28 October, 2022
City Municipality Ljubljana

For the second year in a row, the Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., has organised the #misstrees initiative to draw attention to environmental problems and to promote environmental awareness.
This year, the initiative was implemented in the Municipality of Ljubljana. This time, we were not looking for the tree with the most lush canopy or the tree that gilds the most beautifully in autumn. We were looking for trees that have survived. Trees trapped in areas of gentrification, trees that are digging their roots under degraded areas, trees that have a home in areas that will soon be built over with new buildings and whose days are numbered. With the #misstrees initiative, we want to draw attention to the impact that trees have on the environment, society and the individual. This year’s initiative is linked to an international project funded by Erasmus+: Strengthening the environmental competences of youth workers.

From all the proposals received, the experts selected a tree to become #misstrees 2022, a tree that will be the ambassador of all trees that have been destroyed in the process of land development.

Miss Tree is the big spider tree (Ailanthus altissima), which lives in front of the entrance to the Rog Factory. We congratulate the tree and wish it many, many more years.

Thank you for all the suggestions and photos you have sent us! This year, the winner was chosen by a 3-member jury consisting of Damjan Vinko (biologist), Miha Blažič (social activist) and Katarina Apostolides (mushroom determinist and nature enthusiast).

Miha Blažič, a member of the expert jury that selected this year’s winner, wrote in his justification: “Beautiful tree on the Trubar Street found itself in a unenviable position… It’s caught between two different phases of gentrification of Ljubljana: on one side it has municipality sponsored construction site of elite cultural institution Center Rog; on the other side there is a construction site of newly developing luxurious apartments of the Agency Pristop, whose price is driven up by the view on the Rog Center. This tree has seen a lot and it proudly insists on the territory, occupied by the rich, and remins the last witness of the more egalitarian times.”

The Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., is supported by: