Institution(s) in charge

There is no single Slovak institution ‘in charge of gardens’. There are only a few government and nongovernment organisations involved in this topic.  The principal ones are:

• Ministry of Culture of Slovak Republic
• Ministry of Environment of Slovak Republic
• National Institute for Monument protection – government agency under Ministry of Culture of SR
• Association for Garden Design and Landscaping - NGO active on national level
• The National Trust of Slovakia

There are also a lot of smaller NGOs involved in protection and use of one particular garden. For example:

• Park Topolčianky association or,
• Park Rusovce

Many NGOs or local initiatives are involved in management of community gardens, like

• Živica association or
• Sosna association

There are also few organisations involved in the protection of arboretums like Arborétum Mlyňany which belong under Slovak Academy of Science.

 Other actors

 Relevant legislation

There is no specific gardens legislation however historical parks and gardens are protected as National Cultural Monuments under Law on the protection of monuments and historic sites from the year 2002 and some important parks and gardens are protected under Law 543/2002 on protection of nature and countryside.

 Protection measures

We have a national register of National Cultural Monuments on which you will find also category historical parks and gardens

On the above mentioned list you will find up to 400 historical parks and gardens. There are other designations which may cover gardens and afford some protection e.g. Conservation Areas. This however belongs under the domain of Ministry of Environment. c) System of protection / legislation:

• Register of National Cultural Monuments on which you will also find historical parks and gardens 
• Here is the link on all relevant national legislation concerning historical parks and gardens as National Cultural Monuments 
• There are no local or regional lists of historic parks and gardens. However the local municipalities have the right to create their own lists of local historically significant features on which they can also put the historical parks and gardens.
• There are many historical parks and gardens which are not protected as National Cultural Monuments and there is no single statistics about that and usually the state of these localities is very bad and they are slowly disappearing.

Many historical parks and gardens belong to local municipalities but there is also growing number of private owners of historical parks and gardens. You can try to find some updated information about the owners of historical parks and gardens which are protected as National Cultural Monuments on the Central Register of National Cultural Monuments however you will not find relevant numbers for all historical parks and gardens. There is a big need for research in this area. Many parks and gardens are open for the public but also many park and garden are in a very bad state.  

 Existing inventories

We do not have a register of parks and gardens in Slovakia and also no official and accessible database of parks and gardens or local and regional lists of parks and gardens, there is a need for research.

 Online information

Some information you can find on the website of Register of National Cultural Monuments on which you will also find historical parks and gardens

Some information about parks and gardens you will find mainly on the websites of already mention organisations under first paragraph. You will find there information about the history, architecture and natural elements of selected parks and gardens or information concerning legislation and possible use of those areas.

 Specialised training

• There is a Horticulture and landscape engineering faculty in Nitra or Institute of  horticulture and landscape architecture in Bratislava where you can get professional training from landscape architecture and horticulture.
• There are also some secondary schools active in this area like Secondary school of Horticulture in Piešťany or Secondary school of Horticulture in Malinovo
• There is also the University of Third Age concerning Landscape Architecture organized by Slovak Technical University in Bratislava.
• Training ranges from apprenticeships to degrees, and post graduate courses.  See web sites above. 
• There are some informal training and lectures organized mainly by some of already mentioned organizations but there are not many!
• There is no single training organisation.  

 Awareness-raising actions

There are not so many events organized in this field for the general public. However since 2007 The National Trust of Slovakia is organizing event

• Open Parks and Gardens Weekend
  It is organized on national level for the general public the and each year more and more public or private parks and gardens are taking part in this event. This event is organized every year on the second weekend in June.

From time to time there are also some local events organized in selected parks and gardens and there are of course some exhibitions or seminars which are suitable also for the general public. There are many voluntary brigades organized by NGOs in selected parks and gardens. Many people are involved in the community gardens activities etc. 

 Terminology tools

We have National Monuments Institute’s thesaurus only in Slovak language which is not available on-line. 

 Documentation

There is no special scientific journal dealing only with the topic of historical parks and gardens. You will find some articles in the journal Pamiatky a múzea or Monument Revue which is published by The Slovak National Museum and the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic.  This is a quarterly review with 72 pages in full color, with summaries in German and English. Special volumes published in 2005 and 2006 were English versions with French summaries

Some interesting articles you can also find in the magazine Monument Revue which is published since 2012 by Slovak Institute for Monument Protection

There are few books about historical parks and gardens: 

• Ivan Tomaško: Historical parks and decorative gardens of Slovakia
• Tamara Rehačková: Historical parks and gardens in Bratislava 

However, there is lack of books dealing with this topic either on national or local level.