On Saturday, February 27, the Association for Rural Development Laz held an annual meeting of the association, to which all members and their sympathizers were invited. With their presence, the deputy mayor of the municipality of Litija, Mrs. Lijana Lovše, president of KO Jablaniška dolina, Mrs. Marija Grabnar and the president of PGD Breg-Tenetiše, Mr. Primož Drnovšek.
In 2015, 119 members were members of the association, which is 16 more members than in 2014. The association was Katja Strmljan is employed through the public works program, In the outskirts of the European Docpie project, Mojca Hauptman for eight months.
The report on the work – activities and projects carried out in 2015 was given by the president Gabrijela Babič. 2015 was again very busy. With their work and activity, both volunteers – members of the association, and employees through public works and the European DOCPIE project, with which the association had the most work, proved themselves. As in previous years, the LAZ association operated at the local, regional and national level. The main areas of activity were the acquisition and transfer of knowledge, socializing and awareness, development of tourism, information, management of the association.
From March to the end of October 2015, the association, as a leading partner, was very active in the DOCPIE project (Democratic responsibility and civic participation in Europe). The project connected 15 partners from 13 European countries. In addition to the introductory meeting in Hungary, four major events followed (in Germany, Greece, Slovenia, and Italy) which were attended by members of the LAZ association (from 7 to 48 participants). The members of the association performed very well as the organizers of the partner meeting in Ljubljana and as hosts at the international evening in Pustov mlin. The intermediate phases were difficult, but the project was successfully completed within the scheduled time. The last transfer of funds by Brussels was carried out in February 2016.
In addition to the existing events (night hike to Gradišče, hike along the Jablaniška path, Day of Strawberries and Asparagus, Štefan’s meeting) the rest of the event was already completed with two new ones, the summer museum night on Breg pri Litija and the goodness of the Jablaniška valley.
The report on the operation of ŽPZ Laz in 2015 was given by last year’s president of the ŽPZ, Katarina Možina. The progress of the singers is that the membership has increased by 3 singers. During the year, the singers had as many as nine performances, the ejection of these two abroad.
The report on activities in the field of education was given by Mojca Hauptman. Over the year 2105, four lectures and two tours of good practices were held, which were attended by between 12 and 45 people. Due to the reduction of the co-financing of the association’s work program by the municipalities of Šmartno pri Litija and Litija, the association was forced to cover part of the costs of the lectures by the participants.
2016 is an election year for the association. Until now, the president Gabrijela Babič, who led the association extremely successfully since its foundation itself, wanted to hand over the management of the association to other hands. So she was for NEW Presidents Unanimously elected Mojca Hauptman, Tatjana Dolšek is the vice-president. Both have been members of the association since its foundation. The new president said that she took over the association in very good condition, as the LAZ association is one of the more successful associations in the municipality of Šmartno pri Litija and beyond. But he is aware of the expectations of the members and the municipality. The new management of the association (seven member boards of directors) will do their best to implement the program, which was approved by the general assembly for 2016.
The General Assembly confirmed also the proposal of the board of directors of the LAZ association that the current member and long-time president of the association, Gabrijela Babič, award the title of honorary member of the association.