22nd April 2023
In Podhradie, the team has met an active local citizen and both the current mayor and the previous mayor, who now engages in local cultural traditions. Together, we took a walk through the village to understand the impact of mining on the subsurface, which has once forced half of the local population to leave their damaged or endangered houses. We also identified a location from which new sense of pride for local inhabitants could emerge - a stream, which with a few adjustments can provide natural outdoor bathing - which can both revive local tradition, involve people in the making and is also a potential place of interest for visitors of the village.

12th June 2023

In Zemianske Kostoľany, we organized a sharing circle with people who have witnessed the environmental disaster in 1965. The harmful emissions from heat plant Nováky have poured out of a cracked reservoir, polluting nearby river Nitra and a vast area of surrounding land, making it unsuitable for agriculture. The disaster also took five human lives, as well as many animals and has had a profound impact on the shape and health of the environment. We have met five people directly involved in the happenings of this event, collected their memories, shared their grief and gained deeper understanding of how the local community has been affected, and how exactly the benevolence and ignorance of the interrelation of human and nature, has had tragic consequences for both. After the sharing circle we took a walk to the site of the disaster and also nearby chapel and water stream, which still serve the community and remind of the power of nature to cleanse and renew.

15th June 2023

Meanwhile, architectural research on the area of Upper Nitra region was finished by one of the team members. Diploma thesis by Katarína Brajerčík Kocková at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava “Land of Post-destruction” deals with how the landscape of Upper Nitra region has been transformed by the industry in the 2nd half of last century and what are the possibilities of it’s renewal.

4th July 2023

In Nová Lehota, now belonging to the municipality of Handlová city, we discussed potential of Handlová area with an expert on city development and innovation in local services and tourism. We stopped by at an unused cultural centre and an abandoned pastorate, which includes a historical building, an orchard and also a unique protected tree.

24. august 2023

Na miestnom úrade v obci Koš sme sa stretli s predstaviteľmi obcí a vedcami, aby sme zmapovali príležitosti na spoluprácu pri zlepšovaní životného prostredia.

So zástupcami viacerých obcí, územia ktorých boli dotknuté banskou činnosťou, sa za jedným stolom zišli starostovia a starostka obcí a aktívni obyvatelia z regiónu s vedcami z univerzít v Trnave. Na stretnutí sme spoločne mapovali možnosti regenerácie životného prostredia s využitím nových dostupných technológií a hľadali príležitosti pre spoluprácu.

Podľa výskumníkov z trnavských univerzít má horná Nitra potenciál stať sa modelovým územím európskeho významu pre výskum a aplikáciu inovácií na obnovu životného prostredia. V rámci obcí Koš, Sebedražie, Cigeľ, Podhradie a Lehota pod Vtáčnikom, sme identifikovali viacero kritických miest, pre ktoré je s pomocou vedeckých prístupov možné identifikovať inovatívne riešenie - či už ide o kvalitu vody, spracovanie toxických elementov v prostredí, či uhlíkovo neutrálnu produkciu energie z bioodpadu. 

Stretnutia sa zúčastnili aj zástupkyne mladej generácie, študentky gymnázia v Prievidzi, ktoré apelovali na tvorbu príležitostí v regióne pre lepšie uplatnenie mladých ľudí.