Digital Approach to Successful Business Plans in Forestry and Related Fields

This paper introduces the KABADA (Knowledge Alliance of Business Idea Assessment: Digital Approach) tool, together with the opinions of young people about entrepreneurship, their skills, and their experience with this tool. The focus is on non-business students who study natural sciences, engineering, and other areas at the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology at Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic. The KABADA tool has been developed and tested by a team of international experts. It can be used by a wide audience, including forester management specialists. This structured, web-based platform is based on theoretical research, relevant statistics, and artificial intelligence insights. It guides entrepreneurs through business idea assessment including challenges and opportunities. The research included survey answers from 60 university students before and after using the KABADA tool. The results show that students are interested in entrepreneurship but do not have the knowledge or experience, or support from the curriculum. The majority of the students had no or very low experience with entrepreneurship, no entrepreneurship training, and had not studied entrepreneurship. After using the tool, students declared that they had a higher knowledge of entrepreneurship and the number of students who intended to become an entrepreneur increased. The tool is available online, free of charge.O

A Unique Grubbing Head Prototype for Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Stump Removal

Stumps left behind after the felling of trees represent an important source of renewable energy that could be used for fuel mixtures as a sustainable solution. The subject of this research was to determine the influence of tree species, stump diameter size, and subsoil on the time required for stump processing. Evaluated parameters included the mean time for one stump's processing; the stump processing time based on the stump diameter; different soil types and tree species; and the tree species type (coniferous, broadleaved). The research was conducted in the territory of the Czech Republic in 2020/2021. There were 287 stumps and 6 tree species in total. The stumps were uprooted using a new prototype of grubbing head, developed at Mendel University in Brno, attached as an adapter on the boom of a JCB JS 220 LC excavator with a tracked undercarriage and was controlled remotely from an excavator cab. Research results confirmed that the processing time of one stump depends on the stump diameter (GLM), and the time needed for the processing of one stump increased with an increase in stump diameter in all experimental sites. An equation was suggested to predict the time needed to work on one stump.O

Social Economy and Responsibility

Given the importance of entrepreneurial activities as an engine of economic growth and poverty alleviation, the issue of business development and entrepreneurial activities, has received increasing attention from a number of interested parties worldwide and also in the Czech Republic. The focus of this paper is on a social economy, a social responsibility and social enterprises. The development of the social economy framework will be introduced in the European context and specifically in the Czech Republic. A case study of a Czech social entrepreneur will be introduced based on qualitative research, namely the biographical narrative method.Social enterprises can support activities of various target groups, such as economic activities of mentally and physically handicapped people, which often operate in economically and socially marginalized situations, including stereotyped images. They give them a chance to become active members of society. In this way they can help to reduce the poverty on a local level. The aim of this paper is to introduce a social entrepreneurship as important part of social economy development in the Czech Republic

Being mobile virtually

The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of virtual mobility, various types of virtual activities and the results of own research conducted within the MoreVM project. The new types of mobility, resp. virtual mobility are explored in EU context interpreting the research results and stressing case studies as examples of good practice. Virtual mobility among two or more educational institutions offers students a virtual trip abroad. There is an opportunity to acquire a number of ECTS-points at one of the foreign partner institutions or through a joint activity which are counted to the student’s degree at his/her home university. This paper is based on the research conducted among ERASMUS coordinators within the EU. The research was part of the MoreVM project which aims at facilitating the virtual mobility, encouraging participation and enhancing efficiency of virtual mobility in higher education. The central focus was on the position of the virtual mobility coordinator, if such exists. There will be an overview of the main research findings reflecting the present situation in managing the virtual mobility. Sharing good experience, including the MoreVM project results, could increase the development of the virtual mobility and get similar attention and success as Erasmus physical mobility. Virtual mobility could be a valuable example also for countries outside of EU

The Values and Attitudes of Young People

This contribution presents the research conducted at Charles University in Prague in comparison with the Mendel University in Brno. The focus is on selected aspects of values which might correspond to future job market success and also presupposed value differences of students. This innovative approach is trying to show the characteristics of young students reflecting their values, socialization and attitudes. The main aim is to analyze the differences in these two student bodies’ samples with the focus on values and attitudes of future managers and business experts. The questions under focus include topics such as 1. Are students different in values because they study different field of study or are they very similar because they belong to the same age cohort? 2. Is the group of economic students homogeneous or are there big differences in value orientation? 3. Can we use this knowledge to improve educational management and prepare students successfully for their future careers? The results showed that the students of the FBE in Brno are less liberal in comparison with students of the FH from Prague. These students come from families with similar level of educational background of parents but their opinion on ideal society, where they would like to live in, is different. It seems that economic students are more diversified as there are gender differences regarding the ideal society image

Certification of Corporate Social Responsibility in EU and China

Corporate social responsibility is reflected in environmental, social, economic, stakeholder and voluntariness dimensions. It had become an important topic for European agenda where CSR is considered as a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interact with stakeholders on a voluntary basis. In general, it is the responsibility of enterprises for their impact on society. CSR and its certification is important not only for EU but also for out-European business partners such as China. This paper is focused on EU agenda related to CSR, certification, SA8000 standard and the case study of China in relation to SA8000. The results show that the interest in obtaining of SA8000 certificate has risen up to 3231 companies in 2013. European certified companies are represented by 1583 in 2013. The most developing regions in terms of SA8000 certification are Europe and Central Asia, resp. Europe, South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific. In Europe, the most SA8000 certified country is Italy with one third of certifications from the whole world. From out- European countries leading role is taken by India and China. China is the world biggest exporter in the apparel branch which has also the highest number of SA8000 certified companies