How to create a city for people and what should a living urban landscape look like? How do foreigners live in Brno? And how has the city center changed over the years? The “Kam kráčíš, Brno?” (“Where are you going, Brno?”) festival showcasing Brno’s urban development is returning from 14 May to 3 June with a program of informational lectures and guided walks, to answer all these questions and more, and present the current and future face of Brno to the public.
Just like last year, the festival is being organised by the City of Brno’s Department of Strategic Development and Cooperation. The programme includes expert lectures and walks through public spaces, as well as educational panel installations detailing the current or future transformation of certain places around the city.
Topics include a discussion of what Brno offers foreigners, how to find a balance between concrete and greenery, and the possibilities of using clean energy in urban transport.
Visitors can also contribute to these conversations by asking questions to the guests. All lectures will take place in Trznice on Zelný trh.
The lectures will be complemented by a programme of walks through the city center. As time goes by, Brno residents may not realize how much the streets and squares of the historic city centre have changed in recent years, but these walks are designed to draw attention to the transformation of spaces previously blighted by poor maintenance or their use as car parks.
The contrast between the past and present appearance of public spaces will be given further details via exhibition panels, which will show the former appearance of Moravske namesti, Náměstí Svobody, Zelný trh, Dominikánské náměstí, and also smaller spaces such as Pohořelec Street.
The festival will also highlight the city’s less appealing locations, still awaiting transformation and modernisation; these included Česká, still waiting resurfacing, the Koliště park near the House of Arts which is being prepared for renovation, and Římské náměstí, a long-standing blight in the city centre.
The festival shows how the city has changed over the years and how it faces upcoming challenges, but also sheds light on how these changes are coordinated, via municipal strategies such as the current #brno2050.
The entire festival program is available for free, but registration is required for individual events. All information can be found on the website brno2050.cz. The lectures will all be in Czech, but the lecture on the life of foreigners in Brno on 14 May will be simultaneously translated into English. In addition, one of the walking tours on 29 May will be in English.
Program
Lectures:
- Wednesday 14.5, 6pm: How do foreigners live in Brno?
- Tuesday 20.5, 6pm: Between concrete and greenery. How to find balance?
- Tuesday 3.6, 6pm: Clean energy: Challenge and opportunity
Walks:
- Thursday 15.5 and 22.5: Parks, squares and streets: Who owns the city? (Czech version)
- Thursday 29.5: Parks, squares and streets: Who owns the city? (English version)
The festival exhibition panels will be on display from 12 May to 13 June.
