With the announcement of the 2026 Best Lifelong Learning Story on 15 June at the You Can Be an Inspiration! event in Šmarje pri Jelšah, this year’s SIAE Awards came to a close. From among the twelve recipients – bringing the total number to 262 – the public selected Mario Žnidaršič from Stari trg pri Ložu as the 2026 Best Lifelong Learning Story, with almost 10,000 votes cast online.
Mario is a self-taught digital enthusiast who became an indispensable local reporter after retirement. Through his photographs and posts on social media and in the local newspaper Obrh, he keeps his community informed about local events. His column Mario Reports captures the pulse of the community and shares it with both local residents and those who have moved away. In doing so, he preserves the local memory of the Lož Valley and strengthens its identity. His curiosity and dedication to voluntary work keep him actively involved in local life and give him a strong sense of fulfilment. He has no shortage of purpose or energy.
Being named the 2026 Best Lifelong Learning Story means a great deal to me. It is both recognition and confirmation that each of us can contribute something to our community. What matters is that we trust ourselves, believe in our abilities and remain hardworking, persistent and diligent.
The true winners of the project are all the SIAE Award recipients, together with the communities they enrich. They form a colourful mosaic of a learning Slovenia, highlighting the transformative power of learning and its ability to bring people together at every stage and in every area of life. At the same time, their stories offer a wealth of concrete, practical responses from individuals and groups to some of the key challenges facing society today. While the stories naturally highlight individual and collective learning achievements, the outcomes of these activities are always relevant to society. They address issues such as population ageing and longevity. Many recipients demonstrate that people can continue to learn, create and contribute to their communities at every stage of life. They are living proof that age is no barrier to personal development and show that lifelong learning has become a necessity in today’s world.
Learning is no longer simply a matter of personal choice. It can help address labour shortages and meet the need for new knowledge and skills. The recipients also show that learning is not merely about acquiring knowledge, but about developing dialogue, critical thinking and an understanding of difference. Many build bridges between people and communities. They help sustain local communities and preserve traditional knowledge, crafts and local stories, passing them on to younger generations and thereby strengthening cultural heritage and identity. Their life stories show how individuals and organised groups can adapt to social change and global crises and how active citizenship and personal initiative can influence the wider community and contribute to the common good.
People are the key resource of every community – and indeed of every country and the planet. If, as a society, we can develop our potential and knowledge, foster creativity, resilience and empathy, encourage cooperation and nurture a willingness to learn throughout life, we may be able to move beyond the pessimism that often dominates media narratives and the tendency of those narratives to amplify the tensions of life today. We see the SIAE Awards as a form of therapy for society through the positive stories of their recipients. We can only hope that these stories will convince others that personal and social difficulties can be overcome through learning, active engagement and cooperation.
Darijan Novak (darijan.novak@acs.si), SIAE