Category Archives: Updates

Discover Slovenia in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ:
Kick-off for the new project year „Jugend schreibt“ (Youth Writes) at Hotel Celjska koča, 20. – 21.10.2025
At the invitation of the Municipality of Celje, city director Gregor Deleja, 28 students and teachers from a total of 8 schools in Celje, Maribor, Velenje and Videm pri Ptuju attended the third introductory event at Celjska koča.
A presentation of the FAZ and the Jugend schreibt project is followed by workshops on finding topics, research, interviewing, documentation and writing, fact checking and authorisation. In the practical part, a student from Videm pri Ptuju presents the Pokač tradition of whip cracking, which is supposed to drive away winter during the carnival season. This is followed by an interview and the structuring of a report on this topic.
This is followed by a joint editing exercise on reportage texts that have already been completed, as well as planning researches and reportages for the coming project year.
Many thanks to all participants and supporters in Maribor, Velenje, Videm pri Ptuju and especially in Celje! We look forward to the next steps together. Gerald and Monica Hühner, INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB, Project management/Photos.

Robotics – Language Acquisition – CLIL – International Cooperation:
Rhineland-Palatinate/RLP in Slovenia – Continuation of educational cooperation in the context of CLIL Robotics with funding from Erasmus+.
Organised by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Institute of Education (organisation: Kristina Fischer) nehmen unter Leitung von Christian Hennicke and Axel Karger 13 teachers from primary, secondary and grammar schools participate in job shadowing programmes at the Gymnasium Celje Center (Head: Marjana Turnšek) and the First Primary School (I. OS) Celje (Head: Žan Močivnik) under the coordination of Christian Hennicke and Axel Karger. A two-day workshop by INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB introduces the theory and practice of the CLIL Robotics concept, including a workshop with Slovenian German as a foreign language and STEM teachers on the 5th Slovenian CLILiG Robotics Championship.
The supporting programme for the delegation from Rhineland-Palatinate included a presentation of the Celje school system by the city director of the Municipality of Celje, Gregor Deleja, a guided tour of Celje Castle by Metka Krajnc Sevšek (in the role of Barbara of Cilli) and, to conclude, a guided tour of Tehno park Celje.
Many thanks to all those involved for their active participation and support! The cooperation is to be continued in future with other areas of focus.
Organisation of the programme/Photos: Gerald and Monica Hühner, INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB

‘When the trumpet found its echo’ – With the Oberkrainers in Begunje, Slovenia.
How their international musical career began in the 1950s in a small Alpine village, gained momentum in Germany, and continues successfully today.
A Reportage in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ, 22.09.2025.
By Urh Štrakl, Amaya Kragolnik and Julija Pungeršek. As part of the ‘Jugend schreibt’ (Youth Writes) project, following research and interviews in Begunje: with Sašo Avsenik, who is continuing the Oberkrainer tradition in its third generation, and with German, American, Canadian and other international guests at the ancestral home of the Avsenik family of musicians.
A project supported by the Municipality of Celje and the Slovenian Tourist Board/STO. Project management/Photos: Gerald and Monica Hühner, INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB.

Discover Pippi Longstocking-Festival in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ:
She has a house, a monkey and a horse, and held her 36th festival in Slovenia from 6 to 12 September 2025: Pippi Longstocking lifts horses, takes on police officers and pirates, and has already thrilled well over a million visitors – especially children and young people, to whom the freely accessible festival in Velenje is dedicated, with more than 10 locations in the city, around 25 themed huts and tents, and over 75 workshops.
A “Jugend schreibt”(Youth writes) research on 9. 9. 2025 in the city center of  Velenje: With the phantastic Ema Kač as Pippi Longstocking, with Jona Zamrnik, one of well over a hundred volunteers, with visitors young and old, and the festival director, Barbara Pokorny.
Preparation of a reportage by the student journalists Lan Jerič, Lucian Lovrenčič und Anja Oblak/OŠ Frana Roša. Under the patronage of the Municipality of Celje / Mestna Občina Celje; Coordination/Photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB, Monica and Gerald Hühner.

Adria, Action, Adrenaline – Kitesurfing in Koper/Slovenia –
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ, 25.8.2025:
„Wind in your hair, speed on the water, the danger that constantly surrounds you and reminds you how alive you are, pure adrenaline: that’s kitesurfing. This is my life“, says Toni Vodisek from Koper. About the silver medalist at the 2024 Olympic Games, how it all began, how he almost flew over his parents’ hotel, escaped a shark, and his Plan B for life after his active career: https://lnkd.in/d3XRubuX
A reportage in the context of „Jugend schreibt“ (Youth writes) with the FAZ, by the student journalists Vika Viktorija Starman, Mana Rampini Florjančič, Emma Pančevska Dakič and Gaja Kejžar; Gimnazija Koper. With the support of ZRS Koper; Project management/Photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB.

Slovenian students as ambassadors of their country:
The ‘Jugend schreibt’ (Youth Writes) project with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ in Slovenia – presented on 19 August 2025 in Delo:
https://lnkd.in/daDizCQQ
About the history of the project, its implementation and goals, the people portrayed, and the topics covered.
Many thanks to Špela Kuralt for her article in Delo, to Nika Rezman and Ema Holešek (Celje) for their contribution with an interview on the subject.
And above all, thanks to all the students, teachers, authorities and interviewees, who have contributed to and supported the Slovenian FAZ-project since 2020. So that it remains possible: ‘Discover Slovenia in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ’.
INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB, Dr. Gerald Hühner and Dr. Monica Hühner, project management/coordination

Big cinema from Slovenia – Marko Mandić, Sonja Prosenc, the Berlinale and the Oskar, – on 18.8.2025 in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ:
https://lnkd.in/dREpXzyj
About “Gold”, “Im Angesicht des Verbrechens”, about “The Hitman´s Bodyguard” and “O Beautiful Night”, about “Family Therapy”, “History of love”, and the future of cinema.
A report as part of ‘Jugend schreibt’ (Youth Writes) with the FAZ, by the student journalists Ema Holešek, Maša Pušnik, Milenca Obrul and Zoja Klara Hrup from Celje. After conducting research and talking to director Sonja Prosenc and actor Marko Mandić at the “Kino Union” cinema in Celje, and also with Samo Seničar, cinema manager in the Municipality of Celje / Mestna Občina Celje.
Project lead/Photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB.

The Walk of Peace from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea –
And the vision of a European Walk of Peace along the front lines of World War I.
In conversation with Maša Klavora, director of the non-profit foundation Walk of Peace Fundation / Pot miru – ‘Walk of Peace in the Soča Region’, on 30 July 2025 in Kobarid..
Research conducted as part of the ‘Jugend schreibt’ (Youth Writes) project with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ. Author: Maša Mežnar (Gymnasium Koper), Project management/Photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB.

Discover Slovenia in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ, 28.7.2025 –
Two reportages: About Barbara of Cilli, the Roman-German, Hungarian and Bohemian queen; multilingual, curious, researching; crowned in Aachen, buried in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague; how she ruled over a small part of Europe and how her life in Celje continues to have an impact today; – from the perspective of the teacher Metka Krajnc Sevšek, who plays the role of the queen as a tourist guide in the Municipality of Celje / Mestna Občina Celje. And about Manca Peskar, Slovenian Scientist of the Year, the start of her career with ‘Dexter’s Laboratory,’ her international studies in neuroscience, and her work at the Centre for Science and Research/ZRS Koper with director Rado Pisot, and how children and young people are motivated there to take an interest in science and to show commitment to older people: https://lnkd.in/dpjGspXZ
Reportages as part of ’Jugend schreibt’ (Youth Writes); – by Blaž Klinar and Zoja Klara Hrup (about Barbara von Cilli), as well as by Gaja Kejžar, Vika Viktorija Starman, Emma Pančevska Dakič and Mana Rampini Florjančič (about Manca Peskar at ZRS Koper). Project management/Photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB

Discover Slovenia´s Hidden Gems in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ, 14.07.2025 –
Shoe craft, design, nature and international cooperation:Hidden away in north-eastern Slovenia lies Lake Blaguš, and there, integrated into the natural surroundings, is Mario Herzog’s workshop and studio. Here, you can learn and experience how shoes are made in the traditional way using historical tools and machines, how long this process takes, what can happen during the process, what customers worldwide want, and where the shoemaker himself feels the pinch: there are hardly any skilled workers left, but their cross-border cooperation promotes business, solidarity and friendship.
A „Jugend schreibt” (Youth writes) reportage by Franja Kos, Zoja Štancar and Leon Romih: https://lnkd.in/d_qhSUpr
Patronage: Municipality of Celje / Mestna Občina Celje; Projekt management/Photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB.