Czech Healthy Cities School – the 47th already! Good practice, cooperation and know-how

From Wednesday, 6 June, 2018, Roznov pod Radhostem hosted the Summer Healthy Cities School – a traditional meeting of representatives of municipalities from all over the Czech Republic, which brought together more than 130 participants this year.

The main topics of the opening seminar included financial resources, quality of local authorities, sustainable development, waste management, e-surveys, adaptation strategies for climate change, ageing concepts, community gardens and the involvement of young citizens in public life.

The session dedicated to the presentations from ministries was opened by the representative of the Ministry for Regional Development covering topics such as the new Regional Development Strategy of the Czech Republic 2021+, the promotion of sustainable development in regions, and the related methodological and financial support of these activities. The representative of the Ministry of the Interior reported on methodological support for quality management in cities and rowns, and the associated evaluation which the city can “order” based on its interest. The delegate introduced the Friendly Local Authority Competition, rewarding quality and innovations, as well as a number of educational events, and financial support that municipalities can receive. The representative of the Ministry of the Environment reported on the latest developments and financial sources for LA21 and the transfer of the Government Council for Sustainable Development under the aegis of the ministry. Furthermore, she described in detail the outcomes of the interview survey concerning the LA21 method.

The representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs informed the participants about the relevant project calls intended for municipalities, the participants could discuss their questions. This ministerial session concluded on the topics of socially responsible public procurement and the offer of methodological support provided by the Ministry to cities, towns and regions.
The afternoon session was opened by the presentation of Ostrava Healthy City jointly with their expert partner Ekotoxa by introducing the Adaptation strategy to the impacts and risks stemming from climate change. The session dedicated to waste management addressed the issue of municipal waste management from the perspective of the Ministry of the Environment and the Institute of Circular Economy.

The following days were devoted to three parallel intensive training sessions focused on the following topics: PR and media, the Basics and the system of Healthy City and LA21 programmes. All training sessions involved hands-on skills training, including a set of methodological recommendations and practical examples. The final day was devoted to practical training in using the Healthy Cities information system called DataPlan, and to the use of social networks in Healthy Cities.

All the presentations and photos from the event are available on www.nszm.cz/ls2018.

Sustainable energy in cities: Roznov, 6 June, 2018

On Wednesday, 6 June, 2018, a discussion workshop dedicated to renewable energy, energy transition at local level and the possibilities of relevant funding took place as a parallel event to the Summer Healthy Cities School in Roznov pod Radhostem. The workshop was held by the Czech Healthy Cities National Network in partnership with the Association of Energy Managers of Cities and Towns. The seminar also welcomed the representative of the international Covenant of Mayors programme and the association of European municipalities EnergyCities who took the floor as well. Furthermore, it was possible to join a discussion about current possibilities that Czech and Slovak cities have to face in implementing energy transformation, decarbonisation of the territory, enhancing adaptation to climate change and improving citizens' access to affordable, cheap and clean energy. The national level was represented by the representatives from the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Industry and Trade who reported on the possibilities of financial support. The participants had also a unique opportunity to consult investment projects with the representative of the European organization ELENA, a European Investment Bank initiative aimed at providing grants for technical assistance focused on the implementation of energy efficiency, distributed renewable energy and urban transport projects and programmes. The added value of the ELENA programme is not only its financial support for innovation, but also the acceleration of the preparatory phases which are crucial for the successful setting up and completion of the project.

An integral part of the project was the presentation of examples of the practice of energy innovations in Czech cities which have many years' experience implementing energy efficient solutions and are signatories to the Covenant of Mayors. The workshop also offered the possibility of drawing inspiration from successful projects of partner cities from Slovakia.

The final discussions at the roundtables resulted in specific themes and challenges the cities are faced with. These themes include streamlining financial planning within the city, support for pilot projects, the need for qualitative criteria for different measurement methods, problematic availability of energy data, management of buildings owned by the city and the absence of the post of energy manager in cities.

Smart and sustainable cities – it is not only about technologies, but about people above all

Bringing together almost 80 participants, the nationwide Healthy Cities seminar called A Smart and Sustainable City took place in Prague on Tuesday, 22 May, 2018. The theme was “smart” solutions supporting sustainable development in towns and cities. The primary focus of the whole event was the citizen and its active engagement. The seminar was held under the auspices Minister for Regional Development.

The ministry for Regional Development put forward a concept of smart cities from the ministries' perspective. It welcomed the long-term cooperation with the National Network of Healthy Cities and the Union of Towns and Municipalities. The ministry is working actively to ensure that funds from national resources are more strategic in the coming period and are not the only source of funding for the development of municipalities. It is also focused on the need for well-thought long-term development, i.e., to know where a given municipality is heading. This is a necessary step prior to the improvement of technological infrastructure, digitization, better mobility and data handling and its use to forecast development. In addition, the ministry introduced the Smart Cities principles which put citizens, who are the “end-users” of public services and should play a greater part in local development, at the forefront. Similarly, this also applies to companies and their corporate social responsibility. As the main coordinator and knowledge partner at national level, the Ministry for Regional Development is keen to provide significant help in implementing the above-mentioned principles.

The representatives of the Central Bohemian Innovation Centre emphasized the importance of a broad cooperation and networking of not only municipalities, companies and schools, but also of museums, libraries and all other stakeholders. It is important to require such research in order to meet the needs of municipalities. The Union of Towns and Municipalities introduced the LepšíMěsta.cz / Better Cities platform and the forthcoming “recipe book” where the city or town can enter its requirements to be addressed in the areas of transport, energy or e-government, and find model solutions created in cooperation with partners from private and academic sectors. HCCZ added information about the international Healthy City programme enabling to combine smart solutions with their strategic direction which also takes into account the citizens' viewpoint.

For detailed information, click HERE.

Politicians, coordinators and experts discussed the health of the population

Almost 70 participants including politicians, health experts, coordinators and other stakeholders from cities and towns attended the Czech Healthy Cities' seminar on Public health – the topic of the upcoming local elections in 2018. The event was held under the aegis of the Minister of Health Adam Vojtech.

Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic reported on the latest activities, up-to-date information and services offered to its members. Systemic health promotion and the related quality of life are the main areas of interest of Czech Healthy cities and regions and it is therefore an essential part of the effort for comprehensive sustainable development. It is important for cities and towns to draw up their own expert action framework – a health plan which will set out specific objectives and activities to promote health and will be linked to annual financial management of the city budget or seeking support from external sources.

The presentation of the Regional Office of the National Institute of Public Health in Jihlava discussed how local politicians could use the issue of health more effectively. Leaders of cities, towns and regions are not always successful in harnessing the communication potential of the health issue and health status of the population. Apart from that, municipalities can manage a wide range of tools to influence the health status of their citizens – subsidy schemes, projects and awareness campaigns to promote health and healthy lifestyles, and public fora to discuss and plan health together with citizens, etc.

National Health Promotion Network looked at what and how cities and towns can or cannot influence through their local health policies. From the perspective of a municipality, it is crucial to have a systemic approach based on risk analysis and knowledge of the health status of the population. Only when such an analysis is carried out, it can be followed up by a health plan or a policy aimed at creating conditions for good health of the population. The Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic informed the participants about the data sources aimed at evaluating health indicators at regional and local level. Furthermore, the Institute introduced the National Health Information System, which has undergone significant change in recent years. It is a unified national information system of public administration which collects and processes personal and other data from basic registers of public authorities, ministries and health service providers.

For more information, click HERE.

Annual Energy Cities Conference in Rennes – Healthy Cities were there

The annual Energy Cities Conference was held in Rennes (France) between 18- 20 April. The event was also attended by the representatives of the Healthy Cities office of the Czech Republic together with the Healthy Cities of Litomerice and Roznov pod Radhostem, including Slovak partners from the Union of Towns and Cities of Slovakia and the city of Trnava. The main themes addressed were energy transition of municipalities to renewable energy, zero carbon emissions by 2050, the Covenant of Mayors initiative, sharing of successful projects among European cities and up-to-date information on the procedures and strategies coordinated by the European Commission.

The programme of the first day was dedicated to the mayors of European towns and cities and the representatives of international institutions who discussed the future EU energy strategy, legislative changes for the 2019-2024 period and the financial resources for the 2020 -2027 programming period. Furthermore, the Healthy Cities representatives took part in inspiring site visits and workshops which included, e.g., the retro-fitting – renovation projects of low energy social housing in block of flats and housing estates. The second day of the conference covered new possibilities for cross-sectoral financial cooperation in building capacities for the implementation of energy innovations in cities involving citizens and other stakeholders.

For more information, click on: http://www.annualconferen1ce.energy-cities.eu/ or twitter.com/energycities.

https://twitter.com/ZdravaMesta/status/987242364975632384

Healthy Cities held the DAYS WITHOUT INJURIES campaign

Held mainly in the first part of June, the campaign called “Days without Injuries”, which involves annually a number of Healthy cities, towns and regions, is aimed at injury prevention. The awareness activities, which were organised as part of this campaign, are focused primarily on road traffic injuries and injuries in schools and sports grounds. Since the most vulnerable group to be involved in road traffic accidents are children and the elderly, a series of lectures were held in nurseries and primary schools. Special events were also dedicated to the safety of the elderly. Furthermore, first aid training to provide assistance in case of injuries and accidents is an essential part of the campaign.

To prevent road traffic accidents and injuries, cities can use proven methodologies such as the “Safe Journey to School” programme or the “Ride a Bike Only with a Helmet” campaign. Days without Injuries in Healthy Cities are also supported by the National Institute of Public Health and its locally competent offices.

"European Sustainable Development Week 2018" with the active involvement of Healthy Cities' members

This year's European Sustainable Development Week was held in May/June for the fourth time. Most of the cities and organizations joning in Czech republic were from Healthy Cities members. The objective of the campaign was to show that we want and are able to live in a society which respects its environment and those who will come after us. Several changes were being undertaken following last year's successful edition – the fundamental change was that this year's week of activities focused on youth and educational institutions.

European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW) is a European-wide festival aimed at disseminating the ideas of sustainable development and encouraging organisations and individuals living the ideas of sustainable development. Annually, the event is attended by tens of thousands of people across Europe.

After last year's successful edition which saw a record of 147 events held in the Czech Republic, this year the organizers focused on schools and educational institutions. Teachers and educators can use a special section of our website containing various methodologies for teachers.