17 Sep Case Study: Idrija – From Mining Town to Industrial Hub to Smart City

Idrija is located in the south-eastern foothills of the Alps in Slovenia and has a population of 12,000 inhabitants. It is known for its industrial heritage as one of the main mercury mining locations globally and has a UNESCO heritage designation. But mining stopped in 1995. The city however transformed successfully into an industrial production complex with preparation already starting in 1977. Today, two homegrown multi-national engineering companies in the field of automotive technologies, Kolektor and Hidria, have their international headquarters in Idrija.

For the future the city leadership share a vision for the city to be environmentally-friendly, socially just and high-tech developed. In this regard, the city is a partner in an international consortium to develop a smart energy grid that will control and manage the sourcing and distribution of electricity to and from connected buildings, energy networks and major municipal infrastructures in the city.

This case study was written in September 2017 by Wessel Badenhorst, Tatjana Dizdarevič and Tina Lisac.