BUSINESS

Learn from Those Who Know Ing. Pavel Bartoš is President of the Union for the Development of the Moravian-Silesian Region (Sdružení pro rozvoj Moravskoslezského kraje), established in 1990. The union currently has 127 members from various fields. The union struggles to support the targets and interests of its members in accordance with the strategic plan of the MoravianSilesian Region in economic, environmental, infrastructure, education and human resource development. Mr Bartoš, our region has transformed from its “Coal Age”. Can we draw inspiration from the processes and experience of other European regions? The Union for the Development of the Moravian-Silesian Region went on a very useful trip to the German federal state Nordrhein-Westfalen (Land NRW) and its specific region Ruhr. Our host was the RAG organization, the main representative and organizer of the reduction of black coal extraction and the transformation of the former coal mining region. The main purpose of our trip was to learn about the reduction of underground black coal mining industries and later usage of mines after the extraction has finished, to learn about hydrogen technologies and smart-innovative solutions. The main aim of the study trip was to explore practical solutions and opportunities for the particular cooperation of subjects operating in these spheres in the regions of Moravia-Silesia and Ruhr. Our host presented very interesting instruction on the system of the gradual reduction of black coal mining and metallurgy. Their coal mining reduction started in the 1960s. The concluding part of termination of extraction started some 20

years ago with a government resolution to finish coal extraction by the end of 2018. At that time the organizational and propertymanagement structures were established to make the reduction steps as self-financing as possible, with some funds coming from state-governed budgets. What impact may this experience have on the so-called “Coal Platform” in the Czech Republic? During our negotiations we discussed possible collaboration within the “Coal Platform”. Our German partners recommend intensifying the current cooperation of the Government of the Moravian-Silesian Region (Czech Rep.), Silesia Province (Śląskie province, Poland), and the Žilina Self-Governing Region (Žilinský samosprávný kraj, Slovakia) with Ruhr (Germany) and the Nitra Self-Governing Region (Nitranský samosprávný kraj, Slovakia), and to transform this cooperation into actual solutions of particular tasks. The frequent conclusion to all presentations was that only the partnership of stategoverned and private spheres, and longterm system and concept solutions bring successful results. Our German partners

offered further cooperation and sharing of their particular experience with representatives of our region. Where and how will our visions be developed? Actually, all presentations emphasized that none of the present achievements would have been made without a systematic concept solution actively supported by the aforementioned partners from the public administration and enterprise. Innovative ideas and model solutions of structural transformation in urban areas illustrate the sustainable and environmental-friendly renewal in a city and urban landscape, still providing a good setting for a functional industrial district. It is vital that innovative (smart) solutions include regional facilities for the energy recovery of communal and other waste (including dangerous waste), such as in Herten, where the processing plant with a capacity of 700,000 tons produces power and heat for the city of Herten. This solution replaced an annual consumption of 350,000 tons of coal. Mr Bartoš, Thank you very much for the interview. Ing. Radúz Mácha POSITIV ǀ 1/2019 27