During the study visit in the Czech Republic members of the research team met in person. Participants from Lithuania and the Shetland came to Prague on June 4. The programme started on Monday, June 5, with a joint meeting of the research team (venue: Charles University, Prague) and a discussion of the research plans and intended research outcomes. After the discussion the participants moved to the city of Hradec Králové (eastern Bohemia) to meet the associate partners from the Hradec Králové region and to have a lunch.
In the afternoon all participants moved to Broumov, a town in eastern Bohemia, which has been selected as one of the research localities by the Czech part of the team. In Broumov region we first visited local villages (Křinice, Božanov), to see some examples of the local cultural heritage (e.g. so called Broumov homesteads – a specific type of architecture built by the original German inhabitants who have been displaced from Czechoslovakia after the WWII).
In the afternoon, a joint workshop in Broumov monastery took place with the participation of the research team, the associate partners (Hradec Králové region, The Broumov Regional Development Agency) and local stakeholders (village mayors, local politicians, cultural workers, entrepreneurs, local inhabitants).
On the second day we first had a guided tour in the Broumov monastery (one of the tangible cultural heritage sites in the region). Later we participated in a guided tour in the building of the former mill (and later a printing house) in Broumov – a building looking for its new life. The tour was guided by Žaneta Vávrová (The Broumov Regional Development Agency), who oversees the supervision of the local cultural and educational activities. Members of the research team then drove back to Prague, where the programme was concluded by an informal city tour and pub socialization.
Broumov monastery
Monday, June 5, 2023
Plan of presentations:
Welcome, presentation of the HerInDep project (main objectives, perspectives, and methodology), introduction of team members (Lenka Jakoubková Budilová, Ivan Murin)
Introduction to local context: brief historical and demographic overview of the Broumov and Krkonoše region (Jan Horský)
What is cultural heritage? Examples and presentation of the local tangible and intangible cultural heritage (Lenka Jakoubková Budilová)
Best practice examples from Slovakia (Ivan Murin)
Case study: The Shetland, United Kingdom (Andrew Jennings, Andrew Lind)
Case study: Kaunas, Lithuania (Aušra Mlinkauskienė, Kęstutis Zaleckis)
Round table: How to face depopulation? What are the consequences of depopulation for the local communities? Discussion of the questions of depopulation, local cultural heritage and sustainability of local communities with local community actors.
Informal socialization and discussion.
