The Democracy and Human Rights Summer School is a project of the Helsinki Committee, which began in 2017. The original intention was to provide young people who completed the Human Rights Olympiad during their high school studies with a space for further education. However, the target group is gradually expanding, with an aim to include whoever is interested in human rights and democratic citizenship.
In the first three years of the summer school, approximately 150 participants from all over Slovakia took part. Young people from the Czech Republic also participated in the 2019 Summer School. These were the finalists of the Czech Human Rights Olympiad in the school year of 2018/2019.
In November 2017 and 2018, a “winter” edition of the Summer School was also introduced, with a smaller number of participants. The winter editions primarily focused on creative interactive work through workshops and group discussions.
The first two years of the summer school took place in Modra-Harmónia, in the Training and Conference Center of the Center for Further Education of the Comenius University. The third year took place in Svätý Jur, in the space provided by the Academia Istropolitana Nova. The summer schools were held thanks to a contribution from the subsidy scheme of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic aimed at the support and protection of human rights.