Regional Academy of Comenius University in Bratislava

Cooperation between universities and their cities is one of the priorities of the ENLIGHT alliance. On 6 November, Comenius University hosted municipal leaders from partner cities, and university dignitaries from Uppsala, Ghent and Galway at an event named Cities in Motion. The main focus was sustainable public transport, particularly bike traffic.

Cycling in the dark in Ghent

Our alliance partners are much further in supporting bike transport and shared mobility solutions. Together with the Netherlands and Denmark, Belgium is one of the European cycling superpowers and 85% of the population of the university city of Ghent use a bicycle daily to travel to work or school. Public debate no longer focuses on building infrastructure. One of the current debates is how to increase bike use at night. "Many people are afraid to bike in the dark, because of poorly lit bicycle paths. Therefore, we are looking at ways of designing the lighting so that the safety of cyclists is improved while biodiversity is not disturbed," said Hannah Hook from the University of Ghent, presenting a project in which the local government cooperates with the university to improve cycling at night.

Winter bike tires in Uppsala

The university city Uppsala may be located in the north of Europe and is covered in snow for several months of the year, but bicycles have been the primary means of transport for several decades. "In the winter, we clear the snow on bike paths and put winter tires on our bikes," said Teresa Uggla from the municipality of Uppsala. She presented the city's plan, according to which climate neutrality in transport should be achieved by 2030. The city builds new rental houses without parking spaces for cars, but with sufficient infrastructure for bicycles. One of the challenges they are currently facing is dealing with a city borough housing many immigrants who have not brought a positive attitude towards bicycle transport from their countries.

In Galway they dress for the weather

The municipality of Galway in Ireland also strongly supports sustainable transportation in the city. Recently, an elegant steel bridge for cyclists and pedestrians was built next to the historic Bridge of Hope in the city centre. It is located on the campus grounds and the University of Galway participated in its construction, as was explained by Eoghan McDermott from Galway Municipality in his presentation. Even though rains are a frequent occurrence in the region, students and residents use bikes every day. "It's all about your mindset. We dress for the weather," says Eoghan McDermott.

Car-free schoolstreets in Bratislava

At present, Bratislava is still a city where people prefer to travel by car. Nevertheless, there is a gradual shift towards more sustainable modes, as shown by Dorota Šaríková and Katarína Bajerčík Kocková from the Bratislava Metropolitan Institute that is a part of the municipality. They presented a project named "school streets" which involved a series of gradual, well-thought-out steps to increase safety and motivate children to use bikes or scooters, or walk to school. The project is developed jointly by MIB and the Department of economic and social geography, demography and territorial development of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University. Department member Marcel Horňák took the guests from partner municipalities and universities on a city tour to the borough of Petržalka along the new tram line and spoke about specific urban design choices made during socialism. The tour ended in Eurovea on the bank of the Danube, which is an example of efficient and modern use of public space and a successful attempt to return urban life to the riverfront.

Inspiration from the partners

"The meeting showed how important it is to connect universities and cities and seek modern sustainable transport solutions while involving students. It appears that we can inspire each other through this cooperation. I hope that we will meet more frequently as part of ENLIGHT activities and that this cooperation will bear fruit in the form of actual projects," says Marcel Horňák.

Barbora Tancerová

The United Nations General Assembly designated October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons. Under the flagship of Equity in ENLIGHT, we believe in raising awareness of opportunities, but also challenges faced by ageing populations. 

On October 11, 2024, ENLIGHT Regional Academy of Comenius Unversity Bratislava held a lecture for students of the University of the Third Age. The topic explored was the work of the Public Defender of Rights with senior population of Slovakia. The lecture was led by Mgr. Tomáš Čitbaj, Director General of the Department for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms from the Office of the Public Defender of Rights.

In his presentation, he focused not only on the theoretical foundations and competencies of the Public Defender of Rights but also provided practical advice for seniors. Students learned answers to important questions regarding senior rights, such as: What rights do seniors have? How can they defend themselves against discrimination or unfair treatment? What should seniors avoid, and what should they be cautious about in everyday life?

Mgr. Čitbaj also highlighted the options offered by the Public Defender of Rights for resolving issues faced by seniors and provided several examples from his practice where the Office helped seniors achieve justice. The discussion on specific cases of senior rights’ violations was also insightful. The lecture was enriching and provided participants with valuable information they can apply in various life situations.

You can find the poster for the lecture (in Slovak) HERE.

You can find the information material on senior rights (in Slovak) HERE.

On 22 April 2024 students, teachers and researchers from CU and ENLIGHT partner universities had opportunity to be part of the online lecture Rule of Law: The ambiguities of an unqualified human good. The lecture was followed by a discussion.

The speaker was András Sajó, lawyer, professor at the Central European University, former judge and vice-president of the European Court of Human Rights, Member of the Supervisory Board of Meta.

Content

This talk discussed the potential and limits of the rule of law in constitutional self-defense. As a conceptual tool, 'rule of law' is ubiquitous, wielded by many including those not committed to the capacity of constitutionalism to impose restraints on unchecked power. In a narrow reading, the rule of law not only does not halt, but may even perpetuate ruler domination. But when recognizing this inherent limitation, it may serve as a powerful tool to respond to illiberal practices of cheating.

Lecture was given in English.

On 15 April 2024 students, teachers and researchers from CU and ENLIGHT partner universities had opportunity to be part of the online lecture "The dynamics in the decision-making process in the Council of the EU: what challenges ahead?" which was given by Tomáš Kozák.

Tomáš Kozák is a Diplomat, EU Affairs Professional and Former Director General for European Affairs, MFEA Slovakia.

Content

The aim of the talk was to present the decision-making process in the Council of the European Union, as well as the European Council, in the context of a broader EU institutional setting. While zooming in on dynamics among the Member States in the Council, the talk offered insider views and experience regarding day-to-day working methods in the Council, as well. The lecture was followed by a discussion.

The question how to improve decision-making process in the Council has been continuously discussed also in the context of EU enlargement and the need to strengthen the EU’s capacity to act. Switching from unanimity to qualified majority voting (QMV) is one of the ideas that resonated politically at national levels. The talk will strive to provide answers when it comes to maintaining the principle of equality of Member States and possible challenges in reaching decisions in an enlarged Union. 

Lecture was given in English. 

Flyer for download is available HERE. 

Who want to live in a sustainable society should also dress more sustainable. After all, there is some truth to the saying that fine feathers make fine birds. But can clothes make a university a more sustainable place?

Apparently, this question led the members of the student organisation Prif UK Sustainability to organise first SWAP. Students from CU were able to learn more about this initiative on the organisation's official Instagram profile. At the same time, the post was also a call to students to give a second chance to clothes which they don´t wear, but could make someone else happy. They brought such a quantity of clothes that they filled three racks.

SWAP was organised thanks to Regional Academy of CU and ENLIGHT university alliance and took place on the 11th of October 2023 at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Comenius University.

Students were welcomed with vegan cinnamon or pistachio knots and croissants from local artisan bakery. This event lasted from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. As the clothes and refreshments vanished, so did the new number of association members increase. After all, who wouldn't want to be a member of an organisation thanks to which you could find a nice scarf, trousers, or find out what sustainability tastes like.

Text: Attila Balogh

Thanks to the cooperation between the Regional Academy of CU and the Office of the Public Defender of Rights (PDOR), colleagues Martina Thominet and Nora Konrády Belíová had the opportunity to lecture at the ENLIGHT partner University in Uppsala on the topic of Violation of woman's rights during facility-based childbirth.

Besides the lecture, Martina Thominet and Nora Konrády Belíová from PDOR also met representatives from the Swedish National Center for Knowledge on Men's Violence against Women. The meeting was a great opportunity for experts from both institutions to share their experiences. The importance of that meeting is also evidenced by the letter of thanks from the Mr. Ombudsman, JUDr. Róberta Dobrovodského, PhD., LL.M., who considers such collaborations as essential for forming a united front against persistent challenges.

We are very pleased that thanks to the ENLIGHT university alliance, we have the opportunity to connect regional partners across Europe and thus bring knowledge to students on current topics in an international context using real examples from real life.

The Office of the Public Defender of Rights has been actively cooperating with the Regional Academy of CU since 2022, and PDOR brought to the CU a discussion on the violation of women's rights during giving a childbirth in two lectures. In May 2022, the Faculty of Arts held the lecture Keep talking about childbirth, and in November 2022, the students of Jessenius Faculty of Medicine had the opportunity to discuss with experts from PDOR the topic of Women's rights during giving a childbirth.

In May 2023, UK students had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by David Laco, who is a member of the management of the C. S. Lewis Bilingual High School. His lecture was focused on school climate and ways to build an appropriate school climate, specifically at C. S. Lewis. After lecture followed discussion with students.

David Laco studied psychology, business and character education at the University of Birmingham. He teaches at the C. S. Lewis Bilingual High School for eight years. Currently he is also studying in the PhD programme at the University of Birmingham.

On the  4th April 2023 students and academics from Comenius University and all ENLIGHT partner universities had the opportunity to listen to an online lecture by Prof. Dr. Ulrike Liebert, Prof. em., from University of Bremen (Germany), who is also Visiting Fellow European University Institute, School of Transnational Governance in Florence (Italy).

In this session we discussed opportunities for citizens to actively engage with EU politics that are essential for improving democratic legitimacy, equity and sustainability in decision making at the EU level.

On 12th of December 2022, CU students had the opportunity to discuss the current invasion in Ukraine with the President of the Institute for Public Affairs, Mr. Grigorij Mesežnikov.

Grigorij Mesežnikov was born in the former Soviet Union, in the city of Oriol. He studied philosophy and social and political sciences in Moscow. He is one of the founders of the Institute for Public Affairs and currently its president. He is an outspoken advocate of support for Ukraine. He has provided UK students with a comprehensive view of the war in Ukraine. The lecture was followed by a discussion during which students had the opportunity to ask questions on various topics related to the occupation.

The lecture was conducted in English, which gave CU students the opportunity to ask questions in English and at the same time  the lecture was accessible to international students at CU.

Permaculture designer Mgr. Marianna Piršelová gave a lecture on how permaculture influences our everyday life. Listeners learned more about the impact of designing their own garden or farm on the surroundings, discovered that ethical attitudes and principles of permaculture help in adapting to the upcoming climate and social changes. After the lecture, Mrs Piršelová discussed with the students the role of permaculture in landscape regeneration and the idea of how good design affects not only the life of the individual, but also the life of the whole community.