APRIL 2021
Ostrava will become the hub of HELLA’s European R&D operation
The Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre (MSIC) is celebrating a new success. One of the tenants at the MSIC complex, HELLA (a multinational company that has been at the forefront of lighting technology for over 120 years) has decided to create a new European research and development centre in Ostrava, which within two years will become the company’s biggest European R&D operation.
Thanks to the new centre, Hella will bring new technologies and innovations to the region, as well as creating attractive new jobs with high added value.
Besides HELLA, the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre continues to expand its cooperation with leading companies that have set up operations at the MSIC complex. Major names include CGI, Porsche Engineering Services, and the private investors Elcom and Ingeteam.
Source (in Czech), photo: HELLA.cz
Mošnov industrial zone welcomes an Italian investor that will build a new factory on land purchased from the City
Although the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have had a negative impact on many companies’ strategic decision-making and future plans, the City of Ostrava has succeeded in attracting a new investor to the Mošnov Strategic Industrial Zone – the Italian company IRCE. The company has committed to build a facility featuring smart automated production processes and the very latest technologies, which will require close cooperation with local research centres and the application of solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI). The plant will produce copper and aluminium conductors for coils in electrical machinery, and construction will be completed no later than the end of 2024. The company is paying almost 27.6 million CZK (including VAT) for the land. The sale was approved by Ostrava’s City Assembly at its session on 14 April.
IRCE Chairman Fillipo Casadio explained the company’s plans: “Our Czech plant will feature the most advanced technologies and equipment for Industry 4.0, meeting the most demanding requirements for energy efficiency and environmental protection. It will create new jobs for operators of sophisticated machinery across the full range of wire production processes: rolling, heat treatment, application of insulation films, hardening, winding, quality control, and packaging. These processes will require highly qualified operating staff.”
From April this year, Ostrava’s public transport fleet is now fully eco-friendly
From April 2021, the fleet of vehicles belonging to Ostrava’s public transport operator (DPO) that are used for daily transport provision is now fully eco-friendly, powered only by CNG (compressed natural gas) or electric motors. The company’s remaining diesel-powered buses are now used exclusively as backup capacity.
Air quality in Ostrava has been improving for a number of years. Last year, concentrations of airborne particulates reached the lowest levels since measurements began. Besides favourable atmospheric conditions, a further contributing factor has been the effect of the policies implemented by Ostrava’s public transport company. These policies include the transition to a fully eco-friendly public transport fleet – a process that began in 2015 with the introduction of the first large batch of CNG buses and has now reached its conclusion with the removal of the last diesel buses from regular services.
At the beginning of 2021, the public transport company’s fleet consisted of approximately 300 buses, including over 200 CNG and 10 electric vehicles. This March, the company introduced a further 24 CNG buses into service. These eco-friendly buses cover a wide range of parameters and sizes, from standard 12-metre vehicles to articulated buses, minibuses and double-deckers.
More information (in Czech)
The City has chosen the architects who will help transform one of Ostrava’s major arteries
Ostrava’s Municipal Studio for Urban Planning and Architecture (MAPPA) has chosen the architects whose designs will help to transform six public spaces situated next to one of Ostrava’s major transport arteries (the 28. října – Opavská axis) by implementing simple improvements which do not require any official approval procedures.
The competition attracted much interest from the architectural community, with 18 entrants submitting designs – many of them offering proposals for more than one of the project sites. Each entry included a description of the proposed changes (accompanied by sketches) and an explanation of how the proposals would be implemented at the site. All the winning designs have been published in a photo gallery on MAPPA’s Facebook profile.
Projects of this type – quick, simple interventions that do not require official approval procedures and tend to be temporary solutions – have been implemented in numerous cities, both in the Czech Republic and abroad. Experience has shown that such alterations can be highly beneficial, helping to make public spaces more pleasant (and safer) places for people to spend time, while also avoiding the need for lengthy and complex construction work. The projects in Ostrava will represent the first phase in the overall transformation of the 28. října – Opavská axis, based on a large-scale concept created by the MAPPA studio.
More information (in Czech), visualizations: Peter Bednár and Lubomír Fridrich
Ostrava’s Czechitas branch has a major new partner
During the past month, the Ostrava branch of the non-profit organization Czechitas has successfully set up a new partnership with the tech consultancy Devoteam. The company will contribute funding and training staff to the Czechitas Digital Academy project.
Devoteam is not the only partner that works closely with the Ostrava branch of Czechitas. The branch has also set up collaborations with other corporate partners (Verizon, Quadient and Unicorn) as well as with academic institutions (Technical University of Ostrava).
The mission of Czechitas is to educate, inspire and motivate women and children to become involved in the world of information technologies. It organizes one-off workshops as well as intensive courses in a range of fields, including web design, graphics, data analysis and basic programming. Around 30 000 people have attended Czechitas courses since the organization was established. Czechitas is currently preparing an intensive IT summer school targeted at secondary school students.
Source (in Czech)
A new face for a public space
Public spaces – streets, pavements, squares, parks – are a crucial element of the environment for city-dwellers. The appearance and functionality of urban public spaces influences how people feel when they are in a city, and public spaces make an important contribution to a city’s image as well as reflecting its cultural values. Aware of this, the City of Ostrava (together with its individual municipal districts) is working intensively to implement a process of continuous improvement in its public spaces.
An important new project forming part of this process of improvement is a new route that will link Ostrava’s city centre with the historic Lower Vítkovice industrial heritage complex. The route will serve both pedestrians and cyclists, providing a direct link between the right bank of the Ostravice River and the Lower Vítkovice complex. The route will include a new bridge spanning the river, designed by the architect Josef Pleskot.
Another important project is the revitalization of the Ostravice embankment in the city centre (Havlíčkovo nábřeží). The project brings major improvements to the aesthetic quality of the riverbank area, and it is now moving into its next phase, which will include the construction of a new suspended terrace, plus designer street furniture and plantings of trees and flowers.
Similar projects will also be implemented in other districts of the city. In Slezská Ostrava, a new footbridge above the Bazaly stadium is planned, which will offer stunning views over the city. In Poruba, work is now underway to revitalize the public park at Náměstí Družby, where both the greenery and the park furniture will be improved to create an important amenity for people to enjoy. The park will also feature smart benches with wi-fi.
You can monitor progress on these projects at the website of the City of Ostrava’s strategic project system Fajnova as well as on the media of the individual municipal districts.
Ostrava welcomes the first nationally funded government organization to be based in the city
The start of April saw the official establishment of the first nationally funded government organization to be based in Ostrava, MUSEUM+. The organization is funded by the Ministry of Culture, and its head office will be located at the Lower Vítkovice industrial heritage complex in premises created by the revitalization of two historic blast furnaces that form part of this national cultural monument. The construction of the premises (and the operations of MUSEUM+) will be financed from the state budget and EU funds.
MUSEUM+ will use items from the collections of national museums to create fresh and original exhibitions giving visitors an exciting insight into the real world of nature, history, technology, design and art. The organization will also play an important role in research and education.
The Ministry of Culture has recently launched the recruitment procedure for the position of the MUSEUM+ director.
More information (in Czech)
Ostrava-based non-profit organizations have received over a million CZK
Between the beginning of March and 20 April, a total 51 non-profit organizations in Ostrava received one-off payments from the City to help them overcome problems caused by the government’s measures to combat COVID-19. The organizations each received the sum of 20 000 CZK immediately after their applications were approved by the City Council.
Like a similar programme last spring, this year’s programme provided funds to organizations that are active in a range of areas: culture, sport, education, social care, health care, crime prevention, drug abuse prevention, support for handicapped people, leisure activities and family policy. All the recipients were severely affected by the measures introduced to combat the pandemic.
This year (like last year), businesses in Ostrava were also able to apply for funding from the City to help them overcome COVID-related problems. Within one week after the approval of their applications, a total 1857 applicants each received 20 000 CZK. From February to April, the City paid out over 37 million CZK to support affected businesses. Last year, Ostrava paid almost 80 million CZK to businesses, which could apply for funding within a range from 20 000 to 100 000 CZK.
More information (in Czech)
Other
The summer season is beginning at Ostrava Airport
The summer season begins on 1 May, and Ostrava’s Leoš Janáček International Airport will be a gateway to a number of international destinations throughout the summer months. The season will begin with flights to the Egyptian resorts Hurghada and Marsa Alam. Flights to other popular destinations will follow, taking passengers to and from Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Spain and Tunisia. In total, Ostrava Airport will offer flights to 15 destinations. A complete list of all currently planned flights is available at the airport’s website http://www.airport-ostrava.cz/en/.
A special COVID Centre will be built at the airport, where passengers will be able to undergo testing before their departure or after their return.
Vote for Ostrava in the competition “Our European Project”
“Our European Project” is a competition for municipalities, cities and their municipal districts. The purpose of the competition is to raise awareness of the benefits of various EU-funded projects for the development of cities and municipalities.
The winner is determined by a public vote, which is held via Facebook. This year the City of Ostrava has decided to take part, and it has entered its Evolution Centre project. As part of this project (completed in 2016), a modern visitor centre and animal habitat was built at the Ostrava Zoo, which recreates the climate and atmosphere of a West African rain forest.
The visitor exhibition is equipped with a complete system of information panels and signage, and it also incorporates a range of interactive educational features presenting fascinating facts about evolution and the animals in the zoo’s care.
The Evolution Centre is fully barrier-free, including the WCs and baby-changing facilities. An elevator is available for prams and visitors with reduced mobility.
Members of the public can vote for their favourite project until 21 May 2021.
More information about the competition (in Czech)
Ostrava is the best at providing environmental information
Ostrava has won the annual Green Light for Information competition, which is now in its tenth year. The purpose of the competition is to reward the most successful presentation of environmental information on an official website in the Czech Republic.
The competition jury awarded the City of Ostrava’s health- and environment-focused website zdravaova.cz. 4.85 points out of a possible 5.
In second place was Prague, with 4.6 points, followed by Krnov with 4.54. The most improved presentation was by the town of Hranice (3.48 points).
This is the fourth time in the competition’s history that Ostrava has finished in first place, and it has now moved above another city from the region (Krnov, with three victories) to become the highest-ranking city in total. The co-organizer of the competition, Josef Novák from the non-profit organization CI2, gave more details: “The results show that for many years, Ostrava has had some of the best presentations of environment-related information in the entire country. The city has a modern, comprehensive website which stands up well to comparison with similar sites in other countries. It is clear that the website is keen to provide as much information as possible, giving an overall picture of the current environmental situation in Ostrava as well as showing how the situation is developing – and also offering practical information and recommendations for citizens.”