry, has invited 15 representatives of the congress industry; moreover, it will contribute 25,000 EUR through individual donations for the implementation of the IMEX Challenge project in Draga. Besides the construction of the learning beehive and learning trail and the restoration of a greenhouse where honey-production plants will be cultivated, the donation funds will be intended for the preparation of Slovenian learning material for children with moderate, difficult and heavy mental development disorders. In this way, the mission of the innovative socially responsible campaign will be fulfilled, joining environmental and social orientations with a sustainable heritage for the local community of people with special needs.

The official Slovenian partners – the Congress Office of Slovenia, the Congress Office of Ljubljana Tourism, the Go.Mice agency, the Grand Hotel Union, Kompas DMC and Jezeršek Catering – expect this socially responsible project to have a positive impact on children and adults with special needs long after the construction of the beehive and restoration of the greenhouse.

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