Weekly review no. 1
21.09.2023
Žatec is a world heritage site
The town of Žatec (Saaz) and the hop landscape around the town have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The decision was made at the ongoing meeting of the World Heritage Commission in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This is the first time that a hop-growing region has been added to the World Heritage List. UNESCO recognized the hop landscape, which has been intact for centuries, with the typical hop fields and functional buildings where the hops were processed on site. Specifically, it's about the hop landscape around Žatec and Stekník with the castle. The second complex recognized by UNESCO concerns parts of the historic center of Žatec, especially the Prague suburb, which was built at the end of the 19th century. The buildings intended for hop storage, production and trading still stand here today and hops are also stored, traded and shipped here to this day. Characteristic of the district are the high chimneys, 39 of which are still preserved today. The hops were preserved by sulfurization and the exhaust gases were discharged via the high food.
With the UNESCO World Heritage title, an almost 20-year process comes to an end. In 2018, the application had already made it to the World Heritage Commission. However, the application was recommended for revision again. The decision was supposed to have been made last year, but because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the planned world heritage in Kazan could not take place.
For the Czech Republic, Žatec and the hop landscape are already the 16th World Heritage Site. There is also a world natural heritage site in the Czech Republic with the beech forests of the Jizera Mountains.
Ústí district is recruiting doctors
The Ústí district is tackling the shortage of doctors. With a generous financial package, the district would like to encourage graduates to start working in the Ústí district after their medical studies. The new healthcare concept in the Ústí district expects up to 300,000 crowns (around 12,400 euros) in financial support for studies if the students commit to opening a practice in the district. An additional up to 800,000 crowns will be made available to equip the practice. In total, the district has provided around 60 million crowns (around 2.5 million euros) for the first phase of the scholarship program.
The district assumes that due to the increasing number of baby boomers retiring, there will be staff shortages for at least another five years before the measures that have now been decided take effect.
The Krajská zdravotní hospital network, which brings together several hospitals in the district, is already successfully using a similar scholarship program. According to the hospital association, sufficient staff have so far been found to fill vacancies through various measures, including financial measures.
Erzgebirge nature reserve in planning
What effects would a nature reserve (NSG) in the Erzgebirge have? The information campaign of the Czech State Agency for Nature and Landscape Protection is currently providing information about this. She is currently consulting the plans with the affected communities. So far, the agency representatives have already spoken to 25 of 69 municipalities in the Ústí and Karlovy Vary districts. The process is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
In the most strictly protected areas, fears of greater restrictions in life are naturally higher. “We want to achieve maximum agreement with the communities before the approval process begins,” says Environment Minister Petr Hladík. “So far, a correct exchange of opinions has prevailed,” says agency boss František Pelc, describing the atmosphere.
The establishment of a uniform protection status for the Erzgebirge has been planned for some time. So far, only individual nature reserves, natural monuments and Natura 2000 areas have been distributed as protected areas across the Ore Mountains. However, the new designation as a landscape protection area would only apply to the Czech part.
New newsletter from the Elbe/Labe Euroregion
So far we have only had one newsletter from the Elbe/Labe Euroregion. In the future, more information will be sent out on different topics.
Through this newsletter list (if you are currently reading an email: from which you receive this message) we have mainly sent information about cultural events , in the last few months especially Czech Film Wednesday. There is now a new newsletter list that you must subscribe to in order to continue to receive information from us.
You can do this very easily by clicking on this link: Register for the cultural newsletter of the Euroregion Elbe/Labe
Furthermore, in the future we want to send a weekly overview of interesting events in the Czech Republic and the border region, from politics, society and everyday life. You are currently reading the first edition of this. This newsletter could be a good replacement, especially for those who sorely miss the “Look at the Neighbor” page in the SZ Dresden edition.
You can register directly by clicking on this link: Registration for the weekly newsletter of the Euroregion Elbe/Labe
We will send the weekly review three times using this list. After that, it will only be used for the most important reports from the Euroregion and the border region, i.e. much less often. If you don't want to miss anything, please sign up for one of the other newsletters.