SUA Signed Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic
16.09.2025
On September 3, the Rector of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (SUA), Prof. Klaudia Halászová, and the Minister of Environment, Tomáš Taraba, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. The document sets a framework for future collaboration between SUA and the Ministry in several key areas.
The cooperation will focus on the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy in the field of landscape protection and development, landscape planning, and green and blue infrastructure. SUA students will participate in projects of the Ministry of Environment, gaining opportunities for internships and graduate placements. The Ministry will also support students’ final theses and research projects conducted by SUA staff.
The university and the ministry will cooperate on the management of large carnivores in connection with nature protection, hunting, and agriculture, as well as on the management of breeding and genetic diversity of the Muráň Noriker horse. Their partnership will also extend to the preparation of project documentation and expert opinions, and to the submission and implementation of joint grants at the national and European levels. Furthermore, the memorandum covers the organization of educational and training activities, professional events, and discussions on current topics. The agreement has been signed for a period of five years.
During the meeting, Rector Halászová pointed out the issue of land consolidation:
“We should first look at the landscape, solve the problems, and only then address the ownership deeds and cadastral records. In Slovakia, we do it the other way around,” she noted.
She also raised the lack of a funding scheme that would enable the university—whose buildings are recognized as national cultural monuments—to apply for financial resources for their renovation. She stressed the need for a comprehensive reconstruction of the original university buildings designed by architect Vladimír Dedeček. Rector Halászová further informed the minister about SUA’s internationalization efforts and the growing interest of international students in studying at the university.
At the end of the meeting, she presented Minister Taraba with SUA’s new publication, Architectural Heritage of Modern Nitra by Ján Novák, which documents the construction of the SUA campus. This nearly 350-page work is filled with archival images, current photographs, studies, and project documentation from the university’s building archive, complemented by theories and memories of witnesses.
