At FRDIS MENDELU we are involved in national basic and applied research projects (GA ČR, TA ČR, AZV ČR, NAZV) and various international projects (Norwegian Funds, Visegrad Fund, AKTION, Interreg programmes).

The faculty’s contract research reflects our research focus and is carried out in cooperation with state and local government authorities, institutions and commercial entities mainly from the Moravian regions.

Selected projects at FRDIS MENDELU

The objective of the GUESS project is to identify the environmental sustainability knowledge of the participating countries’ university students, which will be the base for creating use cases and unified digital content with an educational focus for a gamified environment. The gamified environment that will be developed will simulate the Earth’s environment, where participating students will interact with the gamified elements that will educate them in sustainability principles.

The project aims to:

  • To contribute to the sustainable and multifunctional use of the South Bohemian fishery system through the analysis of ecosystem services and the development of appropriate tools for effective communication between different stakeholder groups;
  • Analyse the diversity and dynamics of biotic communities in relation to environmental factors, pond use and management and their changes;
  • Explore the socio-economic context of pond-specific changes, stakeholder perceptions and willingness to support measures to conserve biodiversity and diverse pond ecosystem services;
  • Increase the awareness of professional fishermen about biodiversity and ecosystem services of ponds and, using citizen science methods, involve them in research and conservation of pond ecosystems.

The aim of the project is to evaluate the distribution and development of zombie companies in the particular regions of the Czech Republic and Austria to reveal knowledge about the population of this unproductive firms. Understanding of space distribution of the population of zombie firms among regions in both countries enables to conclude regional policy implications for the disposal of zombies to promote sustainable economic development.

The main goal of the project is to identify possibilities of post-COVID recovery and adaptation processes of small family businesses in the multifunctional agriculture (MA) sector in V4 countries.

Partial goals:

  1. Deeper understanding and mapping of factors affected the small family businesses during the COVID crisis;
  2. An overview of the perception of government measures in V4 countries to mitigate the consequences of COVID crisis;
  3. Dissemination of results and recommendations for recovery and adaptation processes of target group and their presentation at two organized conferences.

The aim of the project is to prepare a scientific paper for a journal indexed in Scopus/Web of Science. The project should serve to establish and support cooperation between Austria and the Czech Republic in order to develop further joint research activities.

The topic of our research study is the existence of so called zombie firms, which pose a threat to economies of all countries. There is a little systematic research on the causations and consequences of the existence and rise of these unproductive firms in the economy. Therefore, the research of this important and current topic through an analysis in two different economies could reveal important facts and enrich both academia and politicians with more rigorous evidence on this issue.

The project responds to the current coronavirus crisis, which is affecting social and economic life and changing the behaviour of individuals in the market. With the onset of the crisis, the importance of e-commerce is increasing and changing online shopping behaviour. This project responds to this phenomenon. Therefore, the main objective of the project is to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the development of online shopping behaviour in the Czech Republic at present with the expected future development. A sub-objective of the project is to identify the factors that influence online shopping behaviour and their current trends. Based on the results of secondary research and literature search, the project will evaluate and identify the factors that influence online shopping behaviour and assess how the factors are influenced by the COVID-19 crisis. Another sub-objective of the project is also to evaluate whether the COVID-19 crisis has influenced selected factors of online shopping behaviour temporarily or permanently and whether the crisis has set a new direction for online shopping behaviour. The main research methods of the project are the method of personal interviewing in the form of a structured questionnaire survey among a representative sample of respondents in the Czech Republic and the methods of descriptive statistics and statistical induction for the verification of research hypotheses. The research survey will be conducted primarily online, and will additionally use the form of a field survey. The research will be conducted in two rounds with a time lag in order to test whether the change in online shopping behaviour as a result of the COVID-19 crisis is a temporary or permanent trend. The results of the project will be beneficial not only for the business actors of the online market, but also for the business actors of the traditional market, as the changes in online buying behaviour not only affect the online market, but also shape the shape of the traditional market.

The aim of the project is to activate landowners (including municipalities); and to strengthen their responsibility for the management of their land in order to strengthen the resilience of the landscape in the context of climate change.

Project:

  • Summarises the situation of the Czech soil
  • Identifies key motivations of owners (including municipalities) for responsible land ownership
  • Seeks solutions to perceived and real barriers that prevent farmers from converting to more sustainable farming
  • Sorts landowners, communicates with them to empower them in negotiating a tenancy agreement with the farmer
  • Creates an information web portal with citizen science involvement, including easy traceability of parcel and crop position

Natural heritage, including natural deposits of mineral waters & hot springs are well known common feature of CE countries. Their potential is widely used in large number of SPAs that constitute very important element of natural & cultural heritage and also local & regional economy in health care, wellness & tourism sectors. The common challenge that CE SPAs share is sustainable management of mineral & thermal waters deposits, especially reduction of pressures related to economic & urban development, mass tourism and careless sector policies became the basis for launching the Healing Places project. Project focus is to support sustainable development of SPAs, while protecting unique resources that constitute their basis. This will be done by extension of knowledge & awareness regarding influence of various factors on underground water deposits and by building multi-level and multi-territorial governance models of management of valuable natural SPA resources. Crucial element of the project will be constructing of common, innovative & web-based tool for assessment of threats & pressures on mineral & hot waters deposits. This tool will be offered freely to wider CE community as a decision making support mechanism. Exchange of experience as well as the implementation of dedicated pilot actions will lead to elaboration of integrated strategy for SPA sustainable development. Project leads also to direct results through implementation of elaborated activities in local scale, where Healing Places will design, test & implement innovative solutions for mineral water sustainable management in SPAs through various models of participatory practices. Through cooperation of actors representing different levels & sectors, widely applicable methodologies, lessons learnt from several pilot actions will strengthen environmental considerations during spa-related interventions & support efficient reduction of conflicts between economic, social & environmental approaches.

The project aims to:

  • to select and quantify relevant determinants of health and population health indicators in the districts of the Czech Republic and to determine their territorial differentiation;
  • teach the interrelationship of health areas and clarify their relevance to quality of life and
  • define the main causes of health inequalities at both macro (structural) and micro (individual) levels.

The results of the project offer a comprehensive view of spatial differences in health inequalities in the Czech Republic without the need to track many separate indicators. The created Health Index reduces the size of the original set of indicators, and this allows for clear and easy interpretation. The Health Index is assessed for each district, is composed of eight thematic areas (e.g. environmental, economic, demographic, social and health interventions, etc.) and contains a total of 60 indicators. The results are visualised using interactive maps. As a result, the results can be a useful basis for decision-making by state and local authorities or other organisations dealing with public health issues. The results are also available to individuals interested in public and individual health.

The epidemiological situation of tuberculosis in the Czech Republic is favourable thanks to the functional system of control and diagnostics. However, serious shortcomings are encountered in current clinical practice at all levels of management of the increasingly relevant mycobacterioses. The incidence of actual cases is clearly underreported in the Czech Republic. At the same time, there is a lack of a comprehensive concept of prevention and evaluation of mycobacterial findings in differently predisposed persons, especially children. At the same time, with the increase in resistance to antituberculosis drugs, there is confusion regarding the possible dispensation or appropriateness of therapy. The main aim of the project is to evaluate all the knowledge obtained by detailed investigation of patients at clinical, laboratory and socio-demographic level and to clarify the epidemiological context by investigating the presence of non-tuberculous mycobacteria and their characteristics in the external environment and in the immediate surroundings of humans.

This project focuses on the exploration of the visual culture of propaganda inspired by various motifs found in Slavic nationalisms in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In addition, the project focuses on a discursive analysis of nationalist agendas as they can be observed in various political speeches, statements, and also on the social media platforms of different political actors in both countries. In this respect, the project focuses on analysing the anti-European nature of political discourses, both visual and written, in the respective countries. Such an analysis is intended to reveal the methods of their use and abuse in political discourse.

The project analyses China’s New Silk Road Initiative (‘Belt and Road Initiative’ – BRI), President Xi Jinping’s flagship foreign policy initiative since 2013, using the theoretical framework of a state-led coordinated economic diplomacy strategy that applies three main strategic tools to achieve three key objectives.

The three key objectives are:

  1. China’s expanding geopolitical and geoeconomic influence in emerging countries in Asia and Europe;
  2. securing sales for Chinese firms competing in a crowded domestic market; and
  3. preserving China’s economic growth and economic security.

Three strategic tools are:

  1. infrastructure construction by Chinese companies;
  2. loan financing by Chinese state-owned banks; and
  3. Offensive use of state-led soft power.

This framework will be applied based on texts and statistical data related to Chinese policy and investment in selected countries in each of the BRI regions (i.e., Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia).

The aim of the project is to map the current state and level of involvement of individual regions, regional cities and former district cities in the Smart City/Smart Region concept, to map the level of the process of implementation of the Smart concept, opinions on the need for its support and to propose appropriate measures to increase the intensity of involvement in this concept. On the basis of the analysis of the current situation, the following recommendations for supporting the implementation of the Smart concept are identified: creating and ensuring the updating of a stack/database of proven solutions for the individual target areas of the Smart City/Smart Region concept implementation, creating a national/regional strategy for the Smart concept implementation supported by relevant subsidy support, implementing the Smart concept in the area of delegated state administration, supporting awareness and education in the area of Smart.

There is a lack of legal and regulatory background and missing clear definition of the microfinance system in the Czech Republic. This results in missing microfinance institutions (MFI), and micro entrepreneurs tending to use consumer credit products, which is expensive, without any counselling services and with high risk of getting over indebted. The inspiration for the designing and launching the microfinance legislative could be found in other European countries with successfully developed microfinance system. The aim of this research was to examine the efficiency level of MFIs in Europe and determine the factors that influence them. This knowledge could be beneficial when designing and launching the microfinance system in the Czech Republic.