Student Voice: Ljubljana Fellows Hearth Dinner

By Neža Kokot, Ecological Belonging Innovation Fellow from University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

I’m Neža, one of the two Ljubljana’s Fellow Ambassadors, who are in charge of creating a strong connection between the Ecological Belonging initiative and the Ecological Belonging Innovation fellows’ cohort. We are also in charge of organizing meetings and coordinating the group’s work.

HEARTH DINNER: AFTR, LJUBLJANA

In a small alleyway near the heart of the town, the first late-night restaurant in Ljubljana has opened. As the name “AFTR” tells us, it is intended to be a place for people after hours, after parties, so the kitchen is open until 12pm. Its owner Jorg Zupan, the youngest person to be awarded a Michelin star in Slovenia, has decided to make a restaurant that is not fine-dining nor a regular restaurant. Instead its concept is centered on the act of  sharing food – no appetizers or main dishes, just plates divided into hot, cold and desserts – idea being to fill the table with different kinds of plates, so that the whole group can share food. The table arrangement reflects the idea of meeting people for the first time and already feeling like you know each other for a long time by the time you finish the meal. Intertwined with the carefully selected music by Tomaž Pezdirc, the setting changes throughout the day. At first calm, but throughout its opening hours into the late night, the music gets more intense as the vibe changes from the typical restaurant to more of a wine and a snack-bar.

So how could we, the Fellows from the University of Ljubljana, turn down such an offer for a Hearth Dinner meant to bring people together and share their interests. We were lucky enough that we got to spend a couple of hours in this beautiful place, getting to know each other, exchanging ideas and getting to enjoy new Slovenian recipes. As a group, we decided to create an Instagram page to share our journey of discovering the meaning of Ecological Belonging, through posts of presenting our own work as well as encouraging people to participate in others events. We thought that Instagram was the best place to share our ideas across efficiently and quickly. We are also playing around with other ideas, like hosting a tea party, collecting trash together, planting trees, helping local beekeepers, and many more. As our ideas continue to develop, you will be able to find more information about our upcoming Instagram page in the future posts.

Now for a more personal side of the blog. I wanted to write this blog because I feel like it is important to share our story and journey of the creation of this dinner. At the same time, I hope that this will somehow inspire you to go have your own hearth dinner. Ljubljana’s team was the first one to carry out a Hearth Dinner, so it was a little bit of a challenge. We decided to have our dinner at the AFTR restaurant because of its unique features described earlier in this piece. We believed it was important to have the dinner in a place that could connect us more as a group and to start our journey of discovery of what Ecological Belonging meant to us.

As one of the organizers of the dinner itself, there was always a feeling of unease present, especially during its preparation. Trying to find an appropriate place, at an appropriate time with enough space to accommodate all of us was difficult. But with some help, we managed to find a strong solution. We still felt nervous during the dinner itself, because we did not know if we should follow the schedule we designed, but we later discovered that it was better to just go with the flow. In this way, we got more time to introduce ourselves beyond just small talk, but to find points that connected us all in different ways. So, in the end, the dinner became more relaxed, and we could enjoy it to the fullest without worrying. At last I think the dinner was a success, and I would love to enjoy more of them in the future.

Here you can also read a couple of opinions from the other fellows.

Tjaša, one of the fellows wrote: “The Hearth Dinner is an amazing opportunity for people to get together, enjoy some food and wine and talk without being disturbed from the outside world. We had a very nice evening and a great chance to get to know each other better.”

Astrid, a fellows' coordinator wrote: “The Hearth Dinner was a great opportunity to sit down around some good food and get to know the people around us on a deeper level by engaging in intentional conversation as well as sharing our views on a topic we care about. It made me feel more connected to the people and places around me along with giving me inspiration to explore the connection in different ways.”