Upon the conclusion of the research project (June 18–20, 2014), the project group organised and carried out a series of events aimed at presenting the project results to a wider public. The events included the organization of an international academic conference and an international colloquium, an exhibition and a presentation of books: • On June 18, the opening of the exhibition titled "Yesterday: Today: Tomorrow: Slovenian Societies in the Yugoslav Area" took place at the Janez Trdina Cultural Centre in Novo mesto, accompanied by a rich cultural-artistic programme and greeted by some prominent guests (including the mayor). • On June 19, an international colloquium on the activities of the Slovenian societies in the Yugoslav area and their cooperation with Slovenia was held in the Atrium of ZRC SAZU in Ljubljana. 58 participants registered upon their arrival; including the honorary speakers (such as the Ljubljana Mayor), the sponsors and the rest of the audience, the event was attended by approximately 70 people. Representatives of Slovenian societies and their associations presented their papers in the morning session. In the afternoon, representatives of members of other "former Yugoslav" nations in Slovenia presented their papers. Vivid discussion on best practices concerning the inclusion of youth, international cooperation and collaboration with economic enterprises in which a large part of the audience was involved followed both sessions. • This was followed by a presentation of two books: "Slovenian Immigration and Society Activities across the Former Yugoslavia" (the main result of this project), and an anthology of contemporary minority and immigrant literature in Slovenia. The former was donated to all the 44 Slovenian societies in the countries of former Yugoslavia (two copies for each), and the sales profit of the latter was donated to the victims of the floods in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. • On June 20, Janja Žitnik Serafin organised an international academic conference entitled "Labour migrations and immigrant/minority cultural production in the countries of the former Yugoslavia". Researchers from five countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia) presented their papers; the audience though included participants from other countries as well. The conference faced, for the first time, research findings on labour migrations and cultural production of Slovenians in other countries of ex-Yugoslavia with research findings on the Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks, Macedonians, Montenegrins and Kosovo-Albanians in Slovenia. Co-organized by the DRPD Novo mesto, the events were completed by an excursion organized for the representatives of Slovenian societies from the Yugoslav area, and by their participation in the "Week of Cultures" in Novo mesto.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
The academic monograph titled Priseljevanje in društveno delovanje Slovencev v drugih delih jugoslovanskega prostora: zgodovinski oris in sedanjost (Slovenian Immigration and Society Activities across the Former Yugoslavia, Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU, 2014, 264 p.) is one of the main scientific results of the project group. Namely, this book is the first comprehensive academic work on the immigration of Slovenians to other parts of the so-called "Yugoslav area", and on their organization. The book is divided into three chronological parts: Historical Outline, Between the Past and the Present, and The Current Situation. In this book, the data and findings of previous partial research are revised, upgraded and completed by the results of the authors' own archival and statistical research as well as extensive fieldwork (questionnaire, half-structured interviews, meetings/roundtables, informal interviews, observation with participation), carried out in the framework of this research project. With the recommendations prepared by the authors of the third part of the book, this work is also relevant for the designing of future national strategies concerning the relations between the Republic of Slovenia and Slovenians abroad.
C.02 Editorial board of a national monograph
COBISS.SI-ID: 273457920On 10 December, 2013 the project group prepared and carried out (together with their co-coorganizers an international colloquium entitled "Croatian Societies in Slovenia and Slovenian Societies in Croatia: The Inclusion of Youth and Future Prospects". The event consisted of two roundtables: "Society Activities: Croatian Societies in Slovenia and Slovenian Societies in Croatia", and "The Inclusion of Youth and Future Prospects". Six representatives of immigrant/minority societies presented their papers at each roundtable (twelve altogether), which was followed by a discussion aimed at identifying cases of good practices useful for future strategies. The meeting was accompanied by the exhibition "Women Labour Migration in the First Half of the 20th Century in Istria: The Šavrinke in the Past and Today", along with the opening lecture "On the Šavrinke and the Use of the Biographic Method in the Women Labour Migration Research", held by the authors of the exhibition. In 2014, this exhibition was also set up in Rijeka, Croatia (Slovenian Society "Bazovica), in Trieste, Italy, and in Postojna.
F.27 Contribution to preserving/protecting natural and cultural heritage
Particularly in recent times, migrations from the North to the South are mostly limited to temporary migrations, rarely permanent, and almost without exception to the labour migrations, which is also the case of the Slovenes going south, i.e. migrating to the territory of former Yugoslavia. Actually, we speak about the migrations with a tradition dating back at least to the 19th century. These migrations have been considered as internal for a long time – all up to the end of the 20th century – and the migrants who have settled permanently, integrated themselves quite easily into the receiving society. For these migrants, the new society was not considered as foreign, so it is very interesting to observe the particular need of the communities with larger number of members to organise themselves into the “emigrant” societies. It is also interesting to see, when and why this need arose. It appears that the societies were originally more or less intended for cultural exchange between narrower and broader homeland, as they are nowadays, after the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, to maintain Slovene national and cultural identity, and of course to strengthen the connections with the home country. AEMI – Association of European Migration Institutions, a network of 52 research institutions, archives and museums in the field of migration studies, organises annual academic conferences that represent the central opportunity for international exchange of research results in this field in Europe. The paper was published in AEMI journal, ISSN 1729-3561, 2013, vol. 11, pp. 48-57 [COBISS.SI-ID 36128045].
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 34710573The researchers presented their main fieldwork findings to representatives of government offices, NGO’s and other interested subjects connected with labour migrations and the area under consideration. The fieldwork carried out in the framework of the project “Slovenian labour migration to the countries of former Yugoslavia: from settlers to trans-migrants” included a survey, half-structured interviews, informative meetings/sessions and observation with participation. The focus of the presentation was on CONCRETE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICE FOR SLOVENIANS ABROAD aimed at more vital cooperation between Slovenian ethnic societies and Slovenian companies and economic enterprises abroad as well as at a more efficient promotion of Slovenian language and culture in the discussed area.
F.18 Transfer of new know-how to direct users (seminars, fora, conferences)