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.
