Slovenian Rural Parliament assembles stakeholders to consider the future of rural areas

The 6th Slovenian Rural Parliament, held on 11-12 June 2026 in Ilirska Bistrica, brought together almost 300 participants from across the country to debate the future of rural areas and shape concrete proposals for rural development policy. 

The event gathered Local Action Groups, rural civil society organisations, academia, farmers, representatives of municipalities and local authorities, development agencies, ministries and managing authorities for a two-day participatory process designed to give rural communities a direct voice in shaping their future.

The national rural parliament built on a series of nine regional preparatory meetings held in autumn 2025, which together assembled more than 500 participants, feeding regional perspectives and priorities into the national agenda. This bottom-up approach reflects the core purpose of the Slovenian Rural Parliament: a living forum where experiences, proposals and visions from across rural Slovenia converge into shared directions for action, rather than a space for top-down decision-making.

The programme centred on eight thematic forums addressing key challenges facing the country’s rural areas, including rural tourism, housing and demographic change, access to public and market services, and food self-sufficiency and local branding. Youth participation was embedded as a cross-cutting theme across all forums, reflecting growing recognition that sustainable rural futures depend on creating conditions in which young people can choose to stay, return and contribute.

The event also included the ceremonial award of the Most Successful Rural Community of Slovenia 2026, celebrating local initiatives that demonstrate what rural communities can achieve when given the right support and space to innovate.

The parliament concluded with a strong message – that rural areas are not peripheral; they are places of identity, resilience and opportunity. Participants stressed that housing, services, food systems and tourism must be addressed in an integrated way, and that policies need to reflect the diversity and specific needs of rural communities across Slovenia.

The event was attended by the Minister for Agriculture, the State Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, and the State Secretary in the Ministry of Local Self-Government, Cohesion and Regional Development, signalling growing political recognition of rural issues at the highest national level.

The parliament was organised by the Slovenian Rural Development Network (Društvo za razvoj slovenskega podeželja), an RPSO national partner.