An additional 20 schools in Bratislava will get a more beautiful and safer environment

LinkThe capital city, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava (MIB), has since 2022 been gradually changing and especially making safer the surroundings of up to twelve Bratislava schools ↗︎ as part of the City for Children programme. The pilot selection also included the well-known transformations of the areas in front of the primary schools on Vazovova and Mudroňova, as a result of which the safety of children in their surroundings has significantly improved. The fact that these are good projects and the right ones was also confirmed by the great interest of other schools that applied to the completely new City for Children call. Two dozen of them are also awaiting improved safety in their surroundings in the coming period.

“The goal of the City for Children programme is clear: to improve the safety of children on the streets of our city. A city that is safe for children is ultimately safe and pleasant for all of us. It is specifically around many schools that complicated, sometimes chaotic and dangerous situations often arise, when, in the stress of the morning rush, a large number of children, parents and cars are moving in a relatively small space in front of the school. This is why we started to deal with these situations in a way that has been proven in many other cities around the world. Since 2022, we have begun to gradually improve the safety of children around 12 schools. Based on the successes of the projects implemented at the first schools, we launched last autumn a completely new City for Children Application programme ↗︎, to which any school in Bratislava could apply. I’m pleased that with twenty of them, in twelve city districts, we will now gradually improve the safety of their surroundings, which will directly affect more than 7,700 children who attend these schools,” said Matúš Vallo, mayor of the capital city.

The success of the improvements thus far made around schools, including the transformation of the premises at the schools on Vazovova and Mudroňova, is also confirmed by the great interest of schools in the new application programme. Up to 34 schools have applied to the new call.

“We were positively surprised not only by the great interest of schools and their diversity, but also by the quality of the applications,” says Sandra Štasselová, coordinator of the City for Children project at the MIB. The problems that schools most often described in their surroundings were the lack of pedestrian crossings, cycling paths or drop off zones for quickly getting children out of a car, or the overall chaotic and dangerous traffic situation.

From the total number of applicants, 20 schools have now been selected based on clearly defined criteria, including the traffic situation, the number of pupils, support from the surrounding community and the feasibility of making the changes. In the coming period, the selected schools will cooperate with the MIB to find and subsequently implement specific solutions, which will result in better safety around the schools. Along with the school staff and pupils, residents from the school’s surroundings and transport users will take part in this cooperation. The community dimension is no less important in the project – during the planning process, children, parents, teachers and school management will meet with neighbours to talk about what is troubling them and seek solutions together.

One of the schools that was already included in the City for Children programme in the first stage and is awaiting the transformation of its surroundings is the Primary School on Jeséniova in Bratislava’s Nové Mesto.

“Parents and children face various problems here every day, whether it is heavy traffic in the immediate vicinity of the school, parking on the trolleybus roundabout, which causes traffic chaos, or the lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure. I believe that with its solutions this project will improve the environment for our youngest children, and that the changes will not only bring greater comfort, but especially reduce risks for children and their parents,” says Matúš Čupka, mayor of the Bratislava-Nové Mesto district.

“I consider the inclusion of our school in the City for Children programme to be good news. This is a meaningful project that can significantly increase not only safe access to school for our pupils and their parents, but also make a significant positive change (not only to the community) to the quality of life of all residents of Koliba and visitors to the Bratislava Forest Park,” says Zuzana Salíniová, director of the ZŠ s MŠ Jeséniova (Jeséniova Primary School with Nursery School).

The City for Children programme focuses primarily on quick and effective improvements that the city proposes in cooperation with schools, parents, pupils, area residents and, of course, transportation experts. The programme is known from last year for the revitalisation of the areas near the schools on Vazovova and Mudroňova ↗︎, the school street at Nevädzová ↗︎, but also for other larger or smaller interventions around the Tbiliská, Biskupická, Budatínska, Černyševského, Drieňová, Riazanská and Za kasárňou schools.

The project partner is the renowned American organisation Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consulting company that provides advice to cities all over the world. Founded in 2014 as part of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Bloomberg Associates provides free expert advice to the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava and the city itself.

“Traffic accidents are the main cause of death for young people worldwide. Therefore, traffic safety must be an important part of any city’s public health strategy,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, former New York City Commissioner of Transportation and current Director of Transportation at Bloomberg Associates. “Mayor Vallo and his team understand that caring for our children must be accompanied by concrete measures to make the streets around schools safer for children to walk or commute. The launching and scope of this programme positions Bratislava as a global leader in the area of safety,” added Janette Sadik-Khan.

Among the selected schools are for 2025 are: the Primary and Nursery School of Milan Hodža, the Karloveská Primary School, the Kremeľská Primary School, the Primary School of Katarína Brúderová, the Cádrova Primary and Nursery School, the Hargašova Primary and Nursery School, the Trnková Primary and Nursery School, the Gercenova Combined School, the Primary and Nursery School of Maria Montessori, the Primary School of I. Dérer (Jelenia), the Special Primary School with Nursery School Karpatská, the Primary and Nursery School Dubová, the Bieloruská Primary School, the Edulienka Primary School, the Vetvárska Primary School, the Teplická Primary School, the Waldorfská Primary School, the Búdková Nursery School, the Funiversity – Horský park Nursery School and the Račianska Secondary Vocational School.

Thanks to this extensive cooperation, the people of Bratislava can expect further positive changes in the coming years, which we can already look forward to today.