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In 2018 the company Photon Water Technology secured a grant from the Czech Development Agency for a project to install water-cleaning facilities in small and medium-sized towns and villages in Peru. I spoke to the company’s managing director, Petr Kvapil, about what the project entails and why they chose to take their know-how to Peru.

The Museum of Carriages in Čechy pod Kosířem is the only one of its kind in the Czech Republic, taking visitors back to the days when horse-drawn carriages were the main form of transport. The collection of historic carriages, coaches and sleighs was assembled over the last 25 years and counts 100 exhibits to date. The museum specializes in carriages made and used in the Czech lands and Moravia and includes a number of rare pieces used by the nobility in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Bullying in Czech schools is on the rise. Although statistics indicate that more than half of Czech primary and secondary school students have either experienced or witnessed bullying, some schools remain in denial, claiming they don’t have a problem. Two years ago, three high school students took the matter into their own hands, setting up a web page where students or victims of bullying can report the abuse and get help.

Last October, having lived in the country for just over 25 years, I became a citizen of the Czech Republic.

Two adventure-loving Czech bikers are fulfilling their dream of discovering the world on their Jawa motorbikes. Michal Franc and Martin Gregor have covered 35 thousand km across Europe and this year they headed for the ghost town of Pripyat in Chernobyl, the site of the worst nuclear accident in history. On their return they paid a visit to Czech Radio to talk about their experiences.

A rose-coloured porcelain cup and saucer made 225 years ago has pride of place at the Museum of Porcelain in Klášterec nad Ohří. It is the oldest preserved item which was made within a series of experiments in porcelain production in 1794. The other pieces fell apart, but the rose-coloured cup and saucer heralded hope for the future. Today the famous Thun brand of porcelain is exported to countries the world over.

Brno’s Martin Reiner is an award-winning poet and novelist. He also works closely with some of the Czech Republic’s other leading writers as head of the publishing house Druhé město (Second City). Our tour of “his Brno” begins in the tree-lined district where Reiner grew up, Černá Pole, around half an hour’s walk from the centre of the Moravian capital.

One of Czech Radio’s leading charity projects is in aid of the blind and visually impaired. Established in 2003, Světluška, or Firefly, annually collects around 15 million crowns to be distributed among people with impaired eyesight, not just to help them cope, but to enjoy life to the full. At the same time it raises public awareness of the problem giving the sighted a chance to find out what it is like to manage daily activities without this key sense.

According to the Czech Foreign Ministry there are now more than two million Czechs living abroad. The people making up the country’s expat communities in different parts of the world include those who fled the communist regime in several waves during the 20th century or those who escaped the Nazi threat. Some married abroad or used the opportunity to live and work abroad with the return of democracy close to 30 years ago. I spoke to the government’s special commissioner for expats Jiří Krátký about the process of renewing broken ties after 1989,

Tomino Kelar runs Brno’s top independent music venue, Kabinet Múz, as well as drumming with the band Midi Lidi. Kelar is from the Moravian capital but actually lived for several years in Wales and at one point was a member of Mountaineers, a group that were on the Mute label. Our tour of “his Brno” begins at Kavárna Praha, a cool, shoe-box shaped space in the grounds of the city centre Moravian Gallery.