Czech Healthy Cities Summer School 2016: Funds, Quality, Housing, Health and Sustainable Development

Over 140 municipal representatives, not only Czech Healthy Cities Network members, but also other interested parties attended Healthy Cities Summer School 2016 at the Museum of City of Chrudim. The main themes discussed covered funds, quality management of local authorities, sustainable development, affordable housing, waste-free economy, quality of life of seniors and awards for young people who are not afraid of big challenges. The participants were welcomed by the mayor of Chrudim and the vice-chairman of Czech Healthy Cities Network Petr Reznicek and chairman Petr Hermann. The morning session was opened by Petr Valdman, director of the State Environmental Fund, with a very interesting presentation on current possibilities of obtaining financial support for municipalities and towns. He gave a comprehensive account of ongoing and forthcoming calls for subsidies within the framework of Operational Programme and National Environmental Programme. The director of Czech Healthy Cities Network Petr Svec emphasized the themes of strategic planning and management, and interconnection of the programmes Healthy City, Local Agenda 21 and Smart City. Furthermore, he invited the participants to events that will be held in the nearest future and will culminate in Sustainable City Conference in December where the most advanced municipalities will present their inspiration and practices.

Jan Holcik from the Health Literacy Institute opened a very interesting session devoted to systematic support of health support and sustainable development. He looked at the requirements for good quality life in healthy conditions. In his presentation, he explained the meaning and significance of health literacy and evaluated the results from its first measurement in the Czech Republic. He also stressed the importance of the role of public administration and municipalities in particular in health care. He was followed by Jan Mares from the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic who reviewed the current progress of work on the emerging Czech Republic 2030 Strategy. He emphasized that participation is the cornerstone of successful governance.

During the session devoted to the exchange of ideas, the representatives of Healthy municipalities of Prague 7, Steti, Chrudim and Prachatice presented their inspirational solutions to the issues of waste, affordable housing, cooperation with a municipal architect, urban planning, support of towns trying to tackle the issue of seniors and the Dofe Award – for young people who do not fear big challenges. The participants appreciated both the content and the organisation of the event.

The next two days followed with three parallel high-intensity training sessions on cooperation with media, competence models, and project management for Healthy Cities “beginners”. Other issues such as methodological procedures or practical questions were also dealt with in great detail.

We thank all the speakers and participants for creating an inspirational atmosphere. We also thank the hosting Chrudim Healthy City for great preparation of the whole event.

The presentations and the photos from the conference available here: www.nszm.cz/ls2016.

The activities are financially supported by the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic.

Adapted to Climate Changes? Activities Already Started in Chrudim.

A team charged with discussing measures to mitigate the impact of climate changes on towns and its surroundings met for the first time in the second half of June in Chrudim Healthy City. Despite occasional denial of the issue, a variety of models clearly demonstrate that in the near future our geographical conditions will see not only the rise of temperature and the decrease of rainfall but also a growing number of extreme weather events such as torrential rains, flash floods etc. Chrudim, which was the first town in Czech Republic to have gone through a thorough sustainable development audit, intends to be ready.

The introductory meeting between the local authority, the leaders of the town and the experts R. Misiacek, Z. Frelich and V. Lekes, who have gained considerable experience of the issue not only from the Czech Republic but also from abroad, brought numerous inspiring ideas. By the end of 2016, when the “Chrudim Strategy of climate change adaptation” is supposed to be devised, a range of meetings will take place and thorough expert work will be carried out. The document will identify major risks and the impacts of climate changes on Chrudim. It will suggest concrete measures to tackle e.g. the rise of temperature in selected areas, decrease in precipitation, loss of biodiversity and other phenomena related to mentioned climate changes. The strategy combines external expert suggestions and will make full use of the knowledge of key local actors, as well as existing work and documents of the town. The experience of Chrudim will be used as examples of good practice or innovation, and a catalogue of possible solutions and recommendations for other Healthy Cities will be prepared. This activity is fully financed by Czech Healthy Cities Network from the Good Quality LA21 in municipalities and regions project.

The mayor Petr Reznicek confirmed the importance of the issue, especially in the long-term vision of the town. He recalled its complexity and the fact that it is not limited to the boundaries of the town and also mentioned its high economic impact. “It is no momentary matter to be fixed immediately. However, we can already consider appropriate measures during reconstructions and make use of best practices. What is really crucial is awareness raising – not only among our citizens and entrepreneurs but also, especially in case of Chrudim, among big farmers whose ways of farming have profound influence on the impact of torrential rains on the selected areas of the town.“, says the mayor of Chrudim P. Reznicek.

The project was supported by the funds from the European Social Fund provided to the project implementation from the Operational Programme “Employment”.

Cultural Planning in Towns… and how to go about it?

Despite being an important factor in the development of a town, culture is often an underrated topic of little impact on strategic or territorial documents. Czech Healthy Cities Network in cooperation with expert partners from NGOs Culture Matters and Kvas looks for a solution to this situation. The outcome of these efforts is two new methodologies which will be tested for the first time in Litomerice and Jihlava Healthy Cities. The testing of both methodologies is funded by the Healthy Cities project “Good quality LA21 in municipalities and regions” supported by the funds from the Operational Programme “Employment”. Following the testing, the methodologies will be offered to all Healthy Cities interested in this topic.

The first of these documents, which will be tested in Jihlava, is a methodology for mapping cultural and social facilities in connection to territorial analytical documents. The analysis will provide the town with a comprehensive view of available cultural facilities using GIS date. It will become a significant document for updating both the territorial and strategic plans of the town. Another document, tested in Litomerice, will be the methodology for assessing cultural organizations of the town. The methodology will focus on aspects of cultural organisations which have not yet been evaluated. One of these aspects is e.g. geographical impact of a cultural organisation or artistic quality.

The preparation of these documents was launched during a meeting that took place on 7 June 2016 in Brno. The introductory meetings in Litomerice and Jihlava were held at the beginning of holidays.

The project was supported by the funds from the European Social Fund provided to the project implementation from the Operational Programme “Employment”.

Healthy Cities Public Fora Enjoy Success. In the first half of the year, twenty-eight events were held with an attendance of 2500 citizens!

In the first half of 2016, twenty-eight Healthy Cities Public Fora were held bringing together 2500 citizens. The highest attendance was achieved at the Public Forum of Litomerice Healthy CIty which was attended by 200 citizens. For September, new meetings are planned with already 21 registered towns so far.

A Healthy Cities Public Forum is a meeting which allows citizens to determine the biggest issues of their municipalities and identify by voting 10P – ten priorities. Subsequently, the results are confirmed by a survey which questions a wider range of citizens. At the forum, the participants also learn about the way the themes, which were identified at the previous public forum, were tackled. The public fora are attended not only by the representatives of local authorities but also by the representatives of NGOs, schools, and other outside experts. Young people became regular attendees of public fora. The themes and issues determined at the "youngsters" roundtable are usually chosen between the final 10 priorities.

One of the favourite events is Youth Fora, which have already taken place this year in the following Healthy Cities: Jihlava, Chrudim, Litomerice, Koprivnice and Mlada Boleslav. These forums are a platform where pupils and students discuss development of municipalities. The results of these public fora, as well as those of the “adults” fora, are then presented to and dealt with by municipal or local councils.

Moreover, Healthy Cities offer its members a free service called “emotional maps”, acompanying the discussion with stressing the favourite places or places to be "redesigned" in a concrete local map.

This year, Litomerice Healthy City tested for the first time a participatory budgeting model following a Healthy Cities Public Forum. It is no longer necessary to use costly external providers or to allocate vast amount of money divided as part of participatory budgeting.

The list of dates and venues of public fora can be found at the following website: www.ZdravaMesta.cz/forum and www.ZdravaMesta.cz/mladeforum. Here, you can also find information about 10P – ten priorities identified at a public forum in a given municipality, related strategic documents, contact information and invitations to events.

The activities are financially supported by the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic.

In the First Half of 2016, Czech Healthy Cities Network Increased Its Membership by 7 Members

Czech Healthy Cities Network keeps significantly growing. This year, the association has already been joined by 7 towns, municipalities and Prague municipal districts: Benesov, Havlickuv Brod, Krhova, Prague 8, Prague 10, Tynec nad Sazavou, Vyzlovka.

In the first half of the year, the number of the association´s members amounted to 130 with a regional influence over 2,105 towns and municipalities with 5,454 millions of inhabitants living there (52% of the population of the Czech Republic).

We heartily welcome all new members. We believe that exchange of information will be of mutual benefit and that both the new and existing members will be interested in active cooperation and sharing of experience. Czech Healthy Cities Network provides ample space and possibilities of meeting, joint consultations, including possibilities to finance members’ projects and specific activities, and good practice examples.

The list of all Healthy Cities members is available HERE.

This Year´s European Mobility Week: “Smart and Clean Mobility. Strong Economy”

European Mobility Week (from 16 to 22 September) takes place every year since 2002 with the aim to promote safe and environmentally-friendly means of transport in towns and cities. This year too, Czech Healthy Cities, Towns and Regions will join the campaign. (www.ZdravaMesta.cz/etm). 

This event is an ideal opportunity to present alternatives of sustainable mobility to citizens, to explain problems that towns and municipalities are faced with, to bring about changes in behaviour, and to make progress towards creating a more sustainable transport strategy for Europe.

European Mobility Week aims to influence mobility and urban transport, as well as to improve citizens´ health and quality of life. It offers the citizens the possibility of learning about the role of city streets in reality, and of exploring particular solutions to urban issues such as air pollution. Local authorities are encouraged to use European Mobility Week to test new measures in transport to obtain citizens´ feedback. It is also a great opportunity for local businessmen to discuss various aspects of mobility and quality of air, to search for innovative solutions with the aim of curbing the car use and thus reduce emissions, and to discuss the possibility of testing new technologies.

Registration for European Mobility Week at: http://registration.mobilityweek.eu/login.php