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More than one third of Czechs still live in panelaks, the communist-era prefabricated houses, which were built across the country from the 1950s to the 1980s. Nowadays, many of them are in urgent need of repair. A conference called Housing Estate, What’s Next, was recently held at the Faculty of Architecture in Prague to address the future of these housing estates. Michal Kohout is one of the architects behind the project:

Michael Žantovský is the author of a newly published book on the former Czech president simply entitled [:i:]Havel[:/i:] available in both Czech and English. He is one of a few members of the former Civic Forum movement still active in public life, currently serving as the Czech Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Back in 1990, he became a press spokesperson for the new president Václav Havel. From 1992-97, he served as ambassador to the United States. He has also served as Czech Ambassador to Israel, been elected to the Czech Senate, and worked as

Hello and welcome to a special programme looking at the upcoming Signal Prague Light Festival, which is taking place from 16-19th October. It is the second year that the festival is reaching Prague, bringing light art works to various locations across the city.

Although many Czechs still opt for joint finances when tying the knot, keeping that arrangement is not always easy. Money is a thorny issue in many marriages and sooner or later people start putting something on the side that is theirs alone and their partner doesn’t know about. In this weeks edition of Çzech Life DL looks at joint accounts and secret piggybanks.

Motifs from traditional Moravian folk dress, known as ‘kroje’, are enjoying new popularity in modern fashion, both casual and higher-end. A number of artists and designers have taken inspiration from folklore and updated motifs for the present-day. They hail largely from parts of Moravia where folklore still plays an important role in the Christian calendar, annual events including historic processions and celebrations such as the wine harvest.

Three years after the opening of the first community garden in Prague, the idea of growing plants in the city seems to have put down firm roots and is quickly spreading all over the country, with an increasing number of Czechs taking to urban gardening.

Old Town Square in the middle of a typically busy tourist-filled summer’s day. In front are several food stalls, which are a relatively new feature for the Old Town. They are selling crepes and hams and sausages and one unmistakable stall is selling what is known as Trdelník. It is a sweet delicacy that is baked on a coal fire; it is tube-shaped, so it rotates around the heat much like a spit roast piece of pork. And it has become quite an unmistakable item, which has been marketed as something which is “Old Bohemian”. I am going now to find out

In this week’s Czech Life we talk to Libor Pešl of Czech games publisher and distributor Albi about the usefulness of games in education and we test one of the titles in a new line of storybook games for children ages seven and up: The Three Little Pigs.

Amid the tourist bustle of central Prague this week a tour with a difference was taking place. Czechs turned up in their droves when development company Flow East opened the doors to some of its historic buildings. But the developer’s first initiative of its kind is linked to its ongoing battle with Prague planners and politicians.

Stanice Pavlov, a recognised animal rescue station in the Czech-Moravian highlands, succeeded after several years of set-backs in successfully breeding a litter of European mink. The European mink, an endangered animal, has disappeared from most of continental Europe as its natural habitat – wetlands – became more and more rare. And that’s not the only detrimental factor.