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- ItemCommunity economies in eco-communities: Spaces of collaboration, opportunities and dilemmas(Bloomsbury, 2025-07-10) Malý Blažek, JanWhile there is evidence of concrete environmental outcomes from eco-communities and anthropological research has informed on the cultural or governance aspects of living together, relatively little research has focused on eco-communities from an economic perspective, including their economic and financial sustainability, impact on local economies and the conceptualization of different economic, organizational and co-production models and their replicable potential. In this chapter, I argue that in order to understand their potential in terms of transformation/resilience, there needs to be also a more robust elaboration of how their social and environmental goals and outcomes relate to their economies. This requires both a theoretical framework and more empirical evidence.
- ItemAccidental degrowth practices: Illustrations from Czechia(Routledge Environment and Sustainability Handbooks, 2025-07-17) Ferenčuhová, Slavomíra; Fraňková, Eva; Hoření Samec, Tomáš; Malý Blažek, JanThis chapter in the Routledge Handbook on Degrowth challenges prevailing conceptualisations of degrowth, which portray it mainly as a result of deliberate political strategies. It argues that this perspective often overlooks practices that align with the degrowth movement in various ways, but which are undertaken outside of it, by actors who are unaware, who lack specific degrowth goals, and often result from trajectories which are not straightforward. Using an empirical example from Central and Eastern Europe, from an applied research project in the Czech Republic focusing on the introduction of a collaborative housing concept, a practice aligned with degrowth, the chapter engages in a conversation with authors who focus on similar practices, calling them everyday degrowth, quiet degrowth or real-existing degrowth, and proposes a new concept of accidental degrowth. By using the word ‘accidental’, the focus is on practices characterised by not only a lack of intentionality, but also by haphazardness, uncertain goals and non-linear, fuzzy results, as well as by the crucial role of affects and emotions when engaging with unaware actors outside the movement. The concept reflects the inevitable complexity and accidentality of the processes by which new realities potentially aligned with degrowth principles emerge, and sometimes disappear.
- ItemSTRUCTURAL AND SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PANEL HOUSING ESTATES IN BRNO(2024-09-06) Juříček, PavelPoster presented at the WORLD MULTIDISCIPLINARY CONGRESS on Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Planning conference. Approximately a quarter of the Czech population lives in panel housing estates. Despite such a large residential structure, some data are difficult to trace. The article focuses mainly on panel housing estates in Brno. It aims to make the available data (Czech Statistical Office, cadastre, vector data, etc.) more transparent, even in graphical maps. The panel housing estates Kohoutovice, Lesná, Starý and Nový Lískovec, Vinohrady, and Komárov are described. The selection was based on the maximum possible variety of urban structures and constellations. The main topic of the text is the structural systems of Brno's panel housing estates (Series G, T0xB, VVÚ-ETA, B70, OP, etc.), and their impact on the form of public space is examined. Among other things, the ratio of built-up and unbuilt-up areas, the percentage of transport, greenery, and the representation of public amenities within a particular panel housing estate were investigated. It also describes the possibilities of adaptation of a specific structural system and the extent of current reconstructions in a given panel housing estate. On the scale of an apartment (layout changes), an apartment building (extensions, additions), and the whole housing estate (adaptation to increased traffic load, etc.). The most widely observed reconstruction element is the addition of higher floors, mainly in Brno-Kohoutovice. The ownership structure is also described as houses and public spaces, where the owner can be either a private owner (residents of the house, co-owners, or investors) or public ownership (the city or municipality). Among the individual settlements, it is possible to observe, for example, the highest percentage of green space, the highest average number of flats in an apartment building, or the highest percentage of urban land. A trend abroad and slowly in the Czech Republic is the comprehensive revitalization of panel housing estates in terms of buildings and public space. Data can indicate the potential development of panel housing estates and the future usability of individual construction systems.
- ItemOpen Space between Residential Buildings as a Factor of Sustainable Development – Case Studies in Brno (Czech Republic) and Vienna (Austria)(IOP Publishing, 2017-12-21) Kilnarová, Pavla; Wittmann, MaxmilianThe characteristics of open spaces between residential buildings have, as authors suppose, an impact on the sustainable development of urban areas. Spatial arrangement and accessibility of these spaces, the type and height of surrounding buildings, the quantity and character of greenery, and many more characteristics influence the quality of environment, and the quality of life of local residents. These and further characteristics of the open spaces between residential buildings influence the ecological stability of the area, its hygienic qualities, the intensity and way of using by various social groups, and also the prices of real estates. These qualities indicate the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the urban area. The proposed research methodology assessed specific indicators of sustainability within a range from 0 to 10 points. 5 points correspond to the general standard in the area, 0 points indicate degradation, and 10 points indicate the highest contribution to sustainable development. Observation methods, questionnaire survey, statistical analyses, and methods of measurement were used to determine the values of the given indicators. The paper analyses the impact of the open spaces between residential buildings on sustainability via the case studies performed in the Central European cities of Brno, Czech Republic and Vienna, Austria. Two forms of residential urban structures in the City of Brno in the Czech Republic were selected for the analysis: the closed courtyards in the urban block from the 19th century and the open spaces in the housing estates constructed under socialism in the 20th century. The question is, if the different forms of spaces between residential buildings influence the sustainability of urban area and satisfaction of inhabitants in different ways. A complementary case study in Vienna indicates that inhabitants of a housing estate in Vienna, as well as inhabitants of housing estates in Brno, highly appreciate the meaning of large green open spaces between buildings. The paper presents results of basic research. The results indicate that the sustainability of open housing estate forms is higher than the authors expected.
- ItemShould We Go Online? Decisions Made In the Midst of Pandemic(Czech Technical University in Prague, 2022-05-04) Štěpánková, LenkaThe results of the research carried out as a set of interviews at the end of 2020. Research aimed to disclose decision making processes that occurred in several public institutions that during the pandemic organized or considered organizing online event.