Project Websites

This website summarizes part of the results of the research project supported by the Czech Science Foundation (number 14-33094S) that was carried out at the Department in the years 2014-2016. One of the goals of the research team was to map what we called economic alternatives in the Czech Republic (in the project, we refer to them as heterodox economic initiatives). These alternatives are economic activities that do not operate like usual companies do. They have goals beyond profit, often use democratic forms of decision making, tend to be linked to the local community, and do not always subject themselves to the dictates of the market. The website includes a map and brief descriptions of fifty such economic alternatives, as well as some of the related publications, information about the actors and the aims of the project, and more general information regarding the topic.
The website is currently available in Czech only.

This website presents the methodological approaches that evaluate the material demand and energy performance of the operation of socio-economic systems at various levels, from an individual household, a firm or a farm (as in the case of this project), to towns and states as well as the global system as a whole. These methods can then be used by other researchers or anyone from the general public who may be interested. Further, the website aims to make accessible the results of our research concerning local (and potentially more sustainable) models of food production and consumption.

This website presents a project that explored selected garden localities in Brno and their users. The project focused mainly on the multi-purpose character of these localities and on assessing their rich benefits as well as the risks associated with them. One of the important outcomes is a new method that helps to significantly simplify the considering, planning, and decision making regarding the future use of urban food production and gardening areas. The goal of the project was to broaden existing knowledge concerning the possibilities of sustainable urban planning and to design an innovative tool for assessing the social, economic, and ecological benefits of urban food production and gardening areas.

The major benefits of such food production and gardening areas in urban environments have been demonstrated in many international research studies. However, in the Czech Republic, there had been no available methodological tool that would be suitable for state government as well as local government and the private sector (non-profit and for-profit).

The website is currently available in Czech only