From a\u00a0team of\u00a0three in\u00a01993, the organization has expanded to\u00a053 permanent employees who have been helping in\u00a0the implementation of\u00a0more than 3,500 projects. Is\u00a0there still room or\u00a0potential for further growth?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nFoundation programmes are evolving and changing. Last year, the project \u017div\u00e1 p\u016fda, led by\u00a0our colleague Zuzana Bene\u0161ov\u00e1, experienced the most dynamic development. The project offers advice for landowners, generating and rating of\u00a0lease agreements, and is\u00a0behind the creation of\u00a0the Platform for Regenerative Agriculture. The farmers who are involved present the principles and proven practices of\u00a0arable land management that lead to\u00a0its restoration and thus support the\u00a0restart of\u00a0landscape functions.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0significant step for the foundation was the launch of\u00a0the Partnership for Sustainable Recovery of\u00a0Ukraine. This programme seeks out, connects, and also educates local leaders from Ukrainian cities, municipalities, universities and media during weekly internships in\u00a0the Czech Republic. The most pressing internship topics are waste, water management, and power engineering. The goal of\u00a0the programme is\u00a0to\u00a0strengthen the absorptive capacity for quality, sustainable projects of\u00a0the local Ukrainian administration and to\u00a0support a\u00a0bottom-up\u00a0transformation of\u00a0the environment and adaptation as\u00a0a\u00a0cross-cutting theme of\u00a0all investments. Thanks to\u00a0the\u00a0internships, the first partnerships and specific supplies of\u00a0technology from Czech companies are created. The programme is\u00a0based on\u00a0Miroslav Kundrata\u2019s\u00a0experience from the\u00a01990s; thanks to\u00a0the Foundation, a\u00a0number of\u00a0Czech civil society leaders and mayors completed similar internships in\u00a0Western Europe and the USA.<\/p>\n
You participate in\u00a0the support of\u00a0cross-border projects. Is\u00a0the\u00a0Foundation\u2018s ambition to\u00a0expand its activities beyond the borders of\u00a0the Czech Republic?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nWe\u00a0want to\u00a0continue to\u00a0strengthen the European reach. From Brno, we\u00a0coordinate the European Tree of\u00a0the Year survey. People from our individual programmes are involved in\u00a0the activities of\u00a0transnational associations from the Climate Alliance to\u00a0the European Cyclist\u2019s\u00a0Federation. In\u00a0Brussels, we\u00a0\u201eshare\u201c colleague Adam Holub with the European Landowners Organisation.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0addition to\u00a0supporting external projects, the Foundation also has its own projects. As\u00a0an\u00a0example, I\u00a0will mention the very successful Adapterra Awards project and the Tree of\u00a0the Year project, which is\u00a0very popular among the public.<\/p>\n
Do\u00a0you have a\u00a0project hidden on\u00a0the back burner, so\u00a0to\u00a0speak, that you would like to\u00a0implement, but for some reason it\u00a0has not been possible? Alternatively, what new projects can we\u00a0look forward to\u00a0in\u00a0the future?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nWe\u00a0are following the process of\u00a0implementing the EU\u00a0Nature Restoration Law into national policies. I\u00a0suppose it\u00a0will give us\u00a0more room for cooperation with farmers. In\u00a0municipalities, it\u00a0will increase their awareness of\u00a0the impacts of\u00a0farming in\u00a0the\u00a0agricultural landscape and ways of\u00a0managing water, and thus also the awareness of\u00a0the\u00a0link between the health of\u00a0the surrounding landscape and the quality of\u00a0life in\u00a0villages. We\u00a0are therefore preparing a\u00a0fund for the recovery of\u00a0the Czech landscape, which will provide both assistance and support to\u00a0smaller municipalities, the transfer of\u00a0good practice, and financial support for such innovative projects that would not receive support from SEF or\u00a0NCA CR.<\/p>\n
What do\u00a0you see most as\u00a0an\u00a0appreciation of\u00a0your work and the work of\u00a0your team?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe answer follows from the name of\u00a0the Foundation. One of\u00a0our values is\u00a0healthy partnerships. They are manifested in\u00a0the trust of\u00a0our supporters, philanthropists, as\u00a0well as\u00a0beneficiaries. In\u00a0the implementation of\u00a0their and our projects, the involvement of\u00a0the public is\u00a0essential. Simultaneously, it\u00a0does not work without trust and openness of\u00a0municipalities, cities, and regions. The appreciation is\u00a0these partnership ties, which make it\u00a0possible to\u00a0have the impact in\u00a0local communities and their immediate surroundings.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0your latest newsletter, you speak, among other things, about the\u00a0way our country is\u00a0able to\u00a0implement changes in\u00a0the landscape, such as\u00a0widening rivers, returning wetlands to\u00a0nature, and so\u00a0on. Why are changes in\u00a0the public space of\u00a0urban areas so\u00a0much more complicated?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nThis does not apply in\u00a0general. It\u00a0depends on\u00a0local conditions, the complexity of\u00a0ownership relationships, the state of\u00a0complex land improvements and so\u00a0on. When improving the quality of\u00a0public space in\u00a0cities and towns, it\u00a0is\u00a0necessary to\u00a0include adaptation measures in\u00a0the investment: natural cooling of\u00a0the space with water, evaporation through greenery, water capture and its retention for later irrigation. It\u00a0is\u00a0important to\u00a0choose the right composition of\u00a0trees, taking into account the future development of\u00a0the site \u2013 for example, traffic needs, further development in\u00a0the vicinity, and maintenance requirements. Solving conflicts with technical networks can be\u00a0difficult.<\/p>\n
What does climate change mean to\u00a0you as\u00a0Foundation Director?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nLast year the Director of\u00a0TEREZA, Educational Centre in\u00a0Prague, Petr Dani\u0161, published the book Klima je\u00a0p\u0159\u00edle\u017eitost (Climate is\u00a0an\u00a0Opportunity). It\u2018s\u00a0the same for me. Climate change accentuates the need to\u00a0restore the functions of\u00a0our landscape, its water regime, and improve the quality of\u00a0life in\u00a0urban areas. It\u00a0creates pressure for efficient and decentralized energy solutions, for saving resources. It\u00a0brings a\u00a0new perspective on\u00a0externalities \u2013 for example, how a\u00a0new production hall mitigates or\u00a0worsens the effects of\u00a0climate change. In\u00a0general, the entire area of\u00a0green construction is\u00a0a\u00a0huge opportunity, strengthened by\u00a0efforts to\u00a0mitigate and adapt functionally to\u00a0the impacts of\u00a0climate change \u2013 from the use of\u00a0recyclates to\u00a0water management and on-site recycling and reuse to\u00a0island energy solutions.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0connection with climate change, we\u00a0read on\u00a0your website that increased temperatures can even affect the taste of\u00a0Czech beer due to\u00a0the effect on\u00a0the\u00a0quality of\u00a0hop cones. This is\u00a0certainly bad news for many Czechs. J<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nWe\u00a0are not yet sure if\u00a0their impact could also be\u00a0an\u00a0improvement in\u00a0taste. J In\u00a0any case, for many patriots and consumers of\u00a0these products, it\u00a0will be\u00a0balanced by\u00a0the\u00a0increasing quality of\u00a0Czech and Moravian wines.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kazda, thank you very much for the interview.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you know Tree of the Year, Planting for the Future, and the Adapterra Awards? And do you know what an Open Garden is? Do you use Greenways? All this and much more is related to the Partnership Environmental Foundation in Brno, whose director since 2019 has been Ing. Petr Kazda. Why is climate change a challenge for him that can bring us new opportunities?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":28787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,93],"tags":[3437,3439,3474,120,3472,3473,3440,3443],"coauthors":[1742,2785],"class_list":["post-29076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-world-of-water-management","category-two-articles","tag-adapterra","tag-adapterra-awards","tag-director-of-partnership-environmental-foundation","tag-interview","tag-open-garden","tag-partnership-environmental-foundation","tag-strom-roku","tag-zelene-stezky-greenways"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29076"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32006,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29076\/revisions\/32006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29076"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=29076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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