THE EARTH DAY CAmPAIgN APRIL 22 2007
THE EARTH DAY CAmPAIgN APRIL 22 2007
THE EARTH DAY CAmPAIgN APRIL 22 2007
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B U L L E T I N<br />
S p e c i A l<br />
A P R I L 2 0 0 7<br />
H E A L T H Y C I T I E S O F T H E C Z E C H R E P U B L I C<br />
The Earth Day Campaign<br />
April <strong>22</strong> <strong>2007</strong><br />
The Earth Day celebrations annually take place all over the world and<br />
act as a reminder to citizens of the current unsatisfactory condition<br />
of the living environment. The campaigns also try to draw attention<br />
to favourable trends that show how to approach our environment in<br />
This year’s campaign has been supported by the following HCCZ cities<br />
and municipalities:<br />
Blansko, Bolatice, Boskovice, Brno, Hodonín, Chrudim, Jilemnice,<br />
Kopřivnice, Kroměříž, Kuřim, Litoměřice, Lomnice nad Popelkou,<br />
Mladá Boleslav, Moravská Třebová, Orlová, Pelhřimov, Poděbrady,<br />
Praha-Libuš and Písnice, Prostějov, Slaný, Strakonice, Strašín,<br />
Strážek, Štětí, Telč, Třebíč, Ústí nad Labem, Uherské Hradiště,<br />
Uherský Brod, Velké Meziříčí, Vsetín, Zlín.<br />
In this special edition of HCCZ Bulletin we bring you bits and pieces<br />
from events held within the Earth Day that was taking place in<br />
a number of cities and municipalities in the course of the whole April<br />
<strong>2007</strong>. Complete overview of activities related to this campaign can be<br />
found at: http://www.nszm.cz/kampane.<br />
Expert debates and educational<br />
programmes for adults and children called<br />
attention to issues of local importance<br />
but also to global issues<br />
of environmental protection<br />
The inhabitants of Uherské Hradiště celebrated the Earth Day by setting up<br />
a new Czech record. 1<strong>22</strong> <strong>22</strong>2 PET bottle caps have been used to compose the<br />
whole image.<br />
a more friendly way. In the USA, San Francisco, 1970 there was the<br />
first Earth Day held and since then the number of locations where<br />
educational events concentrated on eco-friendly handling with wastes,<br />
support of utilisation of renewable resources or issue of global climate<br />
changes, has been growing. This year’s international campaigns<br />
placed strong emphasis exactly on the importance of global climate<br />
protection. A number of events annually also take place in the cities<br />
and municipalities of the Czech Republic. The celebrations of the Earth<br />
Day were this year also joined by 32 Healthy Cities and Municipalities<br />
that prepared rich programme for their inhabitants, including expert<br />
discussions and eco-educational events for children. The favourite<br />
issue of handling with wastes has been complemented by educational<br />
excursions into the nature and presentations of ecological agriculture<br />
and traditional trades. Inhabitants of Healthy Cities and Municipalities<br />
used the Earth day Campaign for improving their surroundings through<br />
spring cleaning and planting of greenery.<br />
This year the cities, municipalities and regions could take part in the<br />
global campaign called Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign.<br />
In presence of the Minister of Environment Dr. Martin Bursík, on the<br />
occasion of the Earth Day on April 16 th in the Healthy City of Brno<br />
there was a public debate about climatic changes, energetic policy<br />
and living environment called “What is Brought by the New European<br />
Energetic Package to the City of Brno and the Czech Republic?”<br />
The discussion took place in the social hall of Jiří Mahen Library and<br />
discussion dealt mostly with the energy savings in passive houses,<br />
projects of panel-house housing estates recultivation, policy in the<br />
Within the Earth Day framework in Brno there was also a debate dedicated<br />
to the issue of climate changes and energetic, among others attended by the<br />
Minister of the Environment, Dr. Martin Bursík.<br />
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area of living environment in the Czech Republic and the European<br />
Union and the issue of renewable resources promotion. In the Healthy<br />
City of Hodonín there was an expert MCAP Session held on April 18 th<br />
under the title “Ecologically in Hodonín”, where the participants were<br />
presented Hodonín’s activities including the project of Ecology-friendly<br />
Office Operation, which is among others a member of the BestPractice<br />
Database. Ninth grade pupils of Božena Němcová basic school in the<br />
Healthy City of Litoměřice had the opportunity to familiarise with the<br />
meaning of the Healthy City Project, in the course of meeting on the<br />
subject “Healthy City, Local Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development”.<br />
The debate was dedicated to the issues and perspective of the city from<br />
the point of view of development and quality of inhabitants’ life. The<br />
greatest deal of attention was drawn by the issue of alternative energy<br />
resources and mainly by the project of geothermal energy utilisation in<br />
Litoměřice. An innovative form of ecological education was chosen in<br />
the Healthy City of Chrudim, where competition for pupils of secondgrade<br />
and high-school students, competing for the best logo and<br />
advertisement slogan to promote environmentally-friendly products<br />
in Chrudim was organised in collaboration with Paleta Eco-Centre as<br />
a part of the Earth Day celebrations. Announcement of the best works<br />
and presentation of awards took place on April 24 on the Ressel Square.<br />
The Healthy City of Zlín hosted the regional global education fair,<br />
dedicated to teachers, non-profit organisations and the public. The<br />
programme of seminars and workshops within the fair framework was<br />
focused on global issues such as human rights, climate changes or Fair<br />
Trade. In the Large Cinema the Zlín spectators also had an opportunity<br />
to see a movie about climate changes called “An Inconvenient Truth”,<br />
which is guided by the USA former vice-president Al Gore. Global<br />
issues were also dealt with in the Healthy City of Slaný, where the local<br />
Ecology Education Centre Javory helped to organise a programme for<br />
selected classes to the issue “Will there Be Wars for Water?”.<br />
Considerate handling with wastes is<br />
reminded in the course of Earth Day<br />
celebrations as a part<br />
of environmentally-friendly life<br />
The Earth Day in the Healthy City of Bolatice was mostly focused<br />
on the issue of wastes. In addition to the educational campaigns<br />
dealing with waste sorting there was also an Open Day in the sewage<br />
treatment plant that raised a great deal of interest. Tens of citizens<br />
thus familiarised with operation and functioning of these devices. The<br />
Many useful things can be made out of plastic bottles. Prior to that, these may<br />
serve as a material for production of sea horses such as in Štětí.<br />
inhabitants of the Healthy City of Štětí had the opportunity to take<br />
part in an expert field trip to the Meva company plc. in Roudnice nad<br />
Labem that produces collecting containers for sorted and mixed waste.<br />
Events concentrated on sorting and recycling of waste along with<br />
excursions to the collection yard and waste treatment plant took place<br />
in the Healthy City of Lomnice nad Popelkou as a part of Earth Day<br />
celebrations. The pupils of local basic school wrote compositions on<br />
the subject of “How we Purify Water in Lomnice nad Popelkou” and<br />
also could practically familiarise with sorting and utilisation of recycled<br />
material in the city and school. The Healthy City of Kuřim organised<br />
a happening on the subject of “Environmentally-Friendly Household”,<br />
where the major part of educational sections was dedicated<br />
exactly to the issue of waste sorting and disposal. Employees of the<br />
environmental department of Municipal Office answered questions<br />
of how to sort waste in Kuřim. The most favourable response was<br />
Containers for sorted waste can be used for both practical and sporting<br />
purposes. In Ústí nad Labem these were used for parallel slalom of couples.<br />
received by compostable bags made of maize starch that decompose<br />
approximately after 30 days to biologically harmless material. The<br />
Healthy City of Poděbrady prepared a thematic exposition in the<br />
area of local school to the issue of “Waste as Raw Material” and for the<br />
smallest children there was a series of fairy-tales with main hero called<br />
“Odpadníček Recyklový” (Recycling Wasteman). Children in after-school<br />
centres and kindergartens of the Healthy City of Kopřivnice created<br />
exhibits made of waste and ecological materials for the exhibition in<br />
the Community Centre entrance hall, with a title “Eco-Exhibition, or<br />
Just Notice the Beauty of the World”. Children could bring their own<br />
contributions into decorated containers for sorted waste. Waste<br />
containers were also used in a unique way in the Healthy City of Ústí<br />
nad Labem. Very attractive spectacle and sports experience were both<br />
offered by the parallel slalom race of couples riding dustbins that was<br />
a part of other competitions for which children received “small coins”<br />
and “bought” rewards of their own selection. On Masarykovo Square on<br />
Wednesday of April 18 th at 9 o’clock, the inhabitants of the Healthy City<br />
of Uherské Hradiště commenced the composition of the largest city<br />
logo of PET bottle caps. Not even cold rain that enriched the colourful<br />
spectacle by an exhibition of umbrellas and plastic raincoats could<br />
discourage the participants from attempt at new Czech record in this<br />
discipline. After termination of the event the bottle caps were handed<br />
over for further processing and recycling. Within the framework of<br />
Earth Day celebrations, the Students’ Parliament of the Healthy City<br />
of Třebíč this year organised a programme whose part was also an<br />
event called “They Also Live among Us”, which was based on creating<br />
animals out of PET bottles. In the Healthy City of Štětí also did not fall<br />
behind and dedicated an expert lecture to the issue of waste and its<br />
sorting. Pupils along with teachers moreover went through the city<br />
and collected paper, plastic, glass and other waste. Afterwards they<br />
documented the whole event and gave a report on pollution of the<br />
city. Cleaning of surroundings was the task chosen by the students of<br />
Medical High School of the Healthy City of Mladá Boleslav. The initial<br />
plan of cleaning a major part of suburban forest “Na Chlumu” was<br />
ruined by surprisingly large amount of waste and illegal waste dumps.<br />
Despite this fact, the participants managed to collect more than 3<br />
thousand kilograms of waste in half a day.<br />
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Billion Tree Campaign also<br />
in the Healthy Cities<br />
The Earth Day Celebrations offer an<br />
opportunity for seeing nature and country<br />
The students and teachers of Stavbařů Grammar School of Ústí nad<br />
Labem jointly undertook to plant in the course of April up to 2000<br />
pines and beech trees in the cadastral area of Povrly municipality.<br />
The Healthy City thus joined the international campaign called Plant<br />
for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign that sets the task of planting one<br />
billion trees over the whole world in the course of <strong>2007</strong>. Within the<br />
framework of this campaign there were ten trees planted in areas of<br />
kindergartens and basic schools and in public places of the Healthy<br />
City District of Praha Libuš and Písnice. There have also been events<br />
dedicated to cleaning and improvement of the surroundings, such<br />
as cleaning of Zátoňská Street surroundings and Písnický Stream,<br />
organised by the local horse-riding club. Volunteers of the Healthy<br />
City of Kromeříž, among whose there also present the Municipal<br />
House representatives, cleaned the Barbořina suburban forest and<br />
the whole event was concluded by the traditional wells opening in<br />
Divokách u Zdounek. Wells and forest were also cleaned in the course<br />
of the Earth Day celebrations in the Healthy City of Strakonice. The<br />
cleaning and opening of Podsrpenská Well, whose patronage has been<br />
taken over by the children of Povážská basic school of Strakonice,<br />
has been also attended by inhabitants of the Healthy Municipality of<br />
In the castle park of the Healthy City of Jilemnice there were the Earth<br />
Day celebrations prepared by workers of the local branch of Consulting<br />
Centre for the Country. The event was visited by 500 pupils and students<br />
of basic and high schools. Owing to external lecturers the participants<br />
could gain in knowledge about spring vegetation, birds and their<br />
voices or about the system of Krkonošský National Park functioning. In<br />
the Healthy City of Vsetín the ALCEDO Association organised the Earth<br />
Day in Panská Garden, where the visitors were welcomed by knowledge<br />
competitions based on identification of trees, birds according to their<br />
silhouettes or identification of footmarks or archaeology. The Earth<br />
Day in the Healthy City of Orlová was realised in the sign of getting<br />
to know the native Americans’ life and their relationship to nature. For<br />
children there were prepared examples of moulded animal footmarks,<br />
Planting of trees belongs among the traditional activities within the Earth Day<br />
celebrations. It has not been any different in the Healthy Mozaika Kindergarten<br />
of Hodonín.<br />
Strážky. Cleaning of Rohová nature reserve has been carried out by<br />
the environmental department workers of Municipal House of the<br />
Healthy City of Moravská Třebová in collaboration with local branch<br />
of Czech Society for Natural Preservation. Approximately 50 children,<br />
pupils and students of Special School then planted suitable wood<br />
plants under expert supervision gardener, along Svitavská Street.<br />
The event took place within the framework of continuous Moravská<br />
Třebová activity called Greening the City Outskirts. The Healthy City<br />
of Chrudim with a support from the part of Partnership Foundation<br />
in the programme called Tree of Life and with the general partner of<br />
the programme, Skanska company, prepared an event for city citizens<br />
called “Regeneration of recreational Areas in Novoměstská Street”.<br />
At the planning meeting of April 16 th the programme was introduced<br />
to public, announcement of public enquiry results took place followed<br />
by the city tour and presentation of created designs. In Chrudim there<br />
will be new recreational area “Under the Trees” created on the basis<br />
of observations and designs. This activity is also a part of the Billion<br />
Tree global campaign that has been also supported by children of local<br />
basic school and kindergarten in Bolatice, who planted 300 trees.<br />
Learning about nature directly in the nature belongs among the best practices<br />
of education of the youngest generation in Chrudim but not only there.<br />
a fold with live horses or examples plant processing for preparation<br />
of tasty native Americans’ foods. In the educational area of SEVER<br />
Ecological Education Centre of the Healthy City of Litoměřice there<br />
was an entertainment afternoon for kindergarten children called “Join<br />
Us Seeing Animals”. Precisely 399 children who visited the event found<br />
out in an entertaining way some more about animals in water, on shore<br />
and in the air, observed small water animals through the microscope<br />
and learned how to identify animal footprints. In the kindergartens<br />
they planted the brought sunflower seeds. In the Healthy City of Velké<br />
Meziříčí they celebrated the Earth Day on the waves of nature. In<br />
addition to the walk through spring nature of Balinské Valley there were<br />
prepared activities that familiarised the participants with water world.<br />
Games, quizzes and experiments with water were complemented by<br />
identification of small water animals. The event has been organised<br />
by the Ostrůvek Ecological Education Centre, detached workplace of<br />
Chaloupky o.p.s. educational facility.<br />
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Historical trades and natural products<br />
symbolise in the Healthy Cities and<br />
Municipalities the tradition that still<br />
inspires today<br />
On the Zachariáš of Hradec Square in the Healthy City of Telč, the<br />
participants of the Earth Day celebrations could find out about<br />
wool processing, taste products of ecological agriculture and visit<br />
an exhibition called “It Is Not Hemp like Hemp”. For the children of<br />
Hradecká basic school there was prepared a programme that included<br />
examples of rope making, basketry and beekeeping. The tradition of<br />
White Carpathians was to be seen in the Healthy City of Uherský<br />
Brod on Masarykovo Square in a form of offer of musts, teas and dried<br />
fruit. Visitors of the event could also purchase bio-foodstuffs and<br />
woollen blankets from eco-farm or candles and honey directly from<br />
beekeeper. In the municipal orchards of the Healthy City of Pelhřimov,<br />
everyone who arrived to the celebrations could try producing bee wax<br />
candles with their own hands or production of recycled paper, in the<br />
Similarly as in last year, the inhabitants of the Municipal district Prague-Libuš<br />
and Písnice joined the cleaning under the word “Let’s Clean Our Surroundings!”<br />
and cakes, work on foot lathe and others. Along the paths of castle park<br />
in the Healthy City of Blansko there was a fair, whose part was also sale<br />
of regional dairy products, pastry and honey. The Olga House for the<br />
handicapped offered hand-made products from its Blanensko-based<br />
workshop. The basic school in Ostrovní Street of the Healthy City of<br />
Štětí prepared for its pupils a visit to Litomeřice workshop producing<br />
hand-made paper and also a trip to Velké Žernoseky and to Porta<br />
Bohemica, focused on getting to know the local landscape and winemaking<br />
tradition of Litoměřice Region.<br />
Besides nature the Earth Day visitors in Jilemnice could also familiarise with<br />
useful information, e.g. about water consumption and its importance related<br />
by works of pupils and students themselves<br />
American-Indian tee-pee they could try work with yet another material<br />
– clay. In the Healthy City of Prostějov there was the Earth day with<br />
eco-fair, presenting kiosks with natural products, bio-foodstuffs and<br />
environmentally-friendly and hand-made products. The accompanying<br />
programme consisted of traditional folk trades such as blacksmithing,<br />
weaving of wicker baskets, products of straw and bast, weaving on<br />
hand loom, work on potter’s wheel, baking of traditional Czech pastry<br />
As well as in past years the Earth Day celebrations have been accompanied<br />
by hundreds of events and the rich programme had attractions for<br />
everyone. In the course of entertaining games and quizzes in nature,<br />
children could meet animals they never saw before and learned why and<br />
how to protect them. Parents and grandparents on the other hand could<br />
familiarise with a number of new options of how to recycle domestic waste<br />
and find out why sorting makes sense. Representatives of all generations<br />
then met together during common cleaning of areas they live in or<br />
where they spend their free time. Others were planting trees, whether for<br />
pleasure out of good turn or within the framework of global campaign for<br />
planting a billion trees for the planet Earth. Others then visited lectures on<br />
how to influence the global problems of our planet by everyday actions<br />
in our municipalities and cities, as well as on how the current generations<br />
influence the quality of life of future generations through their behaviour.<br />
The Earth Day holiday was celebrated by a total of 32 Healthy Cities<br />
and Municipalities who have yet again proven that protection and<br />
restoration of nature make sense.<br />
C O N T A C T S<br />
Healty Cities CZ, Srobárova 48, 100 42 Prague 10, Czech Republic<br />
T: +420 602 500 639 | E: info@nszm.cz | W: www.nszm.cz<br />
Petr Svec, National Coordinator of the Healthy Cities Project<br />
(The photographs were provided by the archives of HCCZ Office<br />
and member cities, municipalities and regions.)<br />
T h i s i s s u e w a s s u p p o r t e d b y t h e E u r o p e a n S o c i a l F u n d a n d t h e C z e c h M i n i s t r y o f E n v i r o n m e n t<br />
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