On 17 October 2022 Ladce experienced an unusual visit. The municipal office witnessed a visit of representatives of the Norwegian partner of the project of restoration of a part of the manor house from the College for Green Development (Høgskulen for grøn utvikling) from the town of Bryne in southern Norway. The purpose of the visit was a full-day seminar led by community development specialists Johan Barstad, an economist, and Rhys Evans, a human geographer. The aim of the seminar was to present the Norwegian approach to local cultural heritage, especially in terms of economic benefits.

The seminar was intended for representatives of different social sectors or individual actors from Ladiec and the surrounding area. Thanks to the wide range of institutions addressed, professional institutions, traditional craftsmen, nearby sites restored thanks to EEA and Norway Grants, pensioners or the remaining project partners - the municipality of Ladce and the local Vocational Training Boarding School - were represented. The presentations of our Norwegian partners were continuously professionally translated from English.

At the beginning of the seminar, our Norwegian friends presented their location - a dynamically developing university located in the building of an old industrial mill. Other presentations focused on introducing different communities and approaches to them. Johan and Rhys also peered into Norway's post-war history, which surprisingly shared many similarities with the history of post-war Czechoslovakia, especially in terms of the abandonment of the countryside and the influx of new people into the cities, which subsequently resulted in a sense of loss of identity with the new environment. The last session was mainly devoted to the search for economic resources in cultural heritage (in a broader sense than anything old), which, although it has lost its original meaning, can still be used in a meaningful way. The term "re-purpose", which can be loosely translated as "repurposing", was added to the vocabulary of the seminar participants, and ran like a golden thread throughout the seminar. After all, everyone of us is capable of using our wits and creatively approaching the old things we have in our environment. However, the seminar was particularly eye-opening when we discovered how many amazing things there are around us and how they were able to give new content to these in different countries. If it works not only in Norway, but also in the Czech Republic, Poland or Lithuania, why not in Ladce?

On behalf of the owner of the manor house, I would like to thank the municipality of Ladce not only for providing the municipal office space, but also for the space for a delicious lunch. Thanks to the understanding of all the participants, the seminar was held in a friendly, informal atmosphere, which not only enhanced the experience of the speakers, but also contributed to gaining information on innovative approaches to cultural heritage, which we will certainly use in the restored part of the Ladce manor house. Anyone with suggestions on what could be used in the manor house will be happy to visit the project website www.kastiel-ladce.eu or contact us via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The seminar was organized within the project "Manor House in Ladce (acronym MaHoLa)", supported by the EEA and Norway Grants under the "Culture" programme, administered by the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic.

You can view the presentations on the following links:
Introducing Jearen
Community development
Local communities
Asset development for communities and enterprises