What does the Czech Healthy Cities Network offer (not only) to its member? What services can its cities, towns and regions use?

We have created a brand new promotional material of benefits and network services, that our network (HCCZ) provides to its members – cities, towns and regions of the Czech Republic.

The leaflet includes a clear overview of what HCCZ does in the area of civic participation, sustainable development or project and quality management. We provide knowhow, share good practice and promote and inspire across many stakeholders on national, international and local level. We would like you to join and share your experience – you´ll see, it´s worth it!

Starting autumn, Czech Healthy Cities have increased options of following ...

Social media... besides our very popular Facebook, which is shared amongst 14 000 users, we have created INSTAGRAM and TWITTER. Both accounts are focused on sharing brand new inspirations, interesting pictures, news from sustainable development field and good practice not only from the Czech Republic, but from international partners and networks as well.

We would like to invite you to become followers of this sharing experience that helps spread sustainable development even further!

Facebook facebook.com/NSZM.CZ
Instagram instagram.com/ZdravaMesta  #zdravamesta  #inspiromat
Twitter twitter.com/ZdravaMesta @ZdravaMesta

Why is it good to be a Healthy Region: the Vysocina Region (magazine “For Cities and Municipalities”, October 2017)

Martin Hysky, Vysocina Region Councillor

(a Healthy Cities member since 2004, approximately 510 000 inhabitants)

Healthy Cities provide its members with methodological support in implementing activities related to the Healthy Region Program or Local Agenda 21. The Healthy Cities staff are ready to offer advice personally or virtually at any time. A major advantage of membership is the possibility to exchange experience and good (but also bad) practices with other members of the network dealing with similar issues. The coordinator of the Vysocina Healthy Region Program and LA21 makes use of the possibility of accredited training and acquiring new specialized information at Healthy Cities Schools. These training events are also an opportunity for face-to-face meetings between coordinators and politicians from Healthy Cities and Regions, and other prominent figures from all over the Czech Republic.

I also perceive the membership of our Region in Healthy Cities as a prestigious matter. All activities related to the Healthy Region Program and Local Agenda 21 are closely interconnected. In implementing Local Agenda 21, our Region complies with the LA21 criteria, and has achieved the category C since 2009. Every two years, we hold a Vysocina Region public forum attended by some 140 representatives of the specialized and lay public who discuss topical issues and problems of the Region. In 2017, the first Youth Forum of the Vysocina Region took place. This activity will be followed by further regular meetings.

From the good practice examples of the Region, I would like to mention for example the policy agenda of Health 2020 for the Vysocina Region. Its main objective is to improve systematically and conceptually the health and key health indicators of our Region's population. We have been preparing various activities to promote health and provide financial support to the implementers of these activities within the Region. With methodological support from Healthy Cities, the document is the product of the cooperation of specialists from various public institutions and non-profit sector, as well as medical professions. Our Region also provides systematic financial support to LA21 implementers and schools involved in the National Network of Healthy Schools. The annual allocation of this tool is 2, 800, 000 CZK, which earned our Region the Good Practice Stamp Award awarded by Healthy Cities. In 2009, a new event called Clean Vysocina was created as part of the awareness-raising campaign Earth Day. It involves the collection of rubbish from the roadsides and public spaces by volunteers from schools, companies, NGOs, municipalities and private individuals. The event is organized by our Region in cooperation with the regional administration.

Experience, good practice and cooperation at the Autumn HEALTHY CITIES SCHOOL 2017

The traditional autumn meeting of not only Healthy Cities but also for other participants, held between 1-3 November 2017, was attended by more than 130 representatives of cities, towns and regions from all over the Czech Republic, as well as NGOs and other partner organizations. The introductory seminar of the Autumn Healthy Cities School provided inspiration for topics such as financial resources, quality of local authorities, sustainable development, health promotion, clean mobility, data processing, involvement of entrepreneurs, emotional maps, school fora or the Antifetfest film festival.

The presentation of Vsetin Healthy City was undertaken by the Vsetin deputy mayor, Simona Hlavacova, whose contribution also looked at the example of employment through community service. At the national level, topics such as clean mobility, waste conversion to resources, support and innovation in the field of quality management or conducting sustainable development audits were addressed by selected representatives of public administration and the ministries of the Czech Republic.

The themes of three parallel intensive training sessions, which took place in the following days, focused on project creation and management, handling communication in difficult situations, and systemic approach to implementing the Healthy city/town/region programmes and the LA21 methodology – all courses involved practical hands-on skills training, including a number of recommendations and practical examples. The final day was devoted to practical training in using the Healthy Cities information system called DataPlan or exploiting social networks.

PHOTOS and all the presentations (in Czech) from the event are available on www.nszm.cz/ps2017.

Czech Healthy Cities rank high in PARTICIPATION RATE INDEX

Developed by the organization Democracy 21, the Participation rate index evaluates the activities of towns in relation to public involvement, communication and transparency. The index evaluates the situation of the years 2015 - 2016 in the largest municipalities of the Czech Republic (Prague + 100 largest cities + 50 municipal districts with over 10,000 inhabitants). The resulting index value is the sum of assessments of 21 indicators. They are interconnected and cover 6 categories (transparency, communication, involvement, inclusion, implementation, evaluation).

We are pleased that the results indicate that Healthy Cities are leaders in participatory processes and involvement of citizens in decision making about their place of living, and that they make full use of their experience, provide continuous training and cooperate with expert partners. The top 50 positions of this independent rating mainly consist of Czech Healthy Cities (64%).