Education Runway | Culture professionals from the workshop of the European Capital of Culture Trenčín 2026 have already attracted dozens of people to Trenčín. The course is a great opportunity for everyone who wants to move their organizations and projects to the international level, thereby improving the cultural offer in Trenčín, the region or anywhere in Slovakia in the long term. Registration for the new semester is open until September 11 at trencin2026.eu/runway.

"I traveled 5 hours from Svidník to Trenčín and back to Runway and it was definitely worth it. It may seem to you that working in culture is easy and you have known your audience for a long time, but we still need to educate ourselves," says Miroslav Štoffa from the Podduklian Educational Center in Svidník, a participant in the second semester of Runway I Culture Professionals.

Runway | Professionals from culture is an educational course aimed at increasing competences in the field of cultural management. During five two-day blocks, experienced lecturers cover topics such as strategic planning, audience engagement, service design, soft skills and more. The course is intended for cultural managers from public and private organizations and institutions . We provide semester-long education free of charge, its value is 1000 EUR.

Topics and group that will support in work

"I discovered that management topics do not have to be cold and practical at all, but can also be humane and really helpful to people," Juliana Johanidesová, dramaturg of the Cined film festival for children and youth from Nové Město nad Váhom, shares her experience in the course.

The course was also beneficial for gallery pedagogue Zuzana Medzihorská from the Central Slovak Gallery in Banská Bystrica: "I liked the topic of strategic planning, which was presented by experts from the Czech Republic in a very creative way. We have already used the workshop on brand building to build the brand of the gallery library."

The participants of the course also highlight the opportunity to connect with each other and create collaborations. "We became a support group, we exchanged work experiences with each other, which was liberating and gave us courage," says Johanides.

"The European Capital of Culture project places great emphasis on education, because knowledge and experience will remain here even after 2026," explains Michaela Kučová, Trenčín 2026 program manager, who is in charge of Runway education. "At the same time, thanks to education, Trenčín is starting to profile itself as a city worth coming to develop in the field of cultural and creative industry," he adds.

If you too would like to take your cultural project or organization to a higher level, registration for the new semester of the course is open until September 11 at www.trencin2026.eu/runway .

Trenčín 2026 is financially supported by the City of Trenčín and the Trenčín self-governing region. The project partner is the European Union.

Text: MG, PR manager Trenčín 2026