CZECH REPUBLIC
The Czech Republic, Czech: Česká republika; Czech: Česko, is a landlocked country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres (30,450 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental climate and oceanic climate. It is a unitary parliamentary republic, with 10.6 million inhabitants; its capital and largest city is Prague, with 1.3 million residents. Other major cities are Brno, Ostrava and Pilsen. The Czech Republic is a member of the European Union (EU), NATO, the OECD, the United Nations, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe.
It is a developed country with an advanced, high income export-oriented social market economy based in services, manufacturing and innovation. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development. The Czech Republic is a welfare state with a "continental" European social model, a universal health care system, tuition-free university education and is ranked 14th in the Human Capital Index. It ranks as the 6th safest or most peaceful country and is one of the most non-religious countries in the world, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance.
Prague Czech: Praha is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, the 14th largest city in the European Union[9] and the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 2.6 million. The city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters.
Prague has been a political, cultural and economic centre of central Europe complete with a rich history. Founded during the Romanesque and flourishing by the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque eras, Prague was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the main residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably of Charles IV (r. 1346-1378).[10] It was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia, during both World Wars and the post-war Communist era.
Zlín (Czech pronunciation: [zliːn]; is a city in southeastern Moravia in the Czech Republic, the seat of the Zlín Region, on the Dřevnice river. The development of the modern city is closely connected to the Bata Shoes company and its social scheme, developed after the First World War. From 1949 to 1990, the city was renamed Gottwaldov.
The first record of Zlín dates back to 1322, when it served as a craft guild center for the surrounding area of Moravian Wallachia. Zlín became a town in 1397. During the thirty years war, the residents of Zlín, along with people from the whole Wallachian region, led an uprising against the Habsburg monarchy.
The town grew rapidly after Tomáš Baťa founded a shoe factory there in 1894 when the population was approximately 3,000 inhabitants. Baťa's factory supplied the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I as the entire Moravia region was part of the empire. Due to the remarkable economic growth of the company and the increasing prosperity of its workers, Baťa himself was elected mayor of Zlín in 1923.
The city's architectural development was a characteristic synthesis of two modernist urban utopian visions: the first inspired by Ebenezer Howard's Garden city movement and the second tracing its lineage to Le Corbusier's vision of urban modernity. From the very beginning Baťa pursued the goal of constructing the Garden City proposed by Ebenezer Howard. However, the shape of the city had to be 'modernized' so as to suit the needs of the company and of the expanding community.
Stredni prumyslova skola polytechnicka - Centrum odborne pripravy Zlin
We are Secondary Polytechnic School with both A-level and vocational branches in the fields of graphic design, semiconductor electronic, book binding, printing, engineering, leather and plastic processing and design and economics. We have 146 employees. The school is attended by 850 pupils (16 - 19); some of them with special needs. Because we constantly try to pass on our pupils to the maximum both in vocational and theoretical teaching, our school was re-evaluated (2014 and 2015) by the "Employers' Club" as the best school that cooperates with industrial companies. It is not an insignificant organization because it brings together hundreds of companies in fourteen regions of the Czech Republic. Further evidence of improving the quality of teaching at our school is an increasing demand from applicants. In 2013, we had only 450 pupils and thanks to the unceasing diligence and enthusiasm of not only the management of the school (who is still building new learning facilities, and reconstructing and modernizing current ones) but also the teachers. This year with 850 pupils we have become the school with the largest number of pupils in the Zlín region.
We keep trying different ways to increase our students' interest in studying and from our former experience we know that taking part in Comenius or Leonardo was a great motivation for them (we took part in several successful projects). Moreover, fulfilling the project tasks will help them to make new friends and to learn something new not only about everything connected with recycling and environmental protection, but also about other European countries - their way of life, culture and traditions. We have entered this project because we want to give our pupils and teachers the opportunity to broaden their horizons in the field of recycling and environmental protection in other countries in an attractive and useful way as well as learn about other European countries in the process of globalisation and interculturalism. Last but not least we want to motivate our pupils to improve their English language. We repeatedly work on applying for the strategic partnerships KA2 that will definitely help the pupils and teachers of our school to fulfil these efforts. This project can also be of great help.
We teach environmental protection throughout curriculum in majority of our subjects and every year we organize The Earth Day. We also repeatedly recycle paper, plastic and dangerous waste. Our school also took part in the national competition of young fashion designers "Make New out of Old" using recycled materials to make clothes and accessories.