The entire report for Trencin can be downloaded here.

Conclusions and recommendations for Trencin 2026

The Panel appreciates the progress made so far by Trenčín 2026 despite the challenges caused by the pandemic and the war situation. The Panel also positively acknowledges the Mayor’s strong commitment to Trenčín 2026 and support to the team, and encourages all key partners to work on ensuring bipartisan, overall political support for the ECoC also in the future.

The Panel wishes to draw attention to following recommendations:

Recommendation 1: The Panel is concerned by the multi-layered organisational structure that seems to include several institutes and other organisations with potentially overlapping tasks and responsibilities. The Panel strongly encourages the team to carefully identify the tasks of each unit and cooperation areas to avoid any overlapping functions, and if needed, to simplify the overall organisational structure. Although the process has advanced according to the original timeline, the Panel would like to remind that the delivery period from 2022 to 2026 is very short. The enhancement of practical issues should be prioritised over new structures and spending too much time on establishing their foundations. In addition, it would be advisable to have a timeline for plan Bs, meaning that in case the original plan does not work, what is the deadline for moving to plan B. The Panel would like to request the team to deliver by the end of the year such an organogram that visualises the positions and roles of these different units in relation to each other.

Recommendation 2: Understanding that it takes some time to build up the necessary programme team, the Panel is concerned that the preparations of the programme have not advanced more since the designation. At this stage, it would be good to have a clear plan and schedule for example concerning the potential open calls or other ways how the European Capitals of Culture 2026 Trenčín - First monitoring report 10 September 2022 programme will be complemented. The programme is the core element of an ECoC and should be prioritised and secured in its preparation. The Panel therefore recommends the team to concentrate even more on the cultural and artistic programme and its management.

Recommendation 3: The Panel shares the team’s concern about the present procurement legislation in Slovakia, which is delaying the signature of contracts with projects and thus proceeding with the programme development. Solving this challenge is of utmost urgency and importance to the successful delivery of the ECoC. The Panel therefore strongly recommends all parties involved, including the Ministry, to find a solution to this challenge with the best procurement experts. At best, this can be a shared opportunity of “creative bureaucracy”. However, as solutions such as law changes can take a long time, it is important for the team to set a practical deadline by when the best feasible solution needs to be established in order to proceed with the production of the programme in time for a successful delivery in 2026.

Recommendation 4: Regarding monitoring and evaluation, the Panel would like to recommend the team to be ready to establish plan B if the university arrangements are not sorted by springtime, as it is important to set the baseline scene by summer 2023.

Recommendation 5: Concerning the international networks and partners, the Panel would like to recommend the team to specifically ensure that the listed European and international partners are being connected to the accompanied projects from the bid, not merely informing them about the development of the project via newsletters.

Recommendation 6: Considering that the plan for infrastructural investments is very ambitious and that it is so far not entirely financed, the Panel recommends to prioritise the infrastructure projects that are closely necessary for the implementation of the ECoC programme, through a close coordination between the City, the Region and CIT.