Two Years Since the Signing of the Framework Agreement: What Has Been Achieved?

The Framework Agreement on the implementation of the second Swiss Contribution was signed in Bratislava on 19 September 2023.

Over the past two years, significant progress has been made – all three Support Measure Proposals have been approved, the corresponding Support Measure Agreements signed, and their implementation officially launched. Based on project contracts, key Projects within the second Swiss Contribution are now being implemented:

Project “Improving Quality and Attractiveness of Vocational Education and Training (VET) towards Labour Market Needs”, implemented by the State Institute of Vocational Education (SIVE),
Project “Tourists and Nature Together”, within the Programme Promoting Sustainable Tourism and Strengthening Biodiversity in Protected Areas (“Biodiversity”), implemented by the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic in cooperation with National Parks Administrations,
Project “Strengthening the Management of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in Slovakia” within the Swiss-Slovak Health Programme, implemented by the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic in cooperation with selected Regional Public Health Authorities.

All three projects are being carried out in close collaboration with Swiss partners, creating space for knowledge sharing, exchange of experience, good practices, and joint development of methodologies. The VET project involves the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET) – a partner of SIVE already during the first Swiss Contribution – and a new partner, ETH Zürich. The Ministry of Environment is working with Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, while the Ministry of Health collaborates with the RADIX Swiss Health Foundation.

For both the Biodiversity and Health Programmes, all planned open calls have already been announced. The coming period will therefore focus on project delivery.

Key Milestones of the Swiss-Slovak Cooperation Programme:

Project “VET”:

09 July 2024: Approval of the Support Measure Proposal by the Swiss side
16 September 2024: Signing of the Support Measure Agreement
25 November 2024: Signing of the Project Contract between MIRDI SR and SIVE
20 January 2025: Project launching event

Programme “Biodiversity”:

31 October 2024: Approval of the Support Measure Proposal by the Swiss side
06 December 2024: Signing of the Support Measure Agreement
13 February 2025: Programme launching event
13 February 2025: Signing of the project contract for “Tourists and Nature Together” (Programme Component 1) between MIRDI SR and MoE SR
13 February 2025: Launching of the open call for proposals under Programme Component 2 “Strengthening Biodiversity in Protected Areas” (application deadline: 02 June 2025). The meeting of the Steering Committee regarding the selection of applications took place on 12 September 2025

Programme “Health”:

18 December 2024: Approval of the Support Measure Proposal by the Swiss side
01 April 2025: Signing of the Support Measure Agreement
01 April 2025: Programme launching event
01 April 2025: Signing of the project contract for “Strengthening the Management of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in Slovakia” (Programme Component 1) between MIRDI SR and MoH SR
19 May 2025: Launching of the call for proposals under Programme Component 2 “Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases in Slovak Self-Governing Regions” and Programme Component 3 “Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases in Slovak Cities” (application deadline: 30 September 2025)