Community tensions, participation, and local development: Factors affecting the spatial embeddedness of anaerobic digestion in Poland and the Czech Republic

Anaerobic Digestion plants (AD plants) are an important part of energy transition towards low-carbon rural economies in Central European countries. However, their benefits in making rural spaces more energy sustainable and energy self-sufficient are frequently questioned. In our paper, we strive to deepen our understanding of the level of embeddedness of two modes of operation of AD plants (AD on-farm, AD off-farm) in cases of Poland and the Czech Republic. We evaluate the pros and cons of both modes and assess their importance for the local rural development and energy transition through the lens of their embeddedness in the life of rural communities. Through questionnaire surveys in two municipalities (Buczek in Poland, Stonava in the Czech Republic, n = 232) and a set of expert interviews (19) with local and regional stakeholders, we have found that AD plants are specific rural enterprises as they usually rely on local biomass resources and are generally more grounded in the local economy and in local social structures than other enterprises. We also discovered that both types of AD plants investigated create significant (but varied) linkages with local stakeholders. The awareness of ADs among local population is high and significantly influenced by previous visits to the AD plant. By providing jobs and organizing local events for the local population operators of AD plants create space for their deeper acceptability and their embeddedness into the life of rural communities, however, site-specificity and local socio-cultural contexts must be also considered

Uncovering patterns of location of brownfields to facilitate their regeneration: Some remarks from the Czech Republic

The issue of brownfield regeneration is closely connected to balanced and sustainable development of regions, towns, and cities as it endeavors to reuse buildings and sites that have already lost their original use, but at the same time offers a possibility to generate new beneficial activities for the whole society that exceed just material or physical changes of the brownfield sites. The regeneration of every brownfield is usually a highly site-specific issue and individual and unique impacts of regeneration on the particular locality are obvious. Yet, several patterns in sets of non-regenerated brownfields can be identified. By finding and defining such patterns, a framework of indicators to facilitate brownfield regeneration can be created and the importance and strength of a particular indicator can be defined. By means of the analyses, we are able to recommend various relevant and most suitable approaches with regards to brownfield regeneration in individual regions. We have employed Factor Analysis (FA) for the identification of key factors of brownfield regeneration. In particular, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to conduct analyses of 1304 non-regenerated brownfields located in seven regions of the Czech Republic (NUTS 3 level). Data were obtained from publicly available brownfield databases of individual regional administrations. By means of Factor Analysis, it was ascertained that the most frequent factor that is typical for the surveyed non-regenerated brownfields is the ownership. The second most frequent factor is the size of the brownfields. As the third factor according to importance, the distance between the location of the individual brownfield and the municipality of extended powers (the so-called small district) was identified. By taking into account the results of the conducted analyses, brownfield regeneration policies of individual regions might be adapted to be more suitably targeted

Exploring the hidden potential of sugar beet industry brownfields (case study of the Czech Republic).

The paper focuses on spatial analyses of sugar beet industry brownfields in the Czech Republic. In the first part of the paper history of sugar beet industry on the area of the Czech Republic is briefly presented, then links between location of these sites and its transport potential are discussed. Benefits of brownfields regeneration for regional development are also evaluated. In the empirical part of the paper 49 brownfield sites within the Czech Republic, where the sugar beet industry was abandoned during the transition period after 1989, are evaluated and classified based on field research and aerial picture analyses. Three examples of reuse of former sugar beet factories are finally presented. It was found that development potential of studied sites is highly depended on their geographical location and some inspiration might be derived from presented examples. More targeted supportive policy in the Czech Republic to support regeneration of brownfields is needed. In the concluding part of the paper further development possibilities of sugar beet industry brownfields and their railway connection are considered

Factors affecting brownfield regeneration in post-socialist space: the case of the Czech Republic

Using an example of the Czech Republic, this explorative study attempts to answer the question of what factors have a significant influence on a successful regeneration of brownfields in a post-socialistic space. The study is based on a comparative analysis of two data files – the database of existing brownfields provided by the national CzechInvest agency, and the database of successfully regenerated brownfields compiled by the authors themselves. The paper consists of three interrelated parts, the first one dealing with an analysis of the structure of regenerated brownfields, the second one confronting this with the structure of the existing brownfields by means of a comparative analysis, and the third one analyzing the factors of brownfield regeneration. The main types of functional transformation of space were identified and the factors that appeared to be significant determinants of brownfields regeneration were classified as the result

Brownfield regeneration from the perspective of residents: Place circumstances versus character of respondents

Little attention is paid to the inhabitants’ views of places where brownfields are localized. If the residents attract some attention in this matter, it is most often at global level, and no influence of responders’ characteristics or of place of questioning on the perception of problems of brownfields is examined in more detail. However, there is a consensus among researchers that these variables have an immediate effect on perception. That is why we set the objective to assess the impact of inhabitants’ characteristics and of the place of residence on the structure of preferences for various types of brownfields regeneration. Respondents were questioned in three zones (city center, vicinity of the city and the peripheral surroundings of the city) of two cities (497 respondents in Karviná and 833 respondents in České Budějovice, both Czech Republic). Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents were pursued and respondents commented on the extent of agreement with the use of existing brownfields in three defined zones of cities. The impact of origin of the resident (geographic characteristics) and of the character of the respondent (soci-economic characteristics) on a structure in preferences was studied sequentially by means of three methods of multidimensional data analysis (PCA, RDA, and Variation Partitioning). All methods led us to reveal a structure of four factors of preferences for regeneration: green/sport, housing/shopping, industry, and entertainment. Following the RDA the statistically significant variables to influence the structure of answers are both geographical variables – city, zone of a city – and three socio-economic variables – gender, age, and education. Preference for commercial-residential use of brownfields has a distinctive centre-periphery distribution within the city. The preferences of the revitalization through the reactivation of the industry are given primarily by the particular city, and the impact of both types of variables (characteristics of the respondent and the place of questioning) is significant, however the shared explainable variation is negligible (geographic variables explain 51.6% and characteristics of respondents 46.6%

Renewable energy investment and job creation; a cross-sectoral assessment for the Czech Republic with reference to EU benchmarks

The development of renewable energy sources has been primarily justified on the ground of environmental policies and energy security, but new jobs opportunities and establishment of new economy sectors may be equally important co-benefits from investments in this sector. The main goal of this paper is to assess the employment benefits of investments in renewable energy in the Czech Republic. We examine the level and rate of the development of the renewable energy sector in the Czech Republic in terms of ('green‘) job creation for the period 2008–2013, in comparison to data from other EU countries, including Germany as a leading early investor in renewables. Whilst the deployment of renewable energy in the Czech Republic has succeeded to create a significant number of jobs (more than 20 000 employees in 2010), our analysis illustrates a strong dependency of job creation on the continuation of financial incentives. We also find that biomass and waste energy processing offer the highest employment per MWh, which benefits employment in (economically fragile) rural areas. We discuss the question of competitiveness of a country that was not amongst the early adopters of renewables, arguing that the technical skills of the labour force in the Czech Republic provide a potential for more sustained investments in the sector

Exploring spatial patterns of urban brownfields regeneration: the case of Brno, Czech Republic

Previous studies have demonstrated that the location of brownfields is an important factor affecting potential investor decisions and brownfields regeneration. In this study, the spatial patterns of urban redevelopment are explored, using an analysis of variance model for a detailed database of existing and regenerated brownfields in the city of Brno, Czech Republic. Any general pattern of regeneration – such as ‘the closer to the city centre, the better’, which would be valid for all brownfields – has not been found. Rather, regeneration seems to be a function of local development potential, local occupier-demand for specific utilities, and planning regulations. Higher rates of regeneration have been detected in densely built-up areas (inner city zones and housing estates), while lower rates are registered for areas with low population density and with a greater supply of green spaces (garden colonies, open spaces, industrial zones and villa residential districts). The factors of centrality and transport links are positively associated with retail and business development projects, but negatively associated with the projects of housing development and construction of civic amenities, for which population density and the socioeconomic structure of the local population are significant positive factors. Important implications for further research and urban planning are formulated in the conclusions

The path from passivity toward entrepreneurship: Public sector actors in brownfield regeneration processes in Central and Eastern Europe

Europeanization research dealing with the environmental transition in Eastern Europe has focused on the roles of state actors in adopting European regulations. Less well understood are the framings and roles of public administration actors when European Union regulations do not prescribe specific institutional changes. This article offers a micro perspective on the framings and roles of such actors in several cases of brownfield regeneration. Actors can play a proactive role, thereby fostering change, or they can play a moderately active or a passive role. We identify three moments—defining brownfield problems, mobilizing networks, and leading by example—which together define an entrepreneurial path. Along this path, actors can evolve from passivity toward entrepreneurship, but stasis and regression are also possible. Using qualitative data from the project TIMBRE (Tailored Improvement of Brownfield Regeneration in Europe), we illustrate different moments along this path for public sector actors in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania

Interpreting regional and local diversities of the social acceptance of agricultural AD plants in the rural space of the Moravian-Silesian Region (Czech Republic)

Agricultural anaerobic digestion plants have recently become a typical part of rural landscape in the Czech Republic due to massive governmental subvention programmes. Yet, their potential as an effective tool how to response to global climate changes at a local level is rather underused (maize used as a primary input mainly, usage of waste heat is limited, etc.). This situation is caused by misguided subvention policies. The aim of this contribution is first to analyse the agricultural anaerobic digestion plants in the rural space of the Moravian-Silesian Region, and second, to deepen the knowledge on the perception of the digestion plants among the population of municipalities in which such facility was constructed. A questionnaire survey has been carried out in three model municipalities (n = 369) located in the Moravian-Silesian Region. Several recommendations and notes for public administration and potential investors concerning the location of future anaerobic digestion plants projects and settings of supportive programmes have been defined