Within the framework of the development project "Transfer of experience in urban development and renewal planning to Moldova", which is being implemented this year by the Masaryk Institute of Advanced Studies of Czech Technical University in Prague within the framework of the Czech foreign aid funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Czech Development Agency, a group of the best graduates of the course, which was organized in the Moldovan city of Balti in September, came to Prague. Four students and two academics from the State University Alecu Russo Balti (USARB) in Moldova took part in a week-long field trip to see examples of good practice in Prague. The programme started with a meeting with the Director of CTU Masaryk Institute of Advanced Studies, Prof. PhDr. Vladimíra Dvořáková, CSc.
During the excursion, the group had a rich program prepared for them, during which they visited a number of sites built by revitalization of brownfields in Prague, such as Rohanský ostrov, Smíchovské nádraží, but also sites around Palmovka, Arena Prague and others. The group also visited the Institute of Planning and Development of the City of Prague, where they debated with Ing. arch. Jaromír Hainec, Ph.D., Director of the Urban Development Section (discussing freedom and possibilities of urban development), or with the non-governmental non-profit organization Ekocentrum Koniklec (discussion with the director PhDr. D.Koucká), which deals with the issue of rainwater management within the project "We count with water". Here, the group learned not only about new trends in this area, but also the fact that urban planning and development can be actively pursued by the non-governmental, non-profit sector, which is certainly not yet the case in Moldova.
Of course, the focus was also on visiting facilities essential for the good functioning of the city, such as the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant in Prague. In this context, it should be noted that Balti, a city of 100,000 people, does not yet have a wastewater treatment plant and untreated sewage water is discharged directly into local smaller watercourses. The next point of the visit was the headquarters of EKOKOM, a company dedicated to the organisation of recycled waste collection in the Czech Republic. Here, too, the course participants encountered solutions for their cities that are not yet known, as most Moldovan cities, including Balti, do not yet have waste separation or recycling.
In the often rather unfavourable weather that prevailed all week in Prague, the programme of the excursion was fulfilled and thus enriched the group of Moldovan students and teachers with new knowledge, experience and approaches, which they will now pass on in their teaching and studies.
The Transfer of experience in urban development and renewal planning to Moldova project will be concluded with the publication of a teaching material in Romanian "Urban development and renewal planning in the conditions of transition economy", which will be distributed in printed form mainly to teachers and students at the State University Alecu Russo in Balti and other participants of the course among representatives of local stakeholders in Balti, as well as to other interested parties in the surrounding regions. An electronic version will be available for other interested parties on the website of the development project: https://www.muvs.cvut.cz/moldavsko/
