Palacký University Olomouc is aware of its responsibility towards society and the environment. Therefore the decision has been made to focus on sustainable development and promote its principles at our university and among the greater public. The means to achieve it are through innovations that strengthen social responsibility and promote environmentally friendly behaviour, and through a greater focus on related research as well as education in this field.
Vision
Palacký University Olomouc
is fully environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable
Palacký University is environmentally responsible in all respects, minimising the impact of its activities on climate change and systematically teaching and guiding its students and employees to environmentally responsible behaviour.
Palacký University behaves responsibly towards society, helps to develop the regional and local community, and is an inspiring model to all members of society, both general and professional.
Palacký University acts sustainably in relation to its economic requirements; it effectively manages and strategically uses its finances, its material as well as immaterial resources and values, and always makes responsible economic decisions considering the long-term perspective with regard to what is currently needed for its functioning.
Mission
Palacký University Olomouc will focus on the systematic fulfilment of its target objectives. UP will implement measures aimed at an urgent response to the climate crisis and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN.
UP will minimise all its behaviour which contributes to a negative impact on sustainable development. UP will adapt its infrastructure to climate change and will also inspire other institutions to act in this spirit at the local, regional, national, and transnational levels.
UP will act in accordance with the Strategic Framework Czech Republic 2030. In compliance with the Czech Republic’s membership in the European Union, UP will move towards carbon neutrality, in line with the commitments of the Paris Agreement and the Green Deal for Europe, by the end of 2050.
UP will use science and research to find new solutions for sustainable development, implement them in its daily operations and activities, and offer them to the wider public, thus fulfilling the university’s third mission – that of service to the community.
Priorities
The UP Sustainability Strategy defines three basic priority areas: operations and administration; educational and creative activities; social responsibility and the third role of the university. Their design corresponds to the thematic focus and nature of their relevant potentials, activities, and results. The priority areas are complementary and cross-cutting. You can find out more about them and their specific focus on our page What we do.
Sustainable University
The persons in charge of sustainability at Palacký University Olomouc are Mgr. Zuzana Huňková, UP Sustainable Development Coordinator, and Mgr. Miroslava Zavadil, UP Sustainable Development Officer. This unit falls under the office of the Vice-Rector for Strategy and Regional Affairs, JUDr. Mag. iur. Michal Malacka, Ph.D., MBA. Within the Sustainable University concept, a sustainable development strategy and an action plan have been developed to address sustainable development issues, propose long-term solutions for the university, prepare activities to promote sustainable development, and also educate and motivate students and staff in this regard. If you have any suggestions, inquiries, and ideas, please do not hesitate to contact us by email: zuzana.hunkova@upol.cz, or by phone +420 585 631 195.
Mgr. Zuzana Huňková
Graduate of International Development Studies at the UP Faculty of Science and Global Migration and Development Studies at the Faculty of Science at Charles University in Prague. She has several years of work and study experience abroad. In her position, she managed the creation of the UP Sustainable Development Strategy and Action Plans and is the main guarantor of their implementation. Among other things, she is also a graduate of the Academy of Sustainability Management for the FPH University of Economics and co-founder of the Association of Sustainability Managers. Since October 2023, she has been the Chairperson of the Local Agenda 21 and Smart City Commission of the City of Olomouc.
Mgr. Miroslava Zavadil
Miroslava graduated in International Development Studies at the UP Faculty of Science. The subject of her Master’s thesis was sustainability, specifically “Sustainable Management of Southeast Asian Rainforests”. During her studies, she worked for UNICEF and attended an internship in the Netherlands within the EU’s Youth in Action programme. She also worked as a tour guide at the interactive museum Fort Science. Her personal motto is that there is no sustainability without responsibility. She is a member of the association Hravě v Doubravě, which sponsors the activities of the Forest Club where her children are members. She enjoys spending her leisure time with her family in nature, hiking, travelling, sports, and playing the piano.
Mgr. Veronika Květoňová
Graduate of the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Arts, where she continues as a PhD student in regional geography. Her scientific research focuses on urban climate and adaptation measures, especially environmental measures, and holistic approach in the research of human thermal comfort in the city. She cooperates with experts from home and abroad and is currently a member of the research team of the TAČR project on regionalisation of the Czech Republic in terms of the urgency of implementing adaptation measures to climate change. At the Department of Geography, she teaches, among others, the principles of environmental governance or environmental geography and sustainable development, the principles of which she promotes and tries to practice in everyday life.
Mgr. Jan Borkovec
Graduate of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development at the Faculty of Science of the Palacký University Olomouc with a focus on European Law at the UP Faculty of Law. During his studies he went on Erasmus to Paris Lodron University in Salzburg. In the course of his undergraduate studies he was an active member of the Sustainable Palacký association. During his studies, he participated in the international project Edu Change within the Erasmus+ programme in Norway and Malta focusing on the impact of climate change. In the private sector, his main focus is on sustainable buildings, sustainable mobility and green spaces around buildings.
Sustainable development ambassadors at UP faculties
Eight Sustainability Ambassadors are helping to spread the principles of sustainability at faculties of UP. They are not only a link between the central department of sustainable development of UP (or Sustainable University), but also contact persons for students and employees at individual units. The ambassadors convey information within a given UP unit, cooperate with all departments and the management to implement the set sustainable development goals or participate in the implementation of popularization events towards sustainable development. They also participate in the meetings of the management of the unit or departments/units in addressing issues related to sustainable development and create a sustainable development action plan, which will be specified into several goals that the faculty wants to meet, following the model of the university-wide plan.
Feel free to contact them on any aspect related to sustainable development.
| CMTF | Lenka Peřinová | lenka.perinova@upol.cz |
| LF | Klára Voznicová | klara.voznicova@upol.cz |
| FF | Michal Nguyen | michal.nguyen01@upol.cz |
| PřF | Ivo Machar | ivo.machar@upol.cz |
| Ondřej Kolář | ondrej.kolar@upol.cz | |
| FTK | Iva Dostálová | iva.dostalova@upol.cz |
| PF | Aneta Křížková, Blanka Vítová | aneta.krizova@upol.cz; blanka.vitova@upol.cz |
| FZV | Vladimír Koutský | vladimir.koutsky@upol.cz |
Commission for Sustainable Development of UP
The Commission for Sustainable Development of Palacký University Olomouc was established in June 2024 as a university-wide advisory body to the Rector. The Commission provides opinions and recommendations to the Rector of UP on issues of sustainable development at UP, in particular on the development of the UP Sustainable Development Strategy Plan (hereinafter referred to as "SUR UP"), the development of action plans for the implementation of SUR UP, updates to the SUR UP and action plans for the implementation of SUR UP, and other outputs of the UP Sustainable Development Office. The UP SUR UP also provides the heads of individual UP units and, within the UP Rector's Office, individual UP Vice-Rectors, the UP Bursar and the UP Chancellor with suggestions in the field of sustainable development at UP.
More information about the Commission can be found in the internal standard Constitution of the Commission for Sustainable Development of Palacký University Olomouc (EN).
Student organisations
Palacký University Olomouc has many student organisations that touch upon or intersect with sustainability issues in various ways. UP supports student organisations focussing on sustainability in all regards and encourages students to get involved in individual initiatives.
Student associations that address sustainability in their activities:
If your association is also concerned with sustainability issues, please do not hesitate to contact us and tell us more about your activities. We will happily promote and support you and establish cooperation with you.
With whom we cooperate
Sluňákov – the center for ecological activities of the city of Olomouc offers environmentally oriented activities for schools, teachers, families with children and other general public in a modern low-energy house on the edge of the Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area in Horka nad Moravou. The house is surrounded by a unique natural art gallery called the Nature House of Litovelské Pomoraví, where visitors and program participants can experience extraordinary encounters with the floodplain landscape. It organises educational and awareness-raising programmes for schools and the public, regular Ecological evenings, the Ecological Days Olomouc festival and runs an open-air exhibition.
ARPOK is an Olomouc educational organisation founded by Palacký University. It is dedicated to global development education and teaching about current issues in today's world. It offers a wide range of educational programmes for pupils, seminars for teachers of kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and proven methodological materials on global development education (some of them can be found in the UP Library collection). It also organises conferences and public talks for the public, known as development evenings.
The Association of Social Responsibility (A-CSR) is the largest initiative of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the UN in the Czech Republic. Its vision is to make social responsibility and sustainability a natural part of business and the functioning of every organisation in the Czech Republic.