In Focus | All stories

Martina Formanová, the wife of the famous Czech director Miloš Forman, was recently in Prague to launch an audio version of her novel, called Případ Pavlína, or Case Pavlína. The book, which was released a few years ago, tells the story of the Czech-born 1980’s super model Pavlína Pořízková and her family’s dramatic escape from Communist Czechoslovakia.

The prices of apartments in Prague have skyrocketed in recent years, making it almost impossible for many people to find affordable housing in the capital. A group of people united in a project called Sdílené domy or Shared Houses decided to buy a house in Prague, and administer it themselves: not as a traditional tenants’ association, but as a community. In the future, they would also like to create a co-housing network across the country.

According to EU statistics, Czechs are some of the best in Europe for separating communal waste, including paper, plastic and milk cartons. But when it comes to recycling and minimising the amount of waste we produce, there is still a long way to go, says Soňa Jonášová of the Institute of Circular Economy. For several years now, her institute has been helping Czech municipalities and businesses to move from linear to circular economy by adopting at least some of its key elements:

Jakub Čech is a successful sound engineer who has worked on countless Czech films, but years of work have left him in poor shape. He decided to improve his health by taking up long-distance hiking.

Nearly ten years ago, the Bohemian National Hall on the Upper East Side of Manhattan reopened its doors to the public, becoming the seat of the Czech Centre in New York. How difficult is it to attract visitors in a such an extremely busy city? And what is the main focus of its activities? I discussed these questions and more with Barbara Karpetová, who has been in charge of the Czech Centre in New York for nearly three years now:

Czech researchers captured dozens of free-living birds to map the extent of heavy metal contamination in various regions around the country.

Constantin Kinsky was born in 1961 in Paris, France, to one of the oldest aristocratic families of Bohemia in French exile. Educated in France, he became a successful investment banker and strategic consultant and advised the Czech governments of Josef Tošovský and Miloš Zeman thus helping to save the Czech banking system during the crisis of the late 1990´s.

A new project run by a team of foreigners living in Prague aims to map ethnic restaurants in the city. The Czech Friendly team pinpoints authentic family-run foreign restaurants, pop-ups and food trucks and present them through a printed map and a mobile app. It also collects the best authentic recipes and presents the life stories of the places’ owners. I spoke about the project with Ekaterina Kokkalou, who is a part of the Czech Friendly team:

Petra Kvarčáková is one of the few professional milliners in the Czech Republic. She learned the craft in Britain – among others she studied with the legendary milliner of the Queen Mother, Rose Cory. A few years ago, she established her own brand called La Modista- offering tailor-made hats of all kinds of materials and styles. When I met with Petra Kvarčáková, I first asked what attracted her to the millinery craft:

Barbora Pokorná and Lukáš Nápravník are two young Czechs who found their second home in New Zealand. The couple has been running a website called Czech Kiwis, where they share their knowledge about the country and provide all sorts of services for Czechs who want to travel, work or study there. I met with Lukáš and Bára during their recent visit to Prague and I started by asking them about their very first visit to New Zealand: