The Panel appreciates the important steps ahead being taken so far by Trenčín 2026 in spite of the significant challenges they had to face.

The Panel also positively acknowledges the Mayor’s strong commitment to Trenčín 2026 and support to the team, as well as the very good coordination with the key institutions at regional and governmental level.

The Panel wishes to draw attention to the following recommendations:

• Recommendation 1:

Focusing on programme development and delivery The Panel appreciated that Trenčín 2026 initiated the legacy-building process at an early stage and recruited resources dedicated to this task within the city administration. While it encourages the city to proceed on this path, the Panel recommends the delivery agency to concentrate on programme development and implementation, putting the highest attention to its artistic quality and European dimension.

Hence, the Panel suggests revising the overall planning for the full programme delivery. This should include a detailed schedule with milestones about contract, preproduction, production, and delivery in order to make up for the delays occurred so far in implementation.

Likewise, it is important to have a detailed overview of the status of all the projects and a clear plan for potential open calls or other ways to complement the programme. In this regard, while open calls are important to enlarge the spectrum of participants, the team must be aware of the risks of a programme fragmentation, of the time-consuming procedures involved and of the current budget constraints.

The main focus should remain on delivering the programme as outlined in the final selection bid book. The Panel invites the Trenčín 2026 team to submit a detailed and comprehensive overview of the status of the projects along with an updated budget by midDecember 2024.

• Recommendation 2: Reinforcing and finalising European cultural cooperation partnerships The Panel encourages the team to strengthen and finalise European and international partnerships, primarily with artists and cultural organisations.

 In addition, it is important to enlarge the scope for cooperation beyond the neighbouring countries, through tailor-suited artistic cooperation, so as to embrace more diversity. Finally, the Panel recommends ensuring that a European mindset is integrated into the overall programming and activities associated with Trenčín 2026.

• Recommendation 3: Strengthening programme management and strategic visibility The Panel congratulates the Trenčín team for having laid solid foundations for a new organisational structure. Yet, considering that in the upcoming months the team has to concentrate more on the cultural and artistic programme and its management, and bearing in mind that it has to produce internally more projects than anticipated, the Panel suggests reinforcing and giving a central role to the programme management and production unit.

Likewise, it is recommended to give a more visible position to marketing, communication, and fund-raising.

• Recommendation 4: Prioritising implementation of community engagement plans Building trust and actively involving the minorities and remote communities is one of the most challenging tasks for an ECoC. The Panel appreciates the impressive research and mapping work on communities and neighbourhoods conducted so far but prompts the team to prioritise action and concentrate on the delivery of the Accessibility plan and of the scheduled activities, possibly reinforcing partnerships with grass-root organisations.

• Recommendation 5: Enhancing international communication and marketing strategies While the overall communication and marketing strategies are sound for the local and regional levels, with effective elements on an international level, the Panel wishes to emphasise the importance of further developing and strengthening the international communication and marketing strategies and rolling out European-wide communication and marketing plans as soon as possible.

A marketing and communication plan with a European coverage, which is able to allure audiences from all the EU countries, could ensure maximum international exposure for Trenčín 2026 and give higher visibility for potential private partners, thus easing the private fund-raising as well.

• Recommendation 6: Boosting fundraising efforts and resource allocation The Panel recommends intensifying the efforts in its fund-raising campaign, while at the same time being prepared to seek for alternative funds from other sources. Simultaneously, the Panel advises the team to ensure that a significant portion of any additional resources raised is allocated specifically to the development and execution of the cultural and artistic programme.