Activities supported under the Czech and Slovak scholarship funds range from scholarships for individual student, teacher and researcher mobility, to joint elaboration of new teaching materials and jointly managed projects within areas such as environmental protection and cultural heritage preservation.
Partnerships for learning
Students play an active role in many of the supported projects. At the Hubeneho Gymnasium in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the Liechtensteinisches Gymnasium in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, students work together to protect the biodiversity of the Danube lowlands and Liechtenstein, focusing especially on the bird fauna. Students also study ecological farming and sustainable natural sources of energy.
Much farther north, students from the Sami Upper Secondary School in Karasjok, Norway, and the Upper Secondary Vocational School in Detva, Slovakia, are co-operating in a cultural heritage preservation project. Through seminars, excursions and workshops, students will conduct their own research and learn how to protect the environment and preserve European cultural heritage. Special emphasis is placed upon folk traditions and history, and on how to present aspects of these to foreign visitors.
Institutional cooperation
One of the projects supported under the Czech scholarship fund is carried out by the Mendel Secondary School in Nový Jičín and Asker Upper Secondary School in Norway. The two schools are cooperating on a project to develop teaching materials and encourage young enterprise in Europe and teach students how to develop their own business ideas.
Another notable project is the initiative by the Metropolitan University in Prague and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim to improve accessibility and support at the universities for physically impaired students.
Scholarship funds in 11 countries
Scholarship funds to promote student exchanges to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are in place in 11 countries in Central and Southern Europe. Grants for study or work periods abroad are available to students, pupils, researchers, teachers and university staff. Funding is also available for cooperation projects between educational institutions in the beneficiary states and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Photo: Sami Upper Secondary School.
Sami Upper Secondary School.