ČZU intends to develop activities with VEOLIA ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA, a.s., especially in the field of scientific and professional research through cooperation in creating employment opportunities and cooperation on studies, conceptual documents, and research projects. These will mainly concern water management and measures to mitigate climate and hydrological extremes. Collaboration is also planned on Smart landscape pilot projects, which are key activities of the Centre for Water, Soil and Landscape.
"We greatly appreciate the fact that VEOLIA ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA, a.s., as a leading provider of environmental services, participates in solving problems related to climate change, which the Czech University of Life Sciences has been dealing with for a long time. The aim of the experts at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague is to prepare the Czech landscape for climate change, among other things, so that it can cope with the extreme weather fluctuations we are currently witnessing. That is, the long-term spring droughts, which were replaced by torrential rains in June, extremes that the Czech landscape cannot cope with," explained the Rector of the Czech University of Life Sciences, Professor Petr Sklenička.
There is a need to focus on restoring the retention and storage capacity of the landscape so that heavy rains do not run off but remain in the landscape. Efforts are needed to capture and manage rainfall on a large scale. This is supported by the Smart landscape system with a range of biological and technical measures.
"Veolia's purpose is to fight climate change and create a better, more sustainable future for all. This major challenge will be met thanks to scientific progress and technological sophistication. Today's signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation with the Czech University of Life Sciences, a major Czech scientific research institute, goes exactly in this direction. Towards supporting scientific projects in the environmental field and sharing the know-how of both our institutions, with the clear objective of implementing concrete projects in areas where our activities intersect," says Philippe Guitard, Veolia's CEO.
One such project, where the cooperation between VEOLIA, ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA, a.s. and ČZU will be implemented, may be the already running Smart landscape project at Amálie near Rakovník. It is part of the Klíčava river catchment, where there is a dam serving as a drinking water reservoir for the Kladno and Mělník area.