The window towards Europe - opened or closed?
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The official slogan of the festival 'Non-governmental window towards Europe', signified its aims and emphasized the need to remodel the way non-governmental organizations operate in a modern state. LUPA (magnifying glass in the Slovene language) is supposed to act as a remedy, pointing out problems as well as their solutions, and making them more accessible. LUPA's main purpose is to enable non-governmental organizations to present their programmes to the public and to have the knowledge needed to interpret any legislation that could help them successfully carry out their mission. According to LUPA's founders, non-governmental organizations have to broaden their knowledge of Europe's constitution, especially in the areas that they generally deal in such as social policies, human rights, environmental issues, culture and promotion of equality being the main areas. Another problem that non-governmental organizations face on a regular basis is volunteer work. Despite volunteers being a traditional workforce in Slovenia, their work is neither fully appreciated nor properly valued. They contribute significantly to the easing of certain societal problems that are otherwise difficult for state run institutions to handle effectively. The legal issues dogging volunteers should therefore be solved as soon as possible to encourage people to keep coming forward.