We want to live and work in a pleasant and stimulating environment.
The City of Acrobats is not just an industry. The City of Acrobats is a wider environment that is pleasant to live in - the living environment, recreation areas, events, culture and art, green spaces, etc. play an important role in this.
Jure Knez has therefore set up a charitable foundation within the family for two purposes:
- Development of Zasavje
- Promoting entrepreneurship in Slovenia
Suggest a projectwhich the Foundation can support
Fill in the form below to register your project.
City of Acrobats Foundation projects
Mosaic of entrepreneurship
An open educational online programme for learning entrepreneurship and product development, awarded the EEPA European Award for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship. More >>
Events Stories of Acrobats with Uroš Slako
In cooperation with POP-TV, we organise monthly events (live and podcasts), where we showcase the best practices of the most successful Slovenian entrepreneurs, and also give startups the opportunity to be featured. More >>
Slovenia's 5 core values
Promoting the right values; a project already supported by the President of the State, Dr Nataša Pirc Musar, and the Council of State, chaired by Mark Lotrič. More >>
Spur
New path (partly ferrata) to Čemšeniška Planina. The project continues with initiatives for the construction of a tower on Čemšeniška planina. More >>
Tales of the Acrobats
Recording the stories of Akrobats, which are an encouragement to young creators and an initial marketing support for start-ups. More >>
Museum of the City of Acrobats
In preparation museum of our heritage >>, the Museum of Measuring Technology and the Museum of Modern Slovenian Innovations.
City of Acrobats website and content
Yes, this is done within the Foundation. So you can give us your suggestions and opinions.
Why City of Acrobats Foundation?
Jure Knez, founder of the Foundation:
The Dewesoft 100-year plan is mentioned several times. I cannot predict the future, but I know one thing for sure: in 100 years I will no longer be here. It is a different story with the company. If we get it right, in 100 years' time it can be even stronger, even more successful and even bigger.
Business ownership is an important part of this 100-year plan. After much calculation, playing out different scenarios and studying best practices around the world, I have come to the conclusion that, in addition to employee ownership and family ownership there is another model of stable ownership that represents patient capital - that is Foundation. The Foundation is non-profit-making by nature, has no owner, but has a noble mission and rules set by the founder.
Examples of foundation ownership include Maersk, Lindt, Zeiss, Novo nordisk, Intesa Sanpaolo, Bosch ... It is no coincidence that Bosch is still so successful and still growing after 140 years. It is worth summarising these good practices.
That's why the family holding company decided to set up a foundation with two purposes - the development of Zasavje and the development of entrepreneurship in Slovenia.
Why Zasavje? I probably don't need to explain this. This is our home. Home is worth respecting and developing.
Why entrepreneurship? If we want to create a welcoming environment where we all get ahead, we need a strong economy. Slovenia is a young country that is still learning, so it is worth investing in developing an entrepreneurial mindset faster and in businesses to make the economy stronger. We want to live and create in a country where Slovenian capital is valued and work is a respected value. This is also the basis for a strong social fabric.
Dewesoft and the Foundation
Dewesoft has been donating part of its income to associations, societies and projects in Zasavje for many years. This will continue to be the case.
The Foundation also supports projects where it is not only a financial donation, but also assistance with implementation. It also implements its own projects that follow its mission.
The Foundation will not expose itself publicly, will not sign up to the projects it supports, and will have no marketing or PR. The Foundation, by its very strong rules, has to make sure that it only follows its mission - to support the development of Zasavje and the development of entrepreneurship. Slovenia.
Head of the City of Acrobats Foundation
The Foundation is run by Petra Škarja, a writer who has also written the book Acrobats and thus created this expression that has honestly got into our blood. Petra is the owner 5KA Publishers.
Since her work has always been a great contribution to the development of entrepreneurship among young people (her first book was What They Didn't Teach Us in Schools - Entrepreneurship) and to the building of national identity (her publishing house publishes only Slovenian authors, only Slovenian stories, and encourages young people to write beautiful Slovenian through competitions), her values and orientations are perfectly aligned with the values and orientations of the Foundation.
How to proceed? Only with your help ...
We start with the construction of the City of Acrobats. We need to make sure it doesn't just become a few walls and financially successful businesses. It has to be more than that, it has to be an environment where it's fun to create and live, where you have endless possibilities and offers for a varied and activity-rich life. This is where the Foundation plays an important role.
For this vision to be fully realised, we need to ensure the stability and success of Dewesoft, the involvement of the whole of Zasavje, the right values, hard work and kameratšaft (camaraderie). We've already created some amazing things. We have achieved more, than we dared to think. You have proved that together we have the power to create something as crazy as the City of Acrobats, which will live, develop and make Zasavje one of the most successful and desirable regions in Slovenia. and beyond.
What story will we tell?
If we are now telling the story of how the once-rich Zasavje started to close down its factories and fall into widespread apathy when the transition to the new state took place, I would like to see the story 50 years from now: 'For a short time, Zasavje was a place of emigration and apathy. But it quickly picked itself up and created an environment that is a symbol of creativity, innovation, technological progress and - most importantly - a place to live in. Today, it is renowned as Europe's most advanced centre for the development of innovation, as the "It is the world's leading innovation centre.