Institut Discimus Lab Tržec

‘Once upon a time in Slovenia’ –
How do you actually make shoes? What do you do when your shoe pinches? What tools do you use? And who (still) knows how to use them?
The shoemaking trade has also become a case for history and museums. So it’s a good thing that the Museum of Contemporary History in Celje (www.muzej-nz-ce.si) has a craftsmen’s street where you can also visit a historic cobbler’s shop.
Sebastjan Weber, curator, explains to student journalists Franja Kos, Zoja Štancar and Leon Romih on 29 January 2025 the story behind the exhibition, the idea behind it, its aims, where the exhibits come from and which workshops in the museum make the craft visible. In February, research will follow in the studio of a Slovenian shoemaker who produces high-quality shoes ‘hand made only’ with highly qualified employees and traditional tools.
A further project as part of the ‘Jugend schreibt’ programme with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ: consistently at authentic ‘learning locations’ with authentic conversations, careful research, multilingual and with added journalistic value. Educational work with immediately recognisable relevance. Under the patronage of the Municipality of Celje / Mestna Občina Celje; coordination/photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB.

European champion, world champion and Olympic champion all at the same time:
Tina Trstenjak, the most successful Slovenian judoka and one of the most successful in the world.
A meeting at Marjan Fabjan’s judo centre in Celje/Lopata, with student journalists Anja Oblak and Zoja Štancar and an interview:
On the history and success of judo in Celje; how to start a successful judo career; the sacrifice and joy involved; how the desire for an Olympic victory motivates and how different a gold and a silver medal feel; what role opponents play; how to find your way back to everyday life after a world career, and what role a sports museum, a chapel, a red double-decker bus and a pinball machine from London play in all of this.
Project work as part of ‘Jugend schreibt’ with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ, under the patronage of the Municipality of Celje / Mestna Občina Celje.

Coordination/photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB.

Jewish life in Slovenia –
In-depth research at the Mini Teater/Jewish Cultural Centre Ljubljana:
with Robert Waltl, the founder and director, a detailed guided tour also in the synagogue, with an insight into the history of Jewish culture in Slovenia in the past and today, a visit to the exhibition on Renia Spiegel, the ‘Polish Anne Frank’, organised by the Polish Embassy in Ljubljana, with participation in a ‘Virtual guided tour of Auschwitz’, together with international ambassadors and diplomats, and with detailed discussions about the support of the German Embassy in Ljubljana, the cooperation with the two-time Oscar winner Branko Lustig, and about ‘Stolpersteine’, which will be cleaned by international diplomats on 27 January 2025. January 2025 by international diplomats.
A project day as part of the “Jugend schreibt” (Youth Writes) programme with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ. With student journalists Urh Štrakl and Blaž Klinar, under the patronage of the Municipality of Celje / Mestna Občina Celje, coordination/photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB, Dr Gerald Hühner and Dr Monica Hühner.

‘’Youth writes‘’ about the Young Researchers programme in Slovenia –
The Slovenian ‘Jugend schreibt’ (Youth writes) team of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ has been joined by six schoolgirls from Gimnazija Koper for the 2025 project year.
Their practical journalistic work began on 21 January 2025 with two interviews at the Centre for Science and Research ZRS Koper. They dealt with the history, tasks and goals of the ZRS, the concept of the ‘Young Researchers’ programme, research priorities and international cooperation – especially in Germany.
One focus of the interview relates to the early integration of children and young people in questions of scientific research, also through support and contributions to the magazine ‘SVETILNIK’ – ‘Cultural Lighthouse’, which is aimed at primary school children and to which the ZRS Koper contributes as one of nine institutions in the Slovenian coastal region.
The team of student journalists Vika Viktorija Starman, Emma Pančevska Dakič, Mana Rampini Florjančič, which also includes Gaja Kejžar, spoke at length with the director of the ZRS, Rado Pišot, and the young researcher Manca Peskar, who is preparing a doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin/TU in parallel to her work in Koper, and reported in detail about her life and research in Slovenia and Germany.

Coordination/Photos: INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB Lab

Still under the motto ‘Discover Slovenia in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ, the opening ceremony of the exhibition with Slovenian contributions to the project “Youth writes” (2020 – 2024) took place on 20 January 2025 at the ZRS Koper. The exhibition was officially opened by the Director of the ZRS, Rado Pišot, the Head of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Lenart Skof, and the German Ambassador to Slovenia, Sylvia Groneick.
Among the guests: Louis Mourier, Head of the Cultural Department of the German Embassy, Gregor Deleja, Director of MO Celje, the author Lila Prap, the cartoonist Dalibor Zupančič, the former director of the STO in Vienna, Jan Cigelečki, as well as school headmasters, teachers and students from project schools in Celje and Koper. A detailed introduction to the project, its history and results will be given by the coordinating INSTITUTE DISCIMUS LAB, Dr Gerald Hühner & Dr. Monica Hühner, together with former and current project participants Sara Gutschi, Tjaša Pavc, Dina Skamagkouli, Urh Štrakl and Ema Holešek.
The ‘Team Slovenia’ with the working groups from Celje and Videm pri Ptuju was joined for the new project year by six pupils from Gymnasium Koper, so that the project is now also dedicated to topics from the region on the Slovenian Adriatic coast.
We would like to thank the ZRS Koper, its project team, the Slovenian Tourist Board/STO and all those involved for making the exhibition possible and for their overall support of the project. Special thanks to the Municipality of Celje / Mestna Občina Celje for making it possible for the project group from Celje to participate in the event in Koper.