Mateja Softić

is the co-founder and co-creator at Iskriva, Institute for Development of Local Potentials which focuses on balanced regional development based on sustainable use of natural and cultural heritage for the benefit of local communities. Mateja is specialised in developing and leading bottom-up multi-stakeholder regional development processes. She is part of the team leading the development of the responsible destination Amazon of Europe in the world’s only 5-country UNESCO biosphere reserve Mura-Drava-Danube, a living lab for a new approach to sustainable development. Iskriva recently became an official partner of the New European Bauhaus, while Iskriva’s project of regeneration of an industrial site in Slovenia was among the winners of the 2022 New European Bauhaus Small Local Initiatives.

Mateja studied at University of Ljubljana and University of Bayreuth, and is an alumna of the Robert Bosch Foundation. With over 20 years of experience in international cooperation, she has led both large international projects with focus on sustainable development, as well as smaller bottom-up civic society initiatives.