The ECoC project is designed to lay the foundation of long-term sustainable joint action with the help of culture and science for the benefit of Lake Balaton and the surrounding landscape. MOME is contributing four educational and research projects to the programme. 

The Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture BALATORIUM programme is a series of experimental community events involving creative professionals and scientists working together to start a dialogue using ecological art about major ecological challenges facing Lake Balaton both as a lake and a region. The VEB2023 ECoC as a cultural event series is not intended to serve justice in professional disputes, but rather to use art and culture to promote an increased visibility of topics important for the future of the lake and start a dialogue around these questions. 

Contributors to the development of the concept included the Balaton Uplands National Park, the Balaton Limnological Research Institute and the Research Group of Limnology of the University of Pannonia, and as a key partner, the PAD Foundation. Nearly all complex cultural programmes today inexorably involve the exploration of sustainability and ecological issues, and the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 ECoC programme wishes to present them in sufficient depth and professional diligence, with the gravity the subject deserves. 

The Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design is participating in the BALATORIUM event series of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture (VEB 2023 ECoC) programme with educational and research projects designed to increase the sensitivity of 14-18-year-olds to the ecological issues of Lake Balaton. 

Building on the outcomes of the four courses and one degree project realised to date, a board game prototype will be developed to enhance the sensitivity of the relevant age group to the ecological issues of Lake Balaton, as well as a case repository for instructors and the related teacher training. By analysing and visually processing data related to Lake Balaton’s ecosystem, the students created art and design projects using data visualisation. A prototype of the installation designed by students of MOME Architecture Institute will be built at the summer construction camp in Örvényes, an alternative education location, exhibition space and community space in one. Over the next semesters, further courses around the BALATORIUM project will be launched. The outcomes will be presented at the BALATORIUM Ecology Week organised by the ECoC, as well as during the Budapest Design Week in autumn.