We protect the climate and teach others to do so
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We have built an educational centre in accordance with passive house standard in Hostětín in the White Carpathians. It is the first passive building in the Czech Republic and you are warmly invited to visit us. We have our own experience with the installation of thermal solar and photovoltaic systems. We also took part in building of local biomass heating plant and took many energy saving measures while reconstructing the Nature Conservation Centre in Brno. Working in Hostětín as well as in Brno, we do not waste energy but save it. We use trains to travel even outside the Czech Republic, drink tap water or buy Czech foodstuffs etc.
How do we teach others?
We have 11 panels of the PRIMAKLIMA exhibition available in order to educate the young and adults so that they clearly understand what is happening with the climate and what each one of us can do to help with its protection. We hold seminars on climate change all over the Czech Republic or participate in them as lecturers.
We also provide an educational programme for children in Hostětín.
Our "Zlínská CO2 liga" ("Zlín CO2 league") is a competition for elementary and secondary schools focused on the issue of climate change, energy savings and renewable energy sources. Competitors present their projects at the final conference in our Hostětín Centre.
Lectures on environmentally friendly building in Brno and Hostětín provide individuals an opportunity for consulting their own new house/flat projects or their reconstructions.
We know about energetically self-sufficient regions in Europe and organize excursions for magistrates of small municipalities, entrepreneurs and other persons concerned on a regular basis.
We issued European ́s practical guide or How to protect the planet which is now available to the general public. We performed and published an analysis of Hostětín projects quantifying savings of greenhouse gases emissions.
We publish texts on climate change and mitigation measures in our "Veronica" magazine and many others. We are also active in the media.
We have our www.veronica.cz/klima (in Czech only) website where we make public translations of significant scientific works as well as other documents so that they are up to date and available to stakeholders and the general public in our country.
How do we lobby to protect the climate?
We participate in creating and commenting of strategic and conceptual materials on local, regional and national levels. Our experts have made an action plan for the Town of Brno to keep the conditions of Úmluva primátorů (The Mayors ́Agreement).
We prepare and discuss the concept of energetically self-sufficient region in the White Carpathians. We are an active member of the Czech Climate Coalition.
What are our achievements?
The Municipality of Hostětín was awarded a national prize for the Czech Republic in the prestigious worldwide International Energy Globe Awards for its contribution to energy saving and environment protection.
We have been invited to take part in the Central Europe Climate Campaigners Programme and have introduced both the 350.org and Earth hour initiatives to the public in the Czech Republic.
The Ecological Institute Veronica
The Ecological Institute Veronica is a professional working place of Local Chapter of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation Veronica. It provides an interpretation of expert environmental issues through its expert and educational activities. It is based in Brno and Hostětín and is engaged in both rural and urban environments. Its wide range of activities begins with local details but also deals with international relations "from Hostětín to Europe".
The Institute Veronica has issued environmentally cultural magazine carrying the same name - Veronica - since 1986. We founded Eco-Counselling and keep on promoting that in the Czech Republic. We have also built up... Hostětín Veronica Centre where theoretical knowledge is being verified wit- hin the framework of sustainable development model projects.
Its expert and educational activities are designed for the general public, specialists, representatives and employees of local authorities, educational institutions, other non-governmental organizations, comprehensive school and university teachers and students as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.
Our mission is to support environmentally friendly relations to nature and landscape and its natural and cultural values.
We are engaged in the research and education that involve these issues
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Nature and landscape conservation
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Sustainable consumption - green household, green office and company
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Climate protection, energy savings and sustainable recources
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Involvement of the public into planning and decision-making processes
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Sustainable regional development
We provide
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Eco-counselling and expert analyses
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Expert and laic public further education - lectures, seminars, conferences,
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panel discussions, round tables, gabfests
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Hostětín model projects excursions: reed-bed water treatment plant, local biomass heating plant, apple juice plant, fruit drying kiln, environmentally friendly building examples, passive house, solar panels, saving public lighting
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Stays in the Veronica Hostětín Centre passive house
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Mediation of interdisciplinary meetings
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The City of Brno Green Phone service
We organize
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The Rural Landscape conference, Hostětín Summer School, The Apple Festival in Hostětín, The Earth Days, The Biofair of Organic Farmers in Brno, Passive House World Day celebration, The European Night for Bats, Brno Tree of the Year etc.
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Meetings of the natural garden friends, Veronica Hostětín Centre day for the public, sale of Christmas firs and their spring dibbling in woods surrounding Brno, diploma theses competition, discussions over Brno municipal plan etc.
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Exhibitions of paintings, photos and other artistic objects, environmentally-educational theatre performances
We offer
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Subscription to the Veronica Magazine
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Accommodation in a certified eco-guesthouse - passive house
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Library and video collection concerning the environment, study room with the Internet access
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Sale of professional literature, also on the Internet
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Leadership and consultancy of diploma theses
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Residencies and interships, volunteering and membership in ZO ČSOP Veronica
We have founded these incorporated associations and participated in their activities
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The Traditions of the White Carpathians
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Eco-Counselling Network (STEP)
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The Union for the Morava River
Contact:
ZO ČSOP Veronica
Panská 9, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic
tel. +420 542 422 750, fax +420 542 422 752
veronica@veronica.cz, www.veronica.cz
Centrum Veronica Hostětín
Hostětín 86, 687 71 Bojkovice, Czech Republic
tel. +420 572 630 670
hostetin@veronica.cz, hostetin.veronica.cz
Our climate campaign is supported by Oak Foundation