In the last four decades, Slovenj Gradec established itself far beyond the borders of the homeland as a place of peace and international understanding, by organising particular events and exhibitions in the Gallery of Fine Arts under the auspices of the United Nations. The award of these efforts is a document into which, in 1989, the Secretary of the World Organisation Perez de Cuellar listed Slovenj Gradec among the honorary titleholders Messenger of Peace.
The idea of peace messenger cities is promoting the idea of less violent and more humane world, the world in which tolerance and mutual respect predominate in order to meet the requirements for a better understanding of peace based on justice and human rights.
IAPMC is an abbreviation for the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities. The movement began under the auspices of the United Nations in 1986, which was declared the year of peace. International Association of Peace Messenger Cities was officially founded in 1988 and manages the program in accordance with the Statute of the Association and membership criteria. Representatives of the member cities meet twice a year to exchange programmes, ideas and experience with other cities around the world.
Slovenj Gradec was also integrated into this association in 1989 and has played an active and visible role since the beginning. Today we are honoured that the mayor of Slovenj Gradec is General Secretary of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities.

The participation in the project of the European Cultural Capital 2012 was without any doubt the most important and most ambitious project in the recent history of the town Slovenj Gradec and has represented a particular challenge. However, at the same time the participation also represented a confirmation of more decade-long creative efforts in the field of culture, art and peace.
The vision of the European Capital Maribor and its partner cities was due primarily to the intention to ensure that the entire Northeast cohesion region would experience an acceleration of development in all fields. In addition to Maribor, Slovenj Gradec and Velenje the cities, such as Ptuj, Novo mesto and Murska Sobota also participated in the project.
In the Municipality of Slovenj Gradec, 25 projects together with multiple parallel activities and host events took place in 2012 under the auspices of the European Capital of Culture. There were more than 100 events all together. Throughout the year 2012, the city was visited by almost 52,000 visitors and more than 3000 performers performed in the same year.

Slovenj Gradec received GOLD AWARD in 2015 in the European competition of the regulation of towns and villages Entente Florale, which has been organized by the Association Entente Florale Europe since 1975.

The movement and its basic motto originate from the wishes and aspirations of the inhabitants of European towns and cities that wanted to create new, higher quality of living for their fellow citizens and tourists.
Slovenia was included in the movement in 1998, when two towns internationally competed for the first time. Slovenj Gradec received the silver medal in 2003, when it participated in the assessment for the first time.

Slovenj Gradec je v letu 2016 prejel SREBRNO PRIZNANJE znamke kakovosti Slovenia Green Destination (Slovenija - Zelena destinacija). Ob tem se je kot turistična destinacija uvrstil tudi na seznam TOP 100 najbolj trajnostnih destinacij na svetu. 

Javna agencija SPIRIT Slovenija je Zeleno shemo slovenskega turizma razvila kot celovito zasnovan sistem za pospeševanje razvoja trajnostnega turizma v Sloveniji na vseh treh stebrih trajnostnega razvoja (okoljskem, družbenem in ekonomskem) in je namenjena tako destinacijam kot tudi posameznim turističnim ponudnikom. Krovna znamka SLOVENIA GREEN (Zelena Slovenija) združuje vsa prizadevanja za trajnostni razvoj, njeni osnovni nameni pa so varovanje okolja, ohranjanje lokalnih posebnosti in večja kakovost življenja ter omogočanje odličnih doživetij za turiste.

Slovenj Gradec je v letu 2019 po ponovnem pregledu in ovrednotenju kriterijev prejel BRONASTO PRIZNANJE znamke kakovosti Slovenia Green Destination (Slovenija - Zelena destinacija). 

Zelena shema slovenskega turizma (ZSST) je nacionalni program in certifikacijska shema, ki pod krovno znamko SLOVENIA GREEN združuje vsa prizadevanja za trajnostni razvoj turizma v Sloveniji, destinacijam in ponudnikom ponuja konkretna orodja za oceno in izboljšanje trajnostnega delovanja ter skozi znamko Slovenia Green to zeleno delovanje tudi promovira. Ključni strateški cilj sheme je uvajanje trajnostnih modelov v slovenski turizem, tako na ravni turističnih ponudnikov kot destinacij. Vse cilje strateških usmeritev spremlja trajnostni razvoj in skrb za ekonomsko, družbeno-kulturno in naravno okolje.

Handicraft in Mislinja Valley

In Carinthia, especially in the area of the Mislinja Valley, craftwork is widespread. This was due to the Pan-Slovenian Biennial Exhibition of arts and crafts, which has been taking place since 1977 in Slovenj Gradec. In recent years, the handicraft has been strongly incorporated into the regional tourism offer. Especially in the area of Slovenj Gradec and the wider Mislinja Valley various workshops operate and craft products can be purchased in tourist information centres and shops.

Although certain crafts have already almost died down, in recent years more and more manufacturers, including younger ones, have started creating contemporary handicraft products, which belong to the top of the Slovenian craftwork. Folk handicraft traditions are maintained in many societies and they enrich the regional tourism offer.

The list of craftsmen in Carinthia is available at the following link:
www.duo-kunsthandwerk.eu/koroska_sl