Oikos is a Global provider of Creative Solutions for Sustainable Development.
Who we are?
Oikos is a a consulting company based in Slovenia with subsidiaries in Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia. Our clients range from national and regional governments, municipalities, companies, international financial institutions and nongovernmental organizations.
Currently we are involved in projects in Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Austria and Serbia. Our favorite projects are demanding ones, almost »impossible« ones with new topics requiring a creative approach and methods to be used.
We believe regional growth comes from intelligent utilization of natural resources mixing them with regional potentials in knowledge and social networks.
Recent projects:
Capacity building project for the regional development in Macedonia
Technical assistance project was started by the GIZ RED for the Ministry of Local self-government of the Republic of Macedonia in order to prepare base line study for the future establishment of Regional Business Centers in the 8 planning regions in Macedonia. The policy paper was focused to understand needs of SMEs and current situation in Macedonian regions and suggest possible solution for the future. Furthermore the project offered support in moderating the 2nd training module of the Capacity building sequence for the representatives from institutions on the national level (MLS – Departments for RD and EU and Biro for the regional development) and helped organizing a study tour for the representatives from the regional level in order to visit case projects in Slovenia.
Prefeasibility study of the Lopar tourist infrastructure project
Lopar is a well-known tourist destination in Croatia based on Island of Rab. In order to understand future tourism development in Lopar the tourist association of Lopar and municipality designed some project ideas for future implementation. Prefeasibility study was used to understand costs and benefits of each project proposed and to develop understanding of impact of implementing different projects. The study suggested basic necessary strategy of destination management in coordination with city of Rab and developed three possible investment possibilities which will need to mature and be decided in further processes.
Healthy place for healthy investments
Municipalities of Sokobanja, Knjaževac and Aleksinac are designing thier proposal for the future investments for the development of tourism in this area of Serbia. Cooperation with possible investors will help the municipality to design appropriate framework for long and medium term development and cooperation with investors. The specific objectives of the project are to; clearly understand the possible economic and physical opportunities of the municipality for the long term development of the spa tourism in the area of concern and to develop a legal/ environmental/physical/social framework for the future investments in private and public infrastructure. Project is financed from the Exchange 3 financial instrument.
Support in preparation and implementation of regional development projects in Pomurje (project is financed from the Government Office for local self-management and regional policy and Project office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in Pomurje region, to be finished in May 2012).
The project is based on three major results: i. Capacity building for regional development, ii. Project Preparation Facility and evaluation system for the future development of the region and iii. Preparation of operational programs and coordination of these programs with the Eastern Cohesion region. The projects is planned to be implemented in 18 months. Among others the project will also contribute to the regional Human resources management and organization of the future regional development network based on upcoming Law on Balanced regional development besides these activities a lot of work will be done in order to prepare systematic overview of the region and its development potential and linking this with financial possibilities from private, European and national funds.
Ongoing monitoring and the Mid-term evaluation of the European regional development fund OP, European social fund OP and Cohesion fund OP and for the Cross border cooperation programs in Slovenia for the period 2007-2013 (project financed from the Government Office for local self-management and regional policy and Project office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia in Pomurje region, to be finished in 2013).
In order to evaluate the implementation of the three structural funds in Slovenia (European regional development fund, European social fund and Cohesion fund) and for the Cross border cooperation programs the Government Office for local self-management and regional policy issued the framework contracts for these evaluations. Oikos developed system of evaluations for the funds we are to be evaluating and delivered first evaluation. The evaluation of the Operational program for environmental and traffic infrastructure was based on evaluation of feasibility of each (120) projects listed in the OP ETI and of the additional projects proposed from the intermediate bodies for financing under the OP ETI. Evaluation of relevance of each investment strategy of the European regional development fund and Cohesion fund was done total allocation from these funds. Relevance evaluation considered traffic and environmental infrastructure investments evaluation their relevance for the needs of Slovenia and the relevance for the efficiency and sustainability of the operations.
Ongoing monitoring of the National strategic plan for rural development 2007-2013 and the Mid-term evaluation of the Rural development plan 2007-2013 (project is financed by the Ministry for agriculture, forestry and food, to be finished by May 2013)
Activities of ongoing strategic monitoring of the National strategic plan for rural development 2007-2013 and the mid-term evaluation of the Rural development plan 2007-2013 ministry are issued under this contract which will develop evaluation methods and approach in first stages and later monitor the implementation of these two programs in Slovenia. In order to implement the project Oikos has started developing the whole evaluation concept and plan for the evaluation, this goes from tools and evaluation methods for evaluation questions answering. The system also involved macro modelling of Slovenia and input output table assessment for the investment from the European agricultural fund for rural development. This will be the base for the evaluation report based on several methodological requirement form the European commission. Evaluation also analysed monitoring system, financial aspect of the program implementation, quality of life and environmental issues of the programme.
Strategic Environmental Assessment of the “3rd Development Axis” – the new road connection of North to South of Slovenia (project is financed by the Slovenian Road Agency, to be finished by end 2013)
SEA is being conducted for the Master Plan for construction of a section of new road that is going to connect Northeast of Slovenia with Southeast, i.e. indirect connection of the Eastern Slovenia between the town of Celje and Croatian border. The SEA process is an important part of the assessment of several scenarios, i.e. options of new road connection. While scenario assessment is based on technical, economic and transport issues, the SEA process will provide assessment of environmental issues and suggest which of the alternatives is more acceptable from the environmental point of view. An important part will be assessment of impacts on Natura 2000 Sites and Protected areas.
Agricultural land study (project is financed by the City Municipality of Koper, to be finished by June 2012)
In order to plan future development of the city municipality of Koper and municipality with it, the management of the planning department of municipality developed a broad study on land use and agricultural potential of Koper. The study compared several other municipalities in Slovenia in order to understand situation in this coastal land and in order to understand possible strategic decisions of the municipality in long term spatial plan.
Preparation of the Management Plans for Kozara National Park, Janj and Lom Protected Areas and preparation of an update of the Management Plan for Sutjeska National Park (project is financed by World Bank and Ministry of Phisical Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology of Republika Srpska, project is to be finished by end 2011)
The objectives of this project are to develop a new management plan for “Kozara” National Park (NPK) and update the existing management plan for “Sutjeska” National Park (NPS), which will both include also feasibility assessment of proposed expansion of the two national parks. In addition, management plans for the Janj and Lom Forest Reserves will be revised, the potential for their expansion will be assessed and the setup of the protection service (or a network) will be proposed. The project is not aiming just at Management Plans as such, but rather at ensuring a process of consistent and efficient management of the 4 protected areas that will also strengthen the institutional capacity and link local development with nature conservation activities.
Preparation of Study for Valorization of Natural Values of Belasica Mountain. (project is financed by the UNDP Macedonia and is to be finished by the end March 2011)
A baseline assessment of biodiversity, natural-geographic features and natural heritage of Belasica mountain was performed. Use of natural resources, current nature conservation efforts and stakeholders capacity were assessed through fieldwork, interviews and workshops, followed by valorisation of natural values and potential for protection. Protection status, boundaries and zones of the proposed Protected Area were determined according to the IUCN, EMERALD and Natura 2000 criteria.