Working together for a green, competitive and inclusive Europe
The Congregation of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (ECAV) in Slovakia implements the project funded by EEA and Norway Grants using EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism titled “LYCEUM – Free Society Lab”.
Project code: CLT01006
Programme: Cultural Entrepreneurship, Cultural Heritage and Cultural Cooperation
Implementation Period: 07/2020 – 04/2024
Grand awarded: €999.757
Project agreement
Supplement 1 to Project agreement
Acknowledgement
Project “LYCEUM – Free Society Lab” benefits from a €999.757 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants. The project has been co-financed from the State Budget of the Slovak Republic in the amount of €149.964. The aim of the project is to reconstruct and revitalize the national cultural monument Old Lutheran Lyceum (Staré evanjelické lýceum).
Annotation
The project title “LYCEUM – Free Society Lab” itself represents that The Congregation of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Bratislava – Old Town will create a space, kind of a laboratory for free thinking, faith, creativity, modern and classical culture and dialogue. The project is based on the opinion that if Church wants to understand a man, it shall also be interested in other than spiritual aspects of his life.
The project will be implemented in the premises of the Evangelical Lyceum in the center of Bratislava. The reconstruction of the building will architecturally enhance one of the most visited parts of Bratislava and the Bratislava Monument Zone – the central city area. It will create a cultural and community space, which has been missing here for a long time, which was confirmed by representatives of the local community at 14 consultation meetings.
With the project, the recipient wants to return to LYCE the former free spirit and raise awareness of its historical significance. It wants to create a modern physical and virtual exhibition of the history of the Slovak modernization and emancipation movement (Matej Bel, Štúrovci, Milan R. Štefánik and others) and support educational activities, especially for young people in building a “healthy” national and European identity. By reconstruction and revitalization of the Lyceum building, the precious library from 13th Century will be restored as well. This will support the research activities of Slovak Academy of Science, which has a small organization residing at the premises. The project’s activities will uphold renewed history and develop its legacy for the 21st century. The legacy of freedom is even more important in present times of fake news, hatespeech, discrimination and rising anti-system powers.
Projects partners
- Punkt o.z.
- Nadácia Milana Šimečku
Project partner from the donor state
- Kirkelig dialogsenter
Example of activities
LYCEUM for Slovak identity of the 21st century
The Activity aim is to raise awareness about the Lyceum’s history as a place of open mind and thinking of the Slovak emancipation and modernization movement. It will bring critical point of view on this part of the national history and thus contribute to build „national identity of the 21st century“especially concerning young people as the contribution to prevention against extremism, hate speech and discrimination. The activity will also support research activities of the Slovak Academy of Sciences connected with the historical library collection, which is currently under auspices of the Central Library of the Research Academy.
LYCEUM for others
By this activity, the recipient upholds the historical legacy and ongoing activities which had to be organized in small due to external factors. In cooperation with the project partners and donor state partner, municipality and local community, Lyceum will create a significant town making element. It will connect Bratislava Downtown, violently divided during socialism era, and create missing community space in the triangle Konventná-Panenská-Palisády and thus become the new touristic spot of the city. The congregation, unusually, provides the eclectic space for cultural (concerts, exhibitions, theatres, historical library), community (neighborhood and local influencers meeting), spiritual (pastoral, ecumenical activity), social and educational activities including those which are particularly sensitive for the Church and also widely abused by the nationalistic politicians (LGBTI, migrants, gender equality, Roma population, homeless people, interreligious dialogue) space. The recipient will create a place open to dialogue as a prevention against extremism, hatespeech, discrimination and a support for anti-system forces in Slovakia. This shall by done by pertaining on culture, art and education. Lyceum’s activities will follow up on the cultural strategy of Bratislava. Target groups are community, schools, youngsters, professionals, religious community.
Fjúžn in LYCEUM
Partner, Milan Šimečka Foundation, will support the congregation in organization of Lyceum’s participative planning. The partner will organize once in a year a series of cultural, educational and discussion activities known as “Fjúžn in Lyceum”. It will be a part of the “Fjúžn festival” which has become unique and the biggest multigenre festival focused on migration in Slovakia with an international context since its establishment in 2006.
Good marketplace in LYCEUM
The project partner organizes the “Good Market” community event on Panenská Street in the area of the Lyceum’s Great Church. It is an event that revives the urban public space, in particular by supporting local small-scale producers and quality domestic and diverse culture products. In addition to kiosks with quality food, original design products, books, accessories and clothing, accompanying events, art installations, exceptional concerts, workshops for children and adults, meetings with interesting people are part of the event.
Partner, Punkt, will involved in the participatory planning of Lyceum’s focus activities. It will regularly organize the “Neighborhood Picnic in Lyceum”, a cultural-social meeting of the inhabitants and business from the locality in June. The Lyceum will host a part of the Good Market activities “Good Market in Lyceum” where the local producers will present their products on the 15th of September. If necessary, there will be a possibility to open Lyceum also for other activities during the event.
EEA Grants
The EEA Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway towards a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.
There are two overall objectives: reduction of economic and social disparities in Europe, and to strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. The three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA).
The donors have provided €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. For the period 2014-2021, the EEA Grants amount to €1.55 billion. The priorities for this period are:
#1 Innovation, Research, Education and Competitiveness
#2 Social Inclusion, Youth Employment and Poverty Reduction
#3 Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy
#4 Culture, Civil Society, Good Governance and Fundamental Rights
#5 Justice and Home Affairs
The EEA Grants are jointly financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, whose contributions are based on their GDP.
Eligibility for the Grants mirror the criteria set for the EU Cohesion Fund aimed at member countries where the Gross National Income (GNI) per inhabitant is less than 90% of the EU average.
All projects are co-financed by the State Budget of the Slovak Republic in the amount of 15%.
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Documentation of accompanying activities
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Social networks
If you want to know more about programmes and projects financed by the EEA Grants in Slovakia, visit www.eeagrants.sk.