On Tuesday, August 2, 2023, the city of Banská Štiavnica became the meeting place for actors of the development of the Banská Štiavnica region and representatives of the Matej Bel University. The joint meeting was devoted to several current topics and, in particular, the possibilities of cooperation within the international research project INCULTUM, in which the university is involved.
As part of a series of meetings on the INCULTUM project and the pilot project Minining Treasures, representatives of the Matej Bel University met with the director of the Slovak Mining Museum Mgr. Zuzana Denkova, PhD., which is recovering from the recent fire in Banská Štiavnica, which also affected the building of the Berrgericht - the mineralogical exposition of the Slovak Mining Museum. The director of the Slovak Mining Museum stated that compared to previous years, accompanied by the COVID-19 pandemic, when travelling abroad was more complicated and Slovak tourists preferred domestic vacation destinations, the drop in visitors to the city in 2023 is about 40% lower. The share of foreign visitors also decreased, which the museum director mainly attributes to the situation in Ukraine. Therefore, she welcomed the promotion of exceptional mining monuments in and around the city through the website www.banickepoklady.eu. According to her, the English version of the site is important, especially given the fact that many sites serving the visitors of the city and region are only in Slovak.
Photo source: Darina Rojíková
After the meeting at the Slovak Mining Museum in Banská Štiavnica, the representatives of the Matej Bel University moved to Štiavnické Bane, where they met with the director of the Primary and Secondary School of Maximilián Hell, Mgr. Pavol Michal. The director led a visit from the university to the school grounds, where students are taught interactively through live animals (such as raptors, horses, dogs, kangaroos, monkeys, etc.), gardens, ponds, which are well taken care of by students even during the holidays. The teaching in the school is focused on education on topics of climate change, real perception of the natural environment, closely connected with understanding and protection of nature. You can find more information about Maximilián Hell Primary School and Kindergarten in Štiavnické Bane at: www.zakladnaskola.com/o-skole. Despite the fact that the focus of the school's projects and the INCULTUM project are different, the school's management and representatives of the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica found an intersection of activities, especially in the field of education, which they can connect and within which they can cooperate on the INCULTUM project.
Photo source: Darina Rojíková
The last meeting of the day was in the spirit of the "water" of Banská Štiavnica water reservoirs, which is also taken care of by the members of OZ Banskoštiavnické taichy. These are young people from Banská Štiavnica who have been dealing with tajkas and the water management system in the vicinity of Banská Štiavnica for over 9 years. You can find more information about OZ Banskoštiavnické tajchy at: bstajchy.sk. The representatives of the university met with the chairman of the OZ, Michal Červeň, who informed them about the plans of the OZ for the future and at the same time promised to participate in the creation of the website www.banickepoklady.eu.
