# Transcript: An hour of sustainability

## Description

Who is Soňa Klepek Jonášová?



Soňa Klepek Jonášová graduated in Agricultural Engineering from Mendel University in Brno. She founded INCIEN (Institute for Circular Economy), which has also been operating in Slovakia since 2016, after studying and interning abroad in the Netherlands and Spain. Since 2014, she has actively promoted circularity and sustainability topics in the Czech Republic. She helped launch platforms such as the Czech Circular Hotspot and Change for the Better, as she considers connecting the right people within specific projects key to transforming sustainability from words into action. She enjoys building bridges between worlds, for example by serving on advisory boards of public institutions (e.g., the Climate Issues Commission of the Government Office) and major companies (e.g., Škoda Auto), while also pursuing a PhD in social ecology at Charles University.

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**[00:10:00]** And if the lecture goes well, it's good to sometimes sail away and calm down.

**[00:10:05]** And I think that's a good clear headspace to take the right steps in sustainability.

**[00:10:10]** I like having perspective. Even though I hate flying, which is quite a contrast.

**[00:10:15]** I don't fly often, but when I do, I try to be glued to the window

**[00:10:20]** and look at our country from outside and from above.

**[00:10:23]** And I think that's a huge source of inspiration.

**[00:10:26]** To understand the world as a very complex place that has its challenges, if not problems.

**[00:10:33]** When I was with Petr Kalaš, whom I mentioned here, and I actually met him on a trip

**[00:10:38]** to a meeting about sustainability topics in New York, where I was just accompanying a government mission,

**[00:10:43]** we were flying over Greenland.

**[00:10:46]** I always thought Greenland was an endless white expanse.

**[00:10:49]** But even then, it was clear that it wasn't entirely like that.

**[00:10:52]** It was July, of course, there are times of the year when Greenland isn't fully covered,

**[00:10:57]** but even back then, there was talk about excessive melting.

**[00:10:59]** And for me, it was a breathtaking experience because I lived with a photo of planet Earth,

**[00:11:04]** where the top is white, the bottom is white, and in between is color.

**[00:11:07]** But that's not really how it is.

**[00:11:09]** Similarly, I get inspired when I fly over Bangkok.

**[00:11:13]** That was when we were going to Indonesia again.

**[00:11:16]** Something that might not be so visible in the photo, but it's actually a smog cover.

**[00:11:21]** So when you hear a morning report and see PPM,

**[00:11:24]** some kind of abbreviation for particles in the air,

**[00:11:27]** it probably refers to what we are currently breathing and how.

**[00:11:30]** And when we talk about emissions, even though you can't see them,

**[00:11:34]** sometimes you can if you look out the window,

**[00:11:36]** believe me, if you rise a bit higher,

**[00:11:39]** we produce so much pollution,

**[00:11:42]** that from above, you almost want to hold your breath

**[00:11:46]** and endure the landing without breathing at all.

**[00:11:49]** That's also a way to look at planet Earth.

**[00:11:51]** I'm always drawn to agriculture.

**[00:11:53]** I even split agriculture into two words,

**[00:11:55]** because I think that by cultivating the landscape,

**[00:11:58]** we divide the Earth into parts, we separate it,

**[00:12:01]** and we do it in a very smart or foolish way.

**[00:12:04]** This is over Ukraine in 2014, which fascinated me greatly,

**[00:12:07]** that all the villages were elongated,

**[00:12:09]** so everyone had their own small plot to care for.

**[00:12:12]** The landscape was beautifully fragmented, like a mosaic,

**[00:12:16]** and I think it's one of the basic prerequisites

**[00:12:18]** to realize what caring for the soil and the planet can mean,

**[00:12:22]** when each of us has that one small plot.

**[00:12:24]** It's a cliché, and I think for many possibilities it's quite unrealistic,

**[00:12:29]** but here I saw the Future Farming project outdoors,

**[00:12:31]** where you can grow even in the city.

**[00:12:33]** And I believe that if we get closer to how food is produced,

**[00:12:36]** how demanding it is,

**[00:12:39]** what the process is so far, then when we talk

**[00:12:41]** about sustainable agriculture from that perspective,

**[00:12:44]** we'll also talk about how big the fields are,

**[00:12:47]** whether they support biodiversity, which for me,

**[00:12:50]** I will always return to those words a bit

**[00:12:52]** or explain them as I perceive them,

**[00:12:54]** For me, biodiversity is not just a word,

**[00:12:57]** empty and full of some metrics,

**[00:12:59]** but it's like wanting to have as many vitamins in your body as possible in life,

**[00:13:02]** so that when a disease comes,

**[00:13:04]** you are resilient.

**[00:13:06]** You want to have a range for every case.

**[00:13:08]** You want vitamin D for immunity,

**[00:13:10]** you want vitamin C, and you want other vitamins.

**[00:13:13]** When we look at planet Earth,

**[00:13:15]** biodiversity is similar to this.

**[00:13:17]** When the range is diverse, it has a high degree

**[00:13:20]** of resilience, the ability to withstand various changes.

**[00:13:23]** So when a shock happens,

**[00:13:25]** it can handle it.

**[00:13:27]** In the Czech Republic, we have huge fields,

**[00:13:30]** where we have monocultures, and it's not just about rapeseed,

**[00:13:32]** it's also about other crops,

**[00:13:34]** many crops have disappeared, like flax,

**[00:13:36]** you rarely see alfalfa,

**[00:13:38]** you rarely see knapweed,

**[00:13:40]** which is an amazing plant for bees,

**[00:13:44]** so I think our Earth,

**[00:13:47]** when a problem comes,

**[00:13:50]** has a big problem resisting it.

**[00:13:53]** On planet Earth, we can also see places

**[00:13:55]** visible from space,

**[00:13:57]** this is Almeria,

**[00:13:59]** a place that dared to say

**[00:14:01]** that the supply is probably in vegetables,

**[00:14:04]** in our morning toast we have something good.

**[00:14:06]** It is the only place in southern Spain,

**[00:14:08]** or one of the few places,

**[00:14:10]** besides the Great Wall of China, visible from space,

**[00:14:12]** completely covered with greenhouses,

**[00:14:15]** producing vegetables and fruits

**[00:14:17]** for almost all of Europe 12 months a year.

**[00:14:19]** When I was there in a local supermarket,

**[00:14:22]** I asked about tomatoes,

**[00:14:24]** because I wanted to buy some local ones,

**[00:14:28]** So that was, I think, sometime in March.

**[00:14:30]** And there was this one strange, bruised one.

**[00:14:33]** And I asked, why?

**[00:14:35]** Don't you have more varieties there,

**[00:14:37]** since you grow them here now?

**[00:14:39]** And they said, we don't buy tomatoes when it's not the season.

**[00:14:41]** People in Europe need

**[00:14:43]** to have tomatoes every day, 24/7,

**[00:14:45]** so we produce them for you,

**[00:14:47]** but for us, the tastiest ones are

**[00:14:49]** the ones that grow outside.

**[00:14:51]** And here I actually realized

**[00:14:53]** that we often complain about

**[00:14:55]** how crops are produced.

**[00:14:57]** We don't really like it

**[00:14:59]** when they're pumped in greenhouses

**[00:15:01]** with substances that speed up their growth.

**[00:15:03]** On the other hand, we're used

**[00:15:05]** to having everything available all the time.

**[00:15:08]** Whether it's food production,

**[00:15:10]** or maybe even our own.

**[00:15:12]** We forget that at Christmas it's good to rest,

**[00:15:14]** that it's a time of closure,

**[00:15:16]** and likewise it's good to eat at Christmas

**[00:15:18]** what we have available

**[00:15:20]** or what we dried in the summer.

**[00:15:22]** These are small things, but in a global context,

**[00:15:24]** when you then see such areas

**[00:15:26]** and such enormous projects,

**[00:15:28]** you realize that the intensification of production

**[00:15:30]** affects not only

**[00:15:32]** the state of the environment,

**[00:15:34]** but also the land cover we have.

**[00:15:36]** This, in turn, is the Netherlands,

**[00:15:38]** the country of my heart, maybe the other half,

**[00:15:40]** because it's also the country where I got

**[00:15:42]** several impulses to establish in the Czech Republic

**[00:15:44]** an institute of circular economy.

**[00:15:46]** When I went there on Erasmus,

**[00:15:48]** it was a great inspiration to me that at school

**[00:15:50]** sustainability was taught

**[00:15:52]** in every subject.

**[00:15:54]** It wasn't a subject called sustainability.

**[00:15:56]** In every single one, you had the basics,

**[00:15:58]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:00]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:02]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:04]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:06]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:08]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:10]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:12]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:14]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:16]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:18]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:20]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:22]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:24]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:26]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:28]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:30]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:32]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:34]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:36]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:38]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:40]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:42]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:44]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:46]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:48]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:50]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:52]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:54]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:56]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:16:58]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:17:00]** the basics that the sustainability subject had,

**[00:17:02]** and that was also an impulse.

**[00:17:04]** Regardless of the fact that in the Netherlands they try to manage the soil,

**[00:17:08]** so they even dry out the land that is now flooded by the sea,

**[00:17:11]** and several areas of that country are dried out

**[00:17:13]** and actually artificially created soil.

**[00:17:15]** And here, just back to Bangkok

**[00:17:17]** and the fact that we often value the world's soil on Earth,

**[00:17:20]** which is an impulse to

**[00:17:22]** look at the world

**[00:17:24]** with the perspective of wings,

**[00:17:26]** but at the same time know the roots very well

**[00:17:28]** and the condition the soil is in.

**[00:17:30]** And when they don't fly over it,

**[00:17:32]** whether for environmental or other reasons,

**[00:17:35]** I think Google Zoom is enough.

**[00:17:37]** And for me, one of the significant impulses

**[00:17:40]** and something that really got me out of my chair,

**[00:17:42]** when I'm bored,

**[00:17:44]** which doesn't happen often,

**[00:17:46]** but I need to gain a bit of perspective artificially,

**[00:17:48]** I help myself by going on Google

**[00:17:50]** and zooming in on the maps of planet Earth.

**[00:17:53]** And what I usually do is,

**[00:17:55]** I google completely randomly,

**[00:17:57]** without any plan,

**[00:17:59]** just zoom in, zoom in.

**[00:18:01]** And here I am somewhere in Siberia,

**[00:18:03]** in the middle of nowhere,

**[00:18:05]** I zoomed in like this

**[00:18:07]** and said, wow, red-green river,

**[00:18:09]** that's interesting, what is that.

**[00:18:11]** So I started googling more

**[00:18:13]** and suddenly I saw

**[00:18:15]** that nearby is Norilsk.

**[00:18:17]** I don't know, have you ever heard of Norilsk as a city?

**[00:18:19]** No? Norilsk is a city

**[00:18:21]** where almost no one can go,

**[00:18:23]** except Russians, Belarusians,

**[00:18:25]** it's a city that is still

**[00:18:27]** kind of like a gulag,

**[00:18:29]** it's a kind of prison that

**[00:18:31]** is not officially called a prison,

**[00:18:33]** but you can't just get there easily

**[00:18:35]** and it's a large industrial city,

**[00:18:37]** where various severe covid cases are processed,

**[00:18:39]** maybe we have them in our mobile phones.

**[00:18:41]** At the same time, it is a city that definitely doesn't have

**[00:18:43]** various IZA or EMAS certifications

**[00:18:45]** and other environmental

**[00:18:47]** management, or

**[00:18:49]** an environmental management system

**[00:18:51]** or management, and it is a

**[00:18:53]** situation where if you zoom in even more,

**[00:18:55]** you might see some of those shacks,

**[00:18:57]** usually the ground temperature is down to minus 40 degrees,

**[00:18:59]** so it's not a pleasant place to live.

**[00:19:01]** And it was at a time when during

**[00:19:03]** three days, and Google Earth images

**[00:19:05]** are often updated like photographs,

**[00:19:07]** but this was at a time when a huge

**[00:19:09]** oil spill happened,

**[00:19:11]** and oil was flowing in the river,

**[00:19:13]** and actually this environmental disaster

**[00:19:15]** was called by Putin

**[00:19:17]** one of the biggest environmental disasters,

**[00:19:19]** and the very next day or third day he was on site

**[00:19:21]** and dealt with what actually happened there.

**[00:19:23]** And I think that since our

**[00:19:25]** production has such an impact

**[00:19:27]** on what is happening, that we can color rivers,

**[00:19:29]** that someone here in the Czech Republic

**[00:19:31]** sees it from their mobile phone, I think

**[00:19:33]** these are impulses to take on

**[00:19:35]** some global actions and as nations

**[00:19:37]** to unite. For me, a huge

**[00:19:39]** impulse to

**[00:19:41]** focus on the topic of circular economy

**[00:19:43]** and address it,

**[00:19:45]** was that maybe a bit more than we expected

**[00:19:49]** was left behind was the

**[00:19:51]** Circular Economy 2014 conference

**[00:19:53]** in Brussels, which I attended still

**[00:19:55]** as a student, and when there

**[00:19:57]** on the stage to the left was Janes Potočník,

**[00:19:59]** who on it

**[00:20:00]** in that photo, the very right, on the left photo on the right

**[00:20:03]** and he talked about the circular economy as a system,

**[00:20:06]** that connects sustainability and care for the planet with business

**[00:20:10]** and creates new jobs and meaningful functioning.

**[00:20:13]** For me, it was something that made sense.

**[00:20:15]** By nature, I'm more of a pragmatist than just an idealist

**[00:20:19]** and I like to do projects that can be grounded and visionary at the same time.

**[00:20:23]** And Janes Potočník, then the European Commissioner for the Environment,

**[00:20:28]** gave such a passionate speech that when I met him later during a coffee break

**[00:20:31]** with other students and he asked what I was doing,

**[00:20:34]** I felt really awkward saying I was just studying.

**[00:20:36]** So I said, I'm here at school, but as soon as I return to the Czech Republic,

**[00:20:39]** I'm going to start some first unit on circular economy,

**[00:20:43]** some nonprofit, and that's it.

**[00:20:46]** And he said, excellent, excellent, so when it's ready, let me know.

**[00:20:49]** Then he left and I thought, oh my god, I just promised something,

**[00:20:52]** I can't take it back now.

**[00:20:54]** And that impulse stayed with me so strongly,

**[00:20:57]** that I really started figuring out how to found a nonprofit

**[00:21:01]** and that became the institute.

**[00:21:03]** And whenever someone asks me how I planned or prepared it,

**[00:21:06]** sometimes in life you get impulses where you don't even know what you said,

**[00:21:10]** but once it's out, you have to do something about it.

**[00:21:12]** That was the case at this conference.

**[00:21:14]** At the same time, Jean-Arthur Beretran, a French director,

**[00:21:21]** presented another film that greatly influenced my perspective on planet Earth.

**[00:21:26]** Maybe you know it, it's a documentary called Home, not Domov,

**[00:21:31]** with the subtitle Where Our Journey Leads.

**[00:21:34]** It's a documentary that follows planet Earth from a balloon with very slow shots.

**[00:21:38]** There are breathtaking moments.

**[00:21:41]** It floats in the air over African villages, over cotton pickers,

**[00:21:47]** and at the same time over huge industrial parks.

**[00:21:50]** I remember that moment when I was about fourteen, sitting with my family at home,

**[00:21:54]** and you know how you watch one show after another on TV, sometimes endlessly.

**[00:22:00]** And suddenly this documentary came on, and the slow shots glued us all to our seats.

**[00:22:05]** We watched it, and in the end, it was a very emotional documentary for me,

**[00:22:09]** I was crying and thought, you have to do something about this.

**[00:22:12]** We have to do something about this.

**[00:22:14]** And he kept talking about it, and I thought,

**[00:22:16]** That's the person who filmed it and is now standing here.

**[00:22:18]** So it's no longer a coincidence, I really have to start doing something.

**[00:22:21]** And it's actually been 8 years, I have a diary from that conference and I still use it.

**[00:22:29]** Because some people take notes and say to themselves,

**[00:22:31]** the next day they're busy, it takes a long time.

**[00:22:34]** The ideas you hear, to bring them into everyday life,

**[00:22:38]** and not all of them are in practice yet, that I had imagined.

**[00:22:41]** For example, a kind of map that would look like the picture at the beginning,

**[00:22:45]** we're not even there yet.

**[00:22:49]** Impulses don't always have to be emotional,

**[00:22:53]** they can be everyday, ordinary,

**[00:22:56]** but I still think they can be extraordinary.

**[00:22:58]** This is a photo from our cycling flight, near the village,

**[00:23:01]** where we live in Vysočina, so half Vysočina and half Prague.

**[00:23:05]** And it was so beautiful that my husband and I stood there for about half an hour

**[00:23:09]** just looking around and saying to each other,

**[00:23:12]** what a beautiful country we live in.

**[00:23:14]** It was completely idyllic.

**[00:23:17]** There was a variety of flowers, trees, the weather was beautiful.

**[00:23:21]** And I think those are the days when we realize,

**[00:23:23]** that here we might be the happiest.

**[00:23:25]** It's not about what you're wearing.

**[00:23:27]** I don't remember what I wore on the bike,

**[00:23:29]** but I remember the moment when I stood there and said,

**[00:23:32]** we have a damn beautiful country.

**[00:23:34]** It's worth taking care of.

**[00:23:38]** That's why sometimes you go into the forest

**[00:23:40]** and realize how beautiful the land is in some moments,

**[00:23:43]** or in some parts of the Czech Republic,

**[00:23:45]** but sometimes there is massive logging.

**[00:23:48]** And in 2019, the flood,

**[00:23:50]** when the bark beetle hit quite hard.

**[00:23:53]** At that time, not only at Incien,

**[00:23:55]** but I personally tried to turn some of those impulses

**[00:23:59]** into concrete steps.

**[00:24:01]** And maybe I'll get to the circular economy later,

**[00:24:04]** but maybe when I thought,

**[00:24:06]** wood isn't really my topic,

**[00:24:08]** but it's a material we might lack.

**[00:24:11]** If we cut down so many forests,

**[00:24:13]** when we transport so many trees,

**[00:24:15]** and back then I was quite interested,

**[00:24:17]** where exactly they are taken and stored,

**[00:24:19]** I was told that China buys them all,

**[00:24:22]** because China is globally recognized as a major manager

**[00:24:27]** in the sense that while we feel we have plenty of everything,

**[00:24:29]** they have bought most of the material resources.

**[00:24:31]** Whether in America or the USA.

**[00:24:33]** And we feel it's far away and doesn't concern us.

**[00:24:35]** However, China was the first buyer

**[00:24:37]** to come to Sázava and ask

**[00:24:39]** if they could pre-purchase wood

**[00:24:42]** that the bark beetle would attack.

**[00:24:44]** So imagine how much they know about

**[00:24:46]** what is happening on the planet and how much they know

**[00:24:48]** about materials and their sources,

**[00:24:50]** because they realize their economy

**[00:24:52]** will depend on those materials.

**[00:24:54]** And I thought it would be a shame

**[00:24:56]** if we never stored it here.

**[00:24:58]** So I wrote to the Ministry of the Environment

**[00:25:00]** and Agriculture and said

**[00:25:02]** that wood is a strategic raw material.

**[00:25:04]** When we talk about construction

**[00:25:06]** and reducing carbon,

**[00:25:08]** which is absorbed by the materials

**[00:25:10]** we build with, wood is a natural choice,

**[00:25:12]** because it stores carbon.

**[00:25:14]** And at the same time, these buildings

**[00:25:16]** are healthy and interesting.

**[00:25:18]** In the north, multi-story buildings are built.

**[00:25:20]** And it might be good to store it somewhere,

**[00:25:22]** so the answer I got was

**[00:25:24]** that a kind of map is being created

**[00:25:26]** of places where we could store it,

**[00:25:28]** and it's not that simple,

**[00:25:30]** you have to water and take care of the wood,

**[00:25:32]** you can't just leave it anywhere to the elements.

**[00:25:34]** However, maybe some kind of map was created,

**[00:25:38]** Those places were never filled.

**[00:25:40]** So even though it doesn't seem

**[00:25:42]** real to us, we feel

**[00:25:44]** that we have some national economists here,

**[00:25:46]** who have as much oversight over their country

**[00:25:48]** as China or colleagues from China have over us,

**[00:25:50]** but unfortunately, we lack such a national economics ministry.

**[00:25:52]** Because you find out

**[00:25:55]** that forests fall under the protection

**[00:25:57]** of the Ministry of the Environment,

**[00:25:59]** but it is shared

**[00:26:01]** with the Ministry of Agriculture,

**[00:26:03]** yet when a tree is cut down and taken away,

**[00:26:05]** the Ministry of Industry

**[00:26:07]** is involved,

**[00:26:09]** and they were unable to coordinate

**[00:26:11]** so that today we would have that wood available.

**[00:26:13]** So maybe that's why you've noticed

**[00:26:15]** rising wood prices,

**[00:26:17]** and everyone was asking, probably annoyed,

**[00:26:19]** why is it being taken away, why doesn't it stay here.

**[00:26:21]** And here we get into the management

**[00:26:23]** of our country, because

**[00:26:25]** even the public procurement system, which

**[00:26:27]** seems like it doesn't concern us,

**[00:26:29]** maybe some of you here are people from companies

**[00:26:31]** who have some purchasing or procurement department,

**[00:26:33]** but we have a purchasing department

**[00:26:35]** for the whole state, and we could

**[00:26:37]** have supported the use of wood

**[00:26:39]** by giving incentives in public procurement.

**[00:26:41]** We want the given building or bridge,

**[00:26:43]** you can even build bridges from wood now,

**[00:26:45]** to be made from bark beetle wood, which is

**[00:26:47]** still good quality, usable, but that didn't happen.

**[00:26:49]** On the contrary, our former

**[00:26:51]** prime minister signed a very favorable

**[00:26:53]** contract for removal

**[00:26:59]** of unprocessed wood

**[00:27:01]** to Austria, so

**[00:27:03]** we only transported a large amount

**[00:27:05]** of round timber

**[00:27:07]** without processing, without any

**[00:27:09]** added value being created in the Czech Republic.

**[00:27:11]** And I want to talk about that value because

**[00:27:13]** sustainability is not just ecology,

**[00:27:15]** which is the topic closest to my heart,

**[00:27:17]** but also economics.

**[00:27:19]** We have to keep both

**[00:27:21]** in balance,

**[00:27:23]** as well as the social aspect.

**[00:27:25]** We can create jobs by

**[00:27:27]** turning any raw material or resource here

**[00:27:29]** into a final product,

**[00:27:31]** and maybe then we will produce things that

**[00:27:33]** are better,

**[00:27:35]** can be sold for more,

**[00:27:37]** and last longer, which is also

**[00:27:39]** more sustainable. It's a great shame,

**[00:27:41]** when I think back to Russia,

**[00:27:43]** Putin at about the same age

**[00:27:45]** issued a statement that he did not want

**[00:27:47]** unprocessed round timber to be exported

**[00:27:49]** from Russia without further processing,

**[00:27:51]** that he wanted the value to stay in the country.

**[00:27:53]** So even though today we see him as a significant

**[00:27:55]** aggressor who started the war in Ukraine,

**[00:27:57]** I think it's good to realize

**[00:27:59]** that there are approaches and directions

**[00:28:01]** we should care about

**[00:28:03]** in our own territory around us.

**[00:28:05]** And this also relates to sustainability,

**[00:28:07]** because if you plan to build

**[00:28:09]** a new building or production hall,

**[00:28:11]** there are already technologies today where wood

**[00:28:19]** we can use and here we have

**[00:28:21]** processing entities that are capable

**[00:28:23]** of delivering perfect solutions

**[00:28:25]** not only in construction but also in furnishing

**[00:28:27]** for example from that local wood.

**[00:28:29]** Every single demand gives an impulse

**[00:28:31]** to the system so that we operate in some kind of cycle.

**[00:28:33]** Here again is a view of the landscape

**[00:28:35]** in the context that when I was in Bohemian Switzerland

**[00:28:37]** in 2020, I thought how sad it is,

**[00:28:39]** that we actually see how many spruces

**[00:28:41]** have died out,

**[00:28:43]** that

**[00:28:45]** it’s a view that doesn’t really look

**[00:28:47]** much like a national park.

**[00:28:49]** However, when you then see on the info boards

**[00:28:51]** that this is not usual, that spruce was definitely not

**[00:28:53]** the original crop,

**[00:28:55]** that it was mostly deciduous forests, then you probably

**[00:28:57]** suspect that maybe nature knows better,

**[00:28:59]** what fits where.

**[00:29:01]** And that maybe areas

**[00:29:03]** where deciduous trees used to grow,

**[00:29:05]** which are more resilient,

**[00:29:07]** to put it loosely,

**[00:29:09]** can again be an opportunity

**[00:29:11]** to plant them again. Not to mention,

**[00:29:13]** that today it has actually been shown even after the criticism

**[00:29:15]** that was directed at the management

**[00:29:17]** of the national park, about how come you didn’t harvest

**[00:29:19]** the bark beetle wood when it all

**[00:29:21]** burned so badly and maybe you

**[00:29:23]** even encouraged the fire,

**[00:29:25]** it turns out that if that wood hadn’t been there

**[00:29:27]** and it hadn’t burned in one place,

**[00:29:29]** the fire might have spread much

**[00:29:31]** faster. So even the context

**[00:29:33]** of forest management is a topic

**[00:29:35]** for sustainability. Also the fact that again there would be

**[00:29:39]** brought not only diversity,

**[00:29:41]** but also a return to what used to

**[00:29:43]** belong to those places. And I return

**[00:29:45]** to the point that I just leave a note here,

**[00:29:47]** if you want to sustainably

**[00:29:49]** grow or source something somewhere,

**[00:29:51]** try to dig into the history,

**[00:29:53]** to see what suits that particular locality,

**[00:29:55]** but also look into the future,

**[00:29:57]** because in connection with climate change,

**[00:29:59]** people talk about,

**[00:30:00]** and I have several friends in Vysočina who are already doing this,

**[00:30:03]** that Vysočina might become the best region for growing wine.

**[00:30:06]** And suddenly, when someone wants to make fundamental, important, sustainable decisions,

**[00:30:12]** they need to reach into the past and also the future,

**[00:30:15]** and that requires a certain level of insight.

**[00:30:18]** Pollution can also be a trigger.

**[00:30:20]** This is a photo from Bali when we went to Indonesia on vacation,

**[00:30:24]** it was during very tense years,

**[00:30:26]** and in the end, we still dealt with environmental projects there,

**[00:30:29]** because you can't just walk the beaches and ignore

**[00:30:32]** how the waste management system doesn't work there.

**[00:30:34]** I often complain here about how prehistoric we are in waste management in the Czech Republic,

**[00:30:37]** but you find out that there, waste is either shipped by boat to another continent,

**[00:30:41]** there are often reports of accidents where the waste ends up back on those beaches,

**[00:30:46]** because it's not profitable to bring it anywhere else,

**[00:30:51]** but at the same time, you find out that after dark people spread a certain smell there,

**[00:30:53]** and you realize that the system for waste disposal

**[00:30:58]** is burning it in front of houses in the dark,

**[00:31:02]** when it's not visible so tourists won't be bothered,

**[00:31:04]** but that's the only system that works in many places there.

**[00:31:07]** However, thanks to our growing interest,

**[00:31:10]** and then noticing small signs during our second visit,

**[00:31:12]** like Recycling Centers,

**[00:31:15]** we found out that even there are small project oases,

**[00:31:18]** which employed about, at that time, on a small island,

**[00:31:21]** 25 people who collected plastics from hotel complexes and other places,

**[00:31:24]** sorted them by structure, type, and color,

**[00:31:28]** so I hadn't even seen that level in the Czech Republic,

**[00:31:33]** They even crushed them and sent them to Java as raw material.

**[00:31:36]** And they paid not only the people but also bonuses to the hotels.

**[00:31:39]** So even in that, one can find hope in the middle of it all,

**[00:31:43]** when you think nothing can be done, a lot can actually be done.

**[00:31:46]** And as we were looking at the beaches one morning, we thought,

**[00:31:49]** this is great, maybe we could organize some cleanup here

**[00:31:53]** and just get a little involved, you know, it's like a needle in a haystack,

**[00:31:57]** when suddenly dozens of students appeared on the beach.

**[00:32:00]** And I said again, guys, we have to go check it out,

**[00:32:02]** something is definitely happening there.

**[00:32:04]** When we arrived, there were tourism high school students,

**[00:32:08]** it was in Lombok, and they said, we come here every Saturday and feel helpless.

**[00:32:12]** On the other hand, we study a field that depends on tourists,

**[00:32:15]** and we know that since this pollution started,

**[00:32:17]** far fewer tourists come here.

**[00:32:19]** And the only thing we can do, what we can do,

**[00:32:23]** is collect the trash and at least keep the beaches clean for the weekend.

**[00:32:27]** So we were quite excited about that, even though sad in context,

**[00:32:30]** because it was such a small project, but on the other hand, talking with those students about

**[00:32:34]** how they realize everything is connected and that they actually have various projects

**[00:32:39]** to minimize unnecessary material waste,

**[00:32:43]** that gives you some hope.

**[00:32:44]** Even on the other side of the world, even if you don't want to deal with these topics,

**[00:32:47]** there is always both the impulse to act and concrete solutions and another reason.

**[00:32:52]** And that's why I'd like to open the topic of awareness of one's role.

**[00:32:57]** Maybe you're sitting here thinking, well, Sonja has some institute,

**[00:33:01]** so it's easier for her, and she travels somewhere,

**[00:33:04]** like going on vacation, great, so she can do something there.

**[00:33:07]** Everyone can do something.

**[00:33:09]** I don't like flying and I realize the footprint it leaves,

**[00:33:12]** so every time we fly somewhere, we calculate those huge tons,

**[00:33:15]** and we try not only to offset it somewhere,

**[00:33:22]** to balance it out, to plant trees.

**[00:33:26]** Try growing a forest.

**[00:33:28]** Try to realize how long it takes to grow a tree to that height.

**[00:33:34]** When you see a conifer in the forest, you think,

**[00:33:37]** great, it's already growing here.

**[00:33:39]** It might be 15 years old and hasn't absorbed much yet.

**[00:33:42]** If you ever get to plant one yourself,

**[00:33:45]** you'll find that half of them die the second year.

**[00:33:48]** because it was dry there, you might think it doesn't make any sense at all.

**[00:33:52]** And I think we can do anything.

**[00:33:54]** That it's good to enjoy life, to be fulfilled,

**[00:33:57]** to be joyful, not to be depressed.

**[00:33:59]** But when you count your steps once, whether as an individual,

**[00:34:03]** or as a company, I think we all come to the point,

**[00:34:06]** that it's better to consume less than to try to erase the entire footprint.

**[00:34:11]** Because it can't be completely erased.

**[00:34:14]** And that awareness of your role really, in my opinion, starts with individuals.

**[00:34:18]** And I don't have a recipe for whether one person,

**[00:34:20]** or an organization, or the United Nations can do more.

**[00:34:23]** I think it's both interconnected.

**[00:34:25]** Just like I talked about roots and awareness of where we come from,

**[00:34:28]** and how far we can look in our visions,

**[00:34:31]** you can use what you do at home,

**[00:34:35]** and instead of various chemical substances in laundry,

**[00:34:39]** try using some more ecological detergents.

**[00:34:42]** We tried various eco-friendly options,

**[00:34:44]** that replace different laundry powders,

**[00:34:46]** or we switched to ecological detergents.

**[00:34:49]** Some might say, I'll shop without plastic bags

**[00:34:52]** and use more reusable items.

**[00:34:53]** Some will pack their lunch in reusable containers.

**[00:34:56]** It doesn't matter.

**[00:34:57]** What matters is that you pay a little attention that day,

**[00:35:00]** and do something a bit differently,

**[00:35:02]** whether it's about waste, wasting,

**[00:35:05]** materials, unnecessary purchases,

**[00:35:08]** that when you're near the store where you wanted to buy something,

**[00:35:10]** before you step in, you say to yourself,

**[00:35:12]** damn, can I borrow it from someone,

**[00:35:14]** maybe those dresses for the conference,

**[00:35:15]** or any other occasion.

**[00:35:17]** It doesn't matter.

**[00:35:18]** I think that with these small steps,

**[00:35:20]** an opportunity arises to approach work

**[00:35:22]** and look at work the same way.

**[00:35:23]** When you shop in procurement

**[00:35:27]** or purchasing for your manufacturing company,

**[00:35:29]** you might say,

**[00:35:30]** Wow, isn't that steel sometimes available on a smaller scale,

**[00:35:33]** even though we've long been sourcing it from Turkey,

**[00:35:35]** maybe it could be found somewhere here in Europe.

**[00:35:37]** Or if you produce textiles, you might think,

**[00:35:39]** why not try cotton instead of polyester this time,

**[00:35:43]** and just try to inquire if it's available in Europe.

**[00:35:47]** These are consumption habits,

**[00:35:49]** which connect from individuals

**[00:35:51]** to organizational management,

**[00:35:53]** and also link to the responsibilities

**[00:35:55]** that companies or the world have today.

**[00:36:00]** You can change a lot,

**[00:36:02]** as an echo of previous generations,

**[00:36:04]** but for those who come after us,

**[00:36:06]** you can send a different message—every one matters,

**[00:36:08]** which we had at the Hybernska campus

**[00:36:10]** during an exhibition, so I say a lot.

**[00:36:12]** Everyone can find their own meaning in it,

**[00:36:14]** but definitely don't lose hope

**[00:36:16]** that any of your everyday steps can't make a difference.

**[00:36:18]** It has happened to me so many times,

**[00:36:20]** that just by talking about these topics,

**[00:36:22]** someone comes home and says,

**[00:36:30]** we'll do something about it,

**[00:36:32]** you were just about to come to us, so we already put it here,

**[00:36:34]** and it actually works quite well.

**[00:36:36]** So I feel like saying,

**[00:36:38]** how people perceive me.

**[00:36:40]** I often get messages even from the trash collectors with a note,

**[00:36:42]** I thought of you.

**[00:36:44]** These are impulses,

**[00:36:46]** which everyone perceives differently,

**[00:36:48]** but then they also happen on a larger scale

**[00:36:50]** and have a bigger impact,

**[00:36:52]** and it's nice to know.

**[00:36:54]** Because the lack of confidence,

**[00:36:56]** that we can't do anything,

**[00:36:58]** is very widespread.

**[00:37:00]** For me, these impulses,

**[00:37:02]** when I look at the landscape

**[00:37:04]** and this is exactly from Umělník,

**[00:37:06]** when it was harvest season

**[00:37:08]** and through

**[00:37:10]** those clouds of smoke

**[00:37:14]** you couldn't see the other side of the field.

**[00:37:16]** Meanwhile, in soil management,

**[00:37:18]** there are certain practices,

**[00:37:20]** like not plowing unnecessarily when the soil is waterlogged

**[00:37:22]** or when it's dried out to dust.

**[00:37:24]** Because what happens in the air,

**[00:37:26]** the soil doesn't just wash away

**[00:37:28]** from the fields with water, it can also leave through the air,

**[00:37:30]** because when you see those huge clouds,

**[00:37:32]** that then move from the fields,

**[00:37:34]** in the end, that's tens,

**[00:37:36]** sometimes hundreds of tons of soil per hectare per season,

**[00:37:38]** and one centimeter of soil takes a hundred years to form.

**[00:37:40]** So I think it's important not to lose hope,

**[00:37:42]** to look around you,

**[00:37:44]** and maybe even write to the local cooperative,

**[00:37:46]** hey, I've been thinking about this,

**[00:37:48]** would you like to think about it too?

**[00:37:50]** There were reasons for it,

**[00:37:52]** they still reported drought for a long time, so it couldn't be helped,

**[00:37:54]** but then in the context of caring for the soil and landscape,

**[00:37:56]** these are topics

**[00:37:58]** that appear in bigger plans,

**[00:38:00]** like the Green Deal, which I'll return to.

**[00:38:02]** But I want to say that what is happening around us

**[00:38:04]** in everyday sustainability

**[00:38:06]** is reflected in bigger plans.

**[00:38:08]** And that lack of confidence

**[00:38:10]** may also come from the fact that maybe you look

**[00:38:12]** at the field and say, I don't know what's going on here,

**[00:38:14]** but maybe I'd like to see if it's good

**[00:38:16]** or bad. Maybe you also

**[00:38:18]** look and realize that actually

**[00:38:20]** you don't understand nature that well anymore, that it's

**[00:38:22]** easier for you to look at

**[00:38:24]** logos that even in their name

**[00:38:26]** They might not have the name of the given company,

**[00:38:28]** but these are companies that

**[00:38:30]** are the largest and most significant in the Czech Republic.

**[00:38:32]** And I think if you browse

**[00:38:34]** that page, you'll recognize most of them.

**[00:38:36]** Maybe some of us no longer remember

**[00:38:38]** who or what Merkur is, but

**[00:38:40]** we probably guess that Kofola

**[00:38:42]** is a brand that

**[00:38:44]** we know. However, when we then

**[00:38:46]** look at the leaves, how many do we recognize,

**[00:38:48]** how many can we name?

**[00:38:50]** Now, when we walk through Stromovka, they

**[00:38:52]** hand out maps of the trees, and we always

**[00:38:54]** take them and learn the trees, because even I

**[00:38:56]** wouldn't recognize them all. I always feel during studying

**[00:38:58]** that when I talk about it here,

**[00:39:00]** I'm not perfect at all.

**[00:39:02]** I usually take photos and send them

**[00:39:04]** to my brother, who is

**[00:39:06]** a trained forester, and he says, "Jesus,

**[00:39:08]** here's claystone, you should do this here,"

**[00:39:10]** and I think, what the heck, next time

**[00:39:12]** I have to finish studying. But it's also a kind of

**[00:39:14]** lack of confidence, that we often don't want to deal with

**[00:39:16]** sustainability because it seems to us

**[00:39:18]** demanding, complicated, natural ecosystems

**[00:39:20]** are too interconnected, there's too much

**[00:39:22]** to keep in mind, but I think

**[00:39:24]** small steps, like

**[00:39:26]** going outside and

**[00:39:28]** noticing that it's a

**[00:39:30]** plant you recognize, whether it's

**[00:39:32]** the early-purple orchid, which I

**[00:39:34]** looked up in some nature book

**[00:39:36]** when I was studying

**[00:39:38]** the leaves, I just thought, I have to note this.

**[00:39:40]** So we actually went out to

**[00:39:42]** a protected meadow near us, and I

**[00:39:44]** said, that's the early-purple orchid.

**[00:39:46]** I said, this is the only

**[00:39:48]** flower I remember, and it just happens to grow here,

**[00:39:50]** so you get

**[00:39:52]** the feeling that you know nature a bit better, and suddenly

**[00:39:54]** you have a different relationship to the place and suddenly you notice

**[00:39:56]** that it is a protected landscape area,

**[00:39:58]** and there are hundreds of them there, and you realize.

**[00:40:00]** Wow, it makes sense, so you understand why, for example, within Natura 2000 and European sites,

**[00:40:07]** certain areas are protected, because these are places of immeasurable value,

**[00:40:11]** there aren’t many places in the Czech Republic where, for example, pasqueflowers grow, and that’s also the point, that awareness of why

**[00:40:17]** and where it is means it won’t bother us so much that we can’t build a house with a view there,

**[00:40:22]** but that the value of the area is priceless, and then you might also realize, when walking through forests,

**[00:40:27]** that hope lies in maintaining different forest belts, because if you walk through spruce stands,

**[00:40:34]** you’ll notice that after the spruce forest is cut down, a clearing remains, like in that photo from the Sázava,

**[00:40:41]** but if a mixed forest is cut down and only one tree species is sick,

**[00:40:48]** many others remain, and there is a layer of herbs, then shrubs, then finally some trees,

**[00:40:55]** and such diverse forests with that biodiversity can resist various new diseases,

**[00:41:00]** and that’s the biodiversity I mentioned earlier, because it’s something nature can manage.

**[00:41:06]** This is a photo from the Šumava Mountains, which I don’t know well, the shrub layer also matters, there are different forest layers by age,

**[00:41:15]** but it was still diverse and interesting, and you get the feeling that somewhere it’s still done right.

**[00:41:20]** And when you get a bit closer to nature, I really like to photograph nature,

**[00:41:24]** just on my phone, capturing details and moments, and even an old trunk on the left side,

**[00:41:30]** becomes a microcosm in the vast universe, which is so diverse,

**[00:41:36]** even though it’s a post about a meter tall, it hosts hundreds of species,

**[00:41:42]** and you realize that even on a small scale, much can be managed.

**[00:41:46]** And now, in the last 20 minutes or so, I think there’s an opportunity

**[00:41:52]** for our generation here, regardless of age, we are actually a generation

**[00:41:57]** that can bring regeneration to the Earth, to the planet.

**[00:42:01]** We start with children; within the institute, we had several projects dedicated to schools,

**[00:42:07]** kindergartens, I always remember the first project when, together with an intern,

**[00:42:14]** we came up with a concept using a play, this isn’t a photo from that,

**[00:42:20]** but a play like 'The Dog and the Cat' where we threw everything into one pile,

**[00:42:24]** we baked a cake and created a big pile of waste, which we put into a black bin,

**[00:42:30]** and the bin got a stomach ache, and you get that contrast,

**[00:42:34]** when you attend some huge forum where all the statesmen speak, and you’re in kindergarten,

**[00:42:38]** and your stomach hurts and you say oh no, this hurts, who will sort me out, and it’s kind of pleasant,

**[00:42:45]** because I think both are equally important, when you see that the children then,

**[00:42:49]** when they do feedback loops, which we also do at Red Button,

**[00:42:53]** where we try to return to different impulses and think about what we took from them,

**[00:42:59]** and this is also an invitation to Digestive, which will be on January 31st,

**[00:43:03]** So the kids actually come with the desire to care, to put all their effort into it,

**[00:43:09]** that they should try because the dead fish are there because we pollute the water,

**[00:43:14]** they realize some connections, and I remember once I was really moved,

**[00:43:19]** when a boy with learning difficulties came to me at a school,

**[00:43:23]** he was a bit slower than the others and he told me I was his favorite teacher,

**[00:43:27]** and I thought, no, I should close the institute and go teach.

**[00:43:30]** Every day you get such beautiful feedback,

**[00:43:33]** but that's more of a moment when you do something different with them than they're used to,

**[00:43:37]** but maybe that has even greater meaning, maybe one day they'll grow up to be the planet's greatest protector,

**[00:43:43]** and that's why I think that lack of confidence in what we can do is completely unnecessary,

**[00:43:49]** because everyone really can do a lot.

**[00:43:51]** Now it's just important to have the courage, even if it's a small step,

**[00:43:55]** whether you go to someone and say, hey, you have your bio-waste behind the castle, where's the compost?

**[00:43:59]** or you go to the minister and say, Karel, what if we kept the wood in the Czech Republic?

**[00:44:04]** Each of you has a different influence, a different way to act with the people around you,

**[00:44:07]** but what's essential is that ecology, which is often greatly simplified,

**[00:44:12]** that we all, who are sometimes just called eco-terrorists,

**[00:44:17]** or eco-activists, or environmentalists,

**[00:44:20]** which are names that make people say, ugh, better watch out around them,

**[00:44:25]** ecology comes from the word eco, which is oikos meaning home,

**[00:44:32]** and logos means knowledge.

**[00:44:34]** And gradually understanding the things around us,

**[00:44:37]** means that anyone can be a bit of an ecologist.

**[00:44:39]** Some understand what leaves are on the trees around them.

**[00:44:43]** Some understand closed water cycles.

**[00:44:46]** Some understand circular economy.

**[00:44:47]** Some know how to bring a social entrepreneurship impulse into it,

**[00:44:52]** so that, for example, that boy at school gets the chance to work in a company,

**[00:44:56]** where he has equal conditions and can join the team.

**[00:44:59]** I think cultivating a small home pays off even in various companies.

**[00:45:04]** When I was at Sole, with Leoš Jiřelý, who is also in Red Button,

**[00:45:09]** I was really moved when Leoš told me,

**[00:45:12]** that Sole and Byt is a company that manufactures for automotive,

**[00:45:15]** he called him and sent greetings to Škodovka as well,

**[00:45:19]** and he said, let's go, these are all things

**[00:45:22]** that people with some disadvantages can do.

**[00:45:25]** And here we have about 130 employees,

**[00:45:27]** and 70% of them have various disadvantages.

**[00:45:31]** Some are ill, some have limited physical mobility.

**[00:45:36]** And I said, Leoš, how do you get these people to Sole,

**[00:45:40]** here in Rybník, near Česká Třebová.

**[00:45:42]** And he said, well, how far do you think they travel?

**[00:45:44]** I said, I don't know, about an hour to work,

**[00:45:46]** and they also travel 4-6 hours depending on what they can manage.

**[00:45:49]** And he said, those Sony people travel within a 5-kilometer radius.

**[00:45:52]** And around us, there are people everywhere who sit at home,

**[00:45:54]** because they can't join the workforce,

**[00:45:56]** just because, for example, they have cancer.

**[00:45:59]** That doesn't mean they are disabled, but they can't work 8 hours.

**[00:46:02]** And I think that care for the planet,

**[00:46:05]** of course, also means including those people,

**[00:46:08]** creating equal opportunities.

**[00:46:10]** That's why sustainability goals also relate to equality and accessibility.

**[00:46:14]** And it all fits together perfectly,

**[00:46:16]** because when we talk about,

**[00:46:18]** that several reuse centers should be established in every city in the Czech Republic,

**[00:46:21]** so that things return to circulation,

**[00:46:23]** that's typically an opportunity for students,

**[00:46:25]** for retirees, for mothers,

**[00:46:27]** who have a few hours a day

**[00:46:29]** and can't spend the whole day at work.

**[00:46:32]** Because just like at home, everyone participates in activities

**[00:46:35]** as much as they can, so it can work in society,

**[00:46:38]** or even across the whole country.

**[00:46:40]** And now, finally,

**[00:46:43]** so you don't just say, oh, that's just blah blah,

**[00:46:45]** but I need to know what the acronyms around me mean,

**[00:46:47]** what do you think?

**[00:46:49]** Take your phone and tell me,

**[00:46:51]** what does the acronym SDG mean?

**[00:46:53]** It's Sustainable Development Goals in English,

**[00:46:56]** or is it Social and Digital Government,

**[00:46:58]** which is social and digital governance,

**[00:47:00]** or is it the acronym for easy, accessible,

**[00:47:02]** literate education.

**[00:47:06]** Think about it, click.

**[00:47:09]** It's still hard to navigate these acronyms,

**[00:47:12]** and maybe that's why sustainability feels distant.

**[00:47:15]** And we think, phew, Green Deal,

**[00:47:17]** which in English is something, God forbid,

**[00:47:19]** Here, constitutional officials translate it as the Green Deal,

**[00:47:22]** which supposedly came to us from that bad Europe.

**[00:47:24]** But deal clearly does not mean 'deal' in English,

**[00:47:28]** or something that fell on us; it means agreement.

**[00:47:30]** It means that as countries we decided and united,

**[00:47:34]** and even our former prime minister signed it,

**[00:47:36]** that yes, we should probably do things a bit better,

**[00:47:39]** and we should agree on that.

**[00:47:41]** And when something like taxonomy arises,

**[00:47:43]** it's a foreign word again, but it's just a way

**[00:47:46]** to give order and meaning to things

**[00:47:48]** and to be able to report them to each other.

**[00:47:50]** Fit for 55 is an acronym,

**[00:47:52]** which energy experts immediately understand,

**[00:47:54]** but it means being ready to

**[00:47:57]** reduce emissions by 55%,

**[00:48:00]** maybe even related to the year 2055.

**[00:48:03]** Industrial symbiosis means

**[00:48:05]** that what is waste for one

**[00:48:07]** will be a resource for another.

**[00:48:09]** Greenwashing means painting things green,

**[00:48:11]** meaning we don't want anyone to fool us,

**[00:48:13]** saying clearly, just buy this and you'll be the most eco-friendly.

**[00:48:15]** It means we will give things real names

**[00:48:18]** and try to understand

**[00:48:21]** what this or that really means.

**[00:48:23]** And now let's ask if we already have some results.

**[00:48:27]** One step further.

**[00:48:29]** We already have them.

**[00:48:31]** Wow, I won't preach to you,

**[00:48:34]** you are perfectly familiar here.

**[00:48:36]** These are the sustainable development goals,

**[00:48:38]** correct and clear.

**[00:48:40]** And these are the sustainable development goals,

**[00:48:42]** which are arranged, sometimes as squares side by side,

**[00:48:45]** but they are built around care,

**[00:48:48]** for the world around us.

**[00:48:50]** But so that society can equally,

**[00:48:52]** joyfully, and maybe with heart involvement,

**[00:48:55]** engage so that everyone can contribute a bit in their own way.

**[00:48:59]** And for the economy to function

**[00:49:01]** and for us to have the means we need today

**[00:49:04]** for that functioning, which is money.

**[00:49:06]** But it's also an economy that might be based

**[00:49:09]** on infinite growth, not exactly.

**[00:49:12]** Infinite growth is probably not possible

**[00:49:14]** on a planet with limited resources,

**[00:49:16]** and maybe even the partnership that the 17th goal lets us glimpse

**[00:49:20]** our system as not the one

**[00:49:22]** we check every year

**[00:49:24]** to see if we meet our KPIs,

**[00:49:26]** that is, key performance indicators,

**[00:49:28]** but so that we live here in a way

**[00:49:30]** that we can truly live here

**[00:49:32]** for several more hundred or thousand years.

**[00:49:34]** My approach is the circular economy.

**[00:49:36]** What I bring into the system

**[00:49:38]** is a perspective where I try to show people

**[00:49:40]** that it really works here as one cycle,

**[00:49:42]** that what we put into the system

**[00:49:44]** we can get back or return

**[00:49:46]** and that unlike the system of extract, produce, discard,

**[00:49:48]** there are alternatives that make more sense.

**[00:49:50]** I won't go into details,

**[00:49:52]** those are lectures for another time,

**[00:49:54]** but when you realize that on the third side

**[00:49:56]** there is a closed cycle system,

**[00:49:58]** I bring inspiration to the conclusion.

**[00:50:00]** If we now look at the world as our home, I want us to have the same feeling

**[00:50:06]** when implementing sustainability in a company or household as we do in our daily lives.

**[00:50:13]** So that it is joyful and playful.

**[00:50:15]** Because if it's too complicated, it might not be productive.

**[00:50:21]** An interesting person is Professor Forster, whose students wrote the book Limits to Growth,

**[00:50:28]** which talks about what I mentioned, that infinite growth is not possible,

**[00:50:32]** but it was so complicated and complex that he came up with closed cycle systems,

**[00:50:37]** but described the planet so that his big visions were inspiring,

**[00:50:41]** yet none of what he did made it into practice.

**[00:50:44]** In contrast, Howard Odum showed people not the whole world,

**[00:50:49]** but everywhere there is a microcosm, everywhere we have something interacting,

**[00:50:55]** that works together in small microcosms,

**[00:50:58]** whether it's your household or a piece of soil where hundreds of small organisms live,

**[00:51:02]** and he motivated companies or local communities through a system of small ecosystems,

**[00:51:07]** to look at their own field as a kind of playground where you can play

**[00:51:12]** and where you can try things that might be waste for you but a resource for someone else,

**[00:51:16]** or where you involve local people.

**[00:51:19]** And it actually reminds me of his playground approach,

**[00:51:22]** where we have all been at least once in our lives.

**[00:51:24]** And where we enjoy creating.

**[00:51:26]** This is a kind of historical photo, but when I looked at photos

**[00:51:29]** of illustrative playgrounds, they are very much today,

**[00:51:32]** even the playgrounds are quite industrial.

**[00:51:35]** And this seemed to me to copy the terrain

**[00:51:38]** and create more space for imagination.

**[00:51:41]** And I think that if we create solutions on that playground

**[00:51:45]** that are win-win, meaning beneficial for both business and nature,

**[00:51:50]** we will see them as a closed system,

**[00:51:53]** where we really cannot just take and throw away without

**[00:51:56]** knowing what is behind us.

**[00:51:58]** That we will respect the earth's capacities, but at the same time look

**[00:52:01]** at financial profit not as the ultimate goal,

**[00:52:04]** so we can enjoy the process.

**[00:52:06]** Because there is a lot of waste around us.

**[00:52:08]** Whether it's human energy wasted on unnecessary things,

**[00:52:10]** or waste that ends up in landfills,

**[00:52:12]** this is Čáslav, google the Čáslav landfill case sometime,

**[00:52:15]** there's still the church tower visible,

**[00:52:18]** so you can probably imagine how big the landfill is,

**[00:52:21]** and how well people live around it.

**[00:52:23]** But today, even though we might think

**[00:52:25]** that landfills are a small solution,

**[00:52:27]** there are still about 180 of them in the Czech Republic.

**[00:52:29]** And I can tell you that about 40% of what ends up there

**[00:52:33]** should actually be returned to the soil I mentioned at the start.

**[00:52:36]** There is organic waste, which we say

**[00:52:39]** is hard to sort, the system would be expensive and demanding,

**[00:52:42]** so we send it to final destinations,

**[00:52:45]** material graveyards, but also textiles,

**[00:52:48]** which we could return to circulation,

**[00:52:50]** or plastics, which we talk about so much.

**[00:52:52]** But you see, plastics are not even such a big problem,

**[00:52:55]** like, for example, that organic matter.

**[00:52:57]** And I think that since today's world is circular,

**[00:53:00]** meaning we only recycle about 8% of materials,

**[00:53:03]** it will never reach 100%, we can't recycle everything at once now.

**[00:53:07]** So there is still an opportunity for some revision.

**[00:53:11]** A final inspiration on where to look

**[00:53:15]** and where to maybe start even at the company level,

**[00:53:17]** I think that when I asked artificial intelligence

**[00:53:21]** about two weeks ago what we should do,

**[00:53:24]** if we wanted to save the world and put sustainable development goals into practice,

**[00:53:28]** it gave me a list of several steps.

**[00:53:30]** One of them was to take your power

**[00:53:33]** and take any action in your local community

**[00:53:36]** and connect people across.

**[00:53:38]** So I thought maybe it's smarter than we are,

**[00:53:41]** because we don't always do that.

**[00:53:43]** But we tried a few years ago,

**[00:53:45]** going back to that pale blue dot at the beginning,

**[00:53:48]** to get inspired by the pale blue dot,

**[00:53:50]** to simply take PBD, Pale Blue Dot,

**[00:53:52]** and create a voluntary connection of people,

**[00:53:56]** many of whom, Petr Výtek, Stanislav Martinec,

**[00:53:58]** accepted the invitation to such a digestive,

**[00:54:04]** as Honza said after today's lecture,

**[00:54:08]** that will give you their perspective.

**[00:54:10]** But because of the planet, we connected a bit virtually

**[00:54:13]** and met quite often,

**[00:54:15]** we inspired each other and created a manifesto together,

**[00:54:18]** which today has 10 points,

**[00:54:20]** and you can download it on the Pale Blue Dot website,

**[00:54:22]** or just write to me anytime, I'll send it to you.

**[00:54:24]** And besides thinking circularly and looking at the world that way,

**[00:54:27]** we also believe in facts and no longer debate

**[00:54:30]** whether humans are responsible for global climate change or not,

**[00:54:33]** because there is so much scientific evidence,

**[00:54:35]** that it would almost be embarrassing to believe otherwise.

**[00:54:38]** So we listen to science.

**[00:54:41]** At the same time, we follow the evidence but stay calm.

**[00:54:44]** So today's lecture does not end with me trying

**[00:54:46]** to convince you here somewhere

**[00:54:49]** and sign some petition and guests tell you what to do.

**[00:54:52]** I want you to be calm,

**[00:54:54]** to each do what you want and can right now,

**[00:54:57]** but at the same time actively face the crisis,

**[00:55:00]** that is around us, which I believe can already be called

**[00:55:03]** not just a crisis, but a polycrisis, because it combines war,

**[00:55:06]** world events, the COVID crisis, the economic crisis.

**[00:55:09]** But such a crisis can be a certain opportunity for hope.

**[00:55:13]** Often, when companies ask me what they should do,

**[00:55:16]** I tell them, look, think about your prosperity,

**[00:55:19]** why you are here, companies exist to make a profit,

**[00:55:22]** but prosperity is a broader concept.

**[00:55:24]** It also means that people work well with you,

**[00:55:27]** that you do good for society.

**[00:55:29]** Trust data, measure these things.

**[00:55:31]** Definitely trust your heart, that's somewhere in the middle,

**[00:55:33]** but measure your progress so you can communicate it.

**[00:55:36]** And metering is actually a term that somewhat replaces marketing,

**[00:55:40]** which quickly sells what you do.

**[00:55:42]** Metering is communicating what you truly know you do well.

**[00:55:45]** And don't be afraid to face greenwashing, that is, painting things green,

**[00:55:49]** by simply saying, look, we started this project,

**[00:55:51]** we're trying it out, it's not perfect yet,

**[00:55:53]** but we took the first steps and now we share them with you.

**[00:55:56]** And believe me, no one will accuse you of

**[00:55:59]** painting your actions green.

**[00:56:02]** And the story behind, as they say, the background stories,

**[00:56:05]** for example, from when we started meeting in the Pale Blue Dot community,

**[00:56:09]** a collaboration arose between Honza Zeman and Janis Samaras,

**[00:56:13]** where the company UGO and the organic bakery Zemanka,

**[00:56:16]** when you come to UGO for something good,

**[00:56:18]** besides it being nice to see,

**[00:56:20]** how they changed the choice architecture,

**[00:56:22]** you don't get a straw automatically,

**[00:56:24]** you have to ask for it,

**[00:56:26]** you get food on porcelain dishes,

**[00:56:29]** and you can also buy pulp,

**[00:56:31]** which is made from leftovers from fresh juice production.

**[00:56:35]** And it's a certain collaboration,

**[00:56:37]** which was very hard to implement in practice,

**[00:56:39]** because if you handle waste,

**[00:56:41]** you know how much legislation also concerns food waste,

**[00:56:45]** but it worked out, this is the result.

**[00:56:47]** Also, when you walk past a pile of waste,

**[00:56:50]** you might suddenly start seeing it as a resource,

**[00:56:53]** which is what Cyril Klepek does with the Circle platform

**[00:56:55]** and maybe these bales are already prepared

**[00:56:57]** to become a resource for someone else.

**[00:56:59]** Although often, because there was no market for those materials,

**[00:57:02]** they ended up in landfills.

**[00:57:04]** And even Cyril now collaborates with many other companies.

**[00:57:08]** Yesterday I got a message that Sonentor is watching us,

**[00:57:10]** so we send you our greetings.

**[00:57:12]** And I know that Circle connected Sonentor with the startup Myko,

**[00:57:16]** which makes packaging from mushrooms,

**[00:57:19]** that grow through molds in such a way

**[00:57:21]** to potentially replace polystyrene in the future,

**[00:57:23]** so I recommend checking out this project.

**[00:57:26]** And this is a platform that not only trades waste

**[00:57:29]** or helps connect,

**[00:57:31]** but links individual players

**[00:57:33]** who can help each other.

**[00:57:34]** And I think that’s what collaboration is about.

**[00:57:36]** And with us is also Lenka Minářová,

**[00:57:38]** who is behind the company Nafigate,

**[00:57:40]** which is still operating and recently got a new Impulse,

**[00:57:43]** and thanks to advanced technologies,

**[00:57:46]** produces microplastic components from waste oil,

**[00:57:51]** or such fine parts,

**[00:57:53]** used for example in cosmetics,

**[00:57:55]** but which are 100% biodegradable,

**[00:57:57]** unlike all plastics, bioplastics,

**[00:57:59]** that are claimed to be,

**[00:58:00]** this is truly a good solution.

**[00:58:02]** And there are many such projects.

**[00:58:03]** In conclusion, I wanted to leave a few here,

**[00:58:05]** so you know that in the Czech Republic,

**[00:58:07]** in the ecosystem, which is not yet as developed,

**[00:58:09]** as we saw the galaxy at the beginning,

**[00:58:11]** there are also projects that use old pallets

**[00:58:13]** They make wonderful products,

**[00:58:15]** like the Paletky studio.

**[00:58:17]** And those who make furniture on a large scale,

**[00:58:19]** create take-back points,

**[00:58:21]** like IKEA, where you can bring old furniture.

**[00:58:25]** And that is also part of the circular economy,

**[00:58:27]** which avoids producing unnecessary waste.

**[00:58:29]** But everything has a certain cost. Everything costs something.

**[00:58:32]** And I think transparency is part of sustainability.

**[00:58:34]** If someone focuses on ESG,

**[00:58:36]** which is another acronym

**[00:58:38]** for environmental, social, and governance systems in business,

**[00:58:40]** to properly implement sustainability,

**[00:58:42]** then governance, managing projects so

**[00:58:45]** they are sustainable for us and others,

**[00:58:49]** can be based on transparent foundations.

**[00:58:51]** And that’s the inspiration from yesterday.

**[00:58:53]** I took a photo from the Just Love website,

**[00:58:55]** where it shows for those products,

**[00:58:58]** how much the company actually keeps,

**[00:59:01]** how much the material cost was, and you get an overview

**[00:59:03]** of how fair or unfair the price is.

**[00:59:05]** That is also part of sustainability.

**[00:59:07]** For me, the topic of the circular economy

**[00:59:09]** rests on many pillars,

**[00:59:11]** which are easy to remember and apply.

**[00:59:13]** We can talk about it over coffee.

**[00:59:15]** But what I want to mention at the end,

**[00:59:17]** be brave, act within your field of vision,

**[00:59:20]** so that the sustainable development goals

**[00:59:24]** really serve as a guide for you

**[00:59:26]** and as opportunities.

**[00:59:28]** And realize that behind them stand

**[00:59:30]** 193 countries that agreed on them.

**[00:59:32]** And they agreed on a 15-year joint plan.

**[00:59:35]** And that is not common.

**[00:59:38]** That the sustainable development goals

**[00:59:40]** were incorporated into the European Green Deal,

**[00:59:42]** which is not just about energy.

**[00:59:46]** Which is about system transformation.

**[00:59:48]** There is also a plan for the circular economy,

**[00:59:50]** which mentions that

**[00:59:52]** we should produce fewer defects.

**[00:59:54]** And you think, damn, that makes sense.

**[00:59:56]** That's also in the Green Deal.

**[00:59:58]** We often demonize it, we see it as something that...

**[01:00:00]** 70% of Czechs say they don't want it, yet when the topics in the deal are detailed

**[01:00:06]** and the survey was done by Change for the Better, over 90% of people said yes, I want that,

**[01:00:12]** but as soon as it becomes the Green Deal, which our politicians turned into some scrap of paper,

**[01:00:16]** something we have to fight against, it becomes an unfortunate perspective.

**[01:00:20]** And when you come back from those deals and realize that we live in a world where we can still agree on something,

**[01:00:26]** where we can create a common framework, I will be very glad if you return to yourself

**[01:00:32]** and look online, for now it's only in English, but I believe we will soon establish,

**[01:00:36]** it's already in process, a hub in the Czech Republic where you can get acquainted with it again on Red Button EDU,

**[01:00:41]** there are five dimensions and 23 skills and qualities that will help you bring sustainability goals into your life.

**[01:00:48]** And it's about simply being here and now, being mindful, aware of your role,

**[01:00:53]** and having a relationship with yourself; when you have a relationship with yourself, you have a relationship with the people around you, with the planet.

**[01:00:59]** If you think and sharpen your mind a bit, just by listening to this lecture today

**[01:01:04]** and expanding your knowledge and skills a little, you will feel a sense of belonging,

**[01:01:09]** that we belong to each other, that you will care for your neighbor,

**[01:01:13]** whether it's a lady who faints in the metro or 20 hectares of land around your business.

**[01:01:20]** That we will cooperate, that besides breakfast here, we will also work and give someone our business card or contact,

**[01:01:26]** but that we will act and have the courage to change one small thing.

**[01:01:30]** And I don't want us to meet here in a year and for you to be depressed that you haven't done anything at all.

**[01:01:34]** I want you to just say, yeah, I tried the metro once and maybe it could work.

**[01:01:38]** That's enough. Maybe you can't do more right now, and that's okay.

**[01:01:42]** No one will punish you for that.

**[01:01:46]** On the contrary, that action, it can be a climate action, is a step that doesn't have to cost you much,

**[01:01:54]** but has a huge impact.

**[01:01:56]** And the opposite is the danger, the inability to start it at all.

**[01:02:00]** If we feel it's too big and that we can't do it alone,

**[01:02:04]** and if ten billion people feel that way, then nothing will really happen.

**[01:02:08]** And these are the words of António Guterres, who stands behind the United Nations,

**[01:02:12]** thanks to whom we are speaking today based on the sustainable development goals.

**[01:02:16]** And in conclusion, when you leave with the understanding that sustainability is really not just about tunnel vision,

**[01:02:22]** where it's about measuring CO2 emissions, but also about equality, poverty,

**[01:02:29]** about mental health, the health of nature,

**[01:02:32]** maybe you will see the world from a slightly broader perspective.

**[01:02:36]** And finally, the words of Václav Havel, we have elections coming up,

**[01:02:40]** So I believe your vote will go in the right direction,

**[01:02:44]** whatever direction that may be for you.

**[01:02:46]** Hope is definitely not the conviction that something will turn out well,

**[01:02:51]** but the certainty that something has meaning, regardless of the outcome.

**[01:02:56]** So I wish you to be full of meaning,

**[01:03:00]** to do things that make sense to you,

**[01:03:02]** to do them with a smile and an open heart,

**[01:03:05]** and for sustainability to no longer be such a foreign word for you,

**[01:03:08]** but rather an inspiration you can translate into everyday steps.

**[01:03:13]** Thank you for your attention.

**[01:03:27]** So, thank you very much for the lecture.

**[01:03:30]** Whenever you speak, I’m both amazed and,

**[01:03:34]** I don’t even know when you breathe.

**[01:03:37]** I’m like a fish.

**[01:03:39]** It’s absolutely great.

**[01:03:41]** We received a lot of questions.

**[01:03:44]** I tried to sort them into different categories.

**[01:03:51]** You can just respond to the question with the most likes with your last slide.

**[01:03:55]** The question is:

**[01:03:56]** “Czechia is electing a new head of state from a sustainability perspective.”

**[01:03:58]** Is this topic relevant for the president at all?

**[01:04:00]** What should their role be?

**[01:04:01]** And what do you expect from them from your point of view?

**[01:04:03]** From your point of view, what do you expect?

**[01:04:05]** I think the president carries a message for the whole country.

**[01:04:09]** They carry it not only to all of us and can repeat it,

**[01:04:12]** but also carry it to the world.

**[01:04:14]** I have met both candidates personally in different life situations.

**[01:04:20]** I met the former prime minister at a meeting,

**[01:04:24]** where I was very surprised by how he treated former ministers,

**[01:04:28]** because he just dismissed them and said, now solve this here, I have to run again.

**[01:04:31]** And they just sat there saying, well, construction waste,

**[01:04:34]** yeah, that’s probably your agenda.

**[01:04:36]** They were kind of stunned, and I thought,

**[01:04:38]** wow, there’s a lack of humanity here, something is missing, this is belonging.

**[01:04:43]** And today, when I imagine the other candidate as head of state,

**[01:04:50]** to me, that’s a perspective that won’t help sustainability much.

**[01:04:53]** And even from the context that when I was at university,

**[01:04:58]** he was a big hope for us because he talked about

**[01:05:01]** agriculture as a field that could be innovative,

**[01:05:04]** It will be a space for young people.

**[01:05:06]** And what happened was that it completely flipped the coin, and the Czech landscape

**[01:05:09]** suffers greatly due to very one-sided and personal interests.

**[01:05:13]** And it's not just about rapeseed fields, although those are included,

**[01:05:17]** because we see that we are one of the last countries

**[01:05:19]** still using first-generation biofuels,

**[01:05:21]** meaning we grow something in places where food could be grown,

**[01:05:24]** just to produce energy.

**[01:05:26]** And when I compare this with the first candidate, for me, Petr Pavel,

**[01:05:30]** we had a discussion about sustainability that he initiated,

**[01:05:33]** and I was really surprised by his humane approach to it.

**[01:05:36]** He said, I prepared for this interview,

**[01:05:38]** thinking I might ask you very simple questions,

**[01:05:40]** but it seems to me like something that absolutely makes sense.

**[01:05:43]** And even when we talked about the role of the head of state,

**[01:05:47]** he spoke about raw material security,

**[01:05:50]** about how today wars are fought over resources, territories, and resources.

**[01:05:54]** It's not about wanting a piece of Ukraine.

**[01:05:56]** These are the most interesting, richest areas.

**[01:05:58]** These are approaches to transportation.

**[01:06:00]** So I think he is a candidate in whom I have great hope.

**[01:06:04]** Whatever your choice is, I fully respect it,

**[01:06:07]** but from my experience, the presidential role has an incredible influence

**[01:06:11]** and mainly provides a kind of energy to the whole government.

**[01:06:14]** And the previous government was very stiff,

**[01:06:16]** and I mentioned the example of ministries here,

**[01:06:18]** there was little cooperation.

**[01:06:22]** How willing are politicians or officials

**[01:06:25]** to cooperate with you, negotiate, and listen to your advice and opinions?

**[01:06:31]** I would say increasingly so.

**[01:06:34]** I have the experience that, as I showed in the last slide,

**[01:06:37]** implementing sustainability goals requires a set

**[01:06:41]** of skills and openness, and there are many officials

**[01:06:44]** who are incredible drivers within their ministries.

**[01:06:48]** To name someone in every ministry,

**[01:06:50]** who pushes the topic so much that it really reaches the ministerial level.

**[01:06:54]** And these are officials.

**[01:06:56]** And through their influence, they enable politicians,

**[01:06:59]** such as deputies or senators, to see,

**[01:07:02]** yes, we are here and whenever you want to address this topic,

**[01:07:04]** We are ready.

**[01:07:06]** And actually, it connects nicely and importantly, and there are politicians.

**[01:07:09]** The topic is becoming more and more active.

**[01:07:11]** But yesterday, Michal Broža and I were sitting within the community

**[01:07:14]** at the UN Infocenter, and he said, let's ask our politicians,

**[01:07:18]** what they say about sustainability topics.

**[01:07:20]** When a climate change report comes out, let's ask the minister.

**[01:07:23]** So, Mr. Minister, have you read it, what do you say about it?

**[01:07:26]** The media ask experts, they ask, we often get questions,

**[01:07:29]** we say, ask the politicians.

**[01:07:31]** Because the more we ask, the more willing they become

**[01:07:34]** to talk with us experts, and we can't just talk with experts

**[01:07:37]** or politicians, we need politicians to talk with experts.

**[01:07:40]** And that is happening, it is growing.

**[01:07:43]** I have excellent experience with the current government

**[01:07:46]** and in the Chamber of Deputies, there is often quite a fight

**[01:07:49]** over these topics, who will raise them.

**[01:07:51]** So compared to when no one was interested at all,

**[01:07:54]** it is changing a lot, and I am happy about that.

**[01:07:56]** Although the current government is dealing with a huge number of problems,

**[01:07:59]** and it gets simplified that they are to blame for everything.

**[01:08:01]** But we realize that many problems came to them from the past.

**[01:08:04]** So there is willingness, and if you have something specific,

**[01:08:07]** we can talk about who among the politicians to approach.

**[01:08:10]** Actually, two more questions here.

**[01:08:13]** Do you already think that sustainable conditions arose yesterday,

**[01:08:17]** so that we can really develop well,

**[01:08:20]** and maybe you can elaborate on what we would need for that.

**[01:08:23]** You already mentioned a few things?

**[01:08:25]** I think we have perfect conditions in the Czech Republic.

**[01:08:28]** We are in a place that is not directly

**[01:08:32]** and brutally hit by the climate crisis.

**[01:08:35]** And we still have time to act.

**[01:08:37]** We had a tornado here, we've had so much here already,

**[01:08:40]** that we probably know something is burning behind us.

**[01:08:43]** But we still have time, we are a developed country,

**[01:08:46]** but what don't we have here?

**[01:08:48]** We don't have leaders who are able to rise up.

**[01:08:50]** That's why I often talk about small steps,

**[01:08:52]** that can set things in motion.

**[01:08:54]** And these are leaders, for example, on the company side,

**[01:08:56]** as I mentioned in that Pale Blue Dot.

**[01:08:58]** Or they are individuals who in a small village

**[01:09:01]** want to have a few films there.

**[01:09:03]** There are very few of them because everyone is waiting

**[01:09:05]** to see where things will start happening, and we wait,

**[01:09:07]** for someone to take it on for us.

**[01:09:09]** And from my experience negotiating with many ministries, I know

**[01:09:11]** that we don't have those national economists here,

**[01:09:13]** who would have some masterplan

**[01:09:15]** and know how to handle it.

**[01:09:17]** We really need to trigger that change among ourselves.

**[01:09:19]** And there are many projects at the regional level.

**[01:09:22]** There is the Moravian-Silesian Region,

**[01:09:25]** which has its own masterplan on how to revive the region.

**[01:09:27]** Its Moravian Innovation Center

**[01:09:29]** has a plan to involve entrepreneurs

**[01:09:31]** and a number of startups are growing there.

**[01:09:33]** So developing something in sustainability,

**[01:09:35]** from funding opportunities to getting mentors,

**[01:09:37]** to engaging in education,

**[01:09:39]** like Red Button, I'm selling it again here,

**[01:09:41]** because it's all about knowledge.

**[01:09:43]** So what else would we want?

**[01:09:45]** Thank you for selling it.

**[01:09:47]** That's nice.

**[01:09:49]** Now I'll get to what you said about the Green Deal.

**[01:09:51]** There is actually some kind of blanket

**[01:09:53]** over this concept,

**[01:09:55]** but when we unpack it,

**[01:09:57]** it actually makes sense.

**[01:09:59]** So many people. And I know he really pushes climate,

**[01:10:00]** as if doing the research,

**[01:10:03]** that the individual things actually add up.

**[01:10:06]** I won't ask about that now, but what do you think about

**[01:10:09]** the economic slowdown cooling the demand for these topics?

**[01:10:12]** Is that even true, or is it just

**[01:10:15]** some idea we feel that way?

**[01:10:18]** I think we see what is visible on the surface.

**[01:10:24]** Who says, hey, we're not dealing with those single-use pastes now, we've all been wearing masks here,

**[01:10:27]** that cools things down. Hey, that's not the case at all.

**[01:10:30]** Cyril is currently out somewhere with the little one,

**[01:10:33]** but otherwise he runs a platform not for trading,

**[01:10:36]** but for connecting people, where someone has waste,

**[01:10:39]** and someone else can process it.

**[01:10:42]** And the topic is becoming green sourcing.

**[01:10:45]** If you're a manufacturing company and want to produce eco-friendly products,

**[01:10:49]** for example from recycled materials, he says, we can't keep up, everyone wants it.

**[01:10:52]** It's clear that this is a direction that makes sense.

**[01:10:55]** When you calculate the carbon footprint of this jar and find out

**[01:10:58]** how much material is needed and where it can be sourced,

**[01:11:01]** you'll look for more ecological sources.

**[01:11:04]** And the demand is such that it can't really be met.

**[01:11:07]** So I don't feel at all that it's cooled down.

**[01:11:10]** After the war, we realized that crises like geopolitical problems,

**[01:11:15]** which would disrupt supply and demand chains,

**[01:11:18]** were such a cliché that no one really understood what it meant to disrupt chains, how.

**[01:11:22]** Then the war came, covid came, ports stopped, and everyone,

**[01:11:25]** was like, we don't have urea for cars here, where is it imported from,

**[01:11:28]** what stopped, oh, and what are we going to do.

**[01:11:31]** And we realized how hugely globally dependent we are.

**[01:11:34]** On the other hand, many business models were completely rethought.

**[01:11:37]** And even if it's not called sustainability, it's crisis management,

**[01:11:41]** but these are actually the foundations of sustainability if done preventively,

**[01:11:45]** and not just as problem-solving.

**[01:11:47]** You also mentioned a few examples, some companies.

**[01:11:51]** By the way, greetings to Zonentor and so on.

**[01:11:56]** I actually have the experience that these good practice examples

**[01:12:00]** rarely get into this space.

**[01:12:03]** We try to bring people there and show them a bit,

**[01:12:07]** and actually connect people and invite others.

**[01:12:09]** Do you think this is a good way?

**[01:12:11]** Definitely. We all need to experience concrete stories.

**[01:12:14]** I’m currently drawing from excursions to Veva Henningen in the Netherlands,

**[01:12:17]** where we visited farms, and when you learn about biodynamic farming,

**[01:12:21]** which was started by Steiner sometime in the nineteenth century,

**[01:12:25]** they say it’s all biodynamic again.

**[01:12:27]** You come to a farm and the farmer tells you,

**[01:12:29]** touch the cow’s horns.

**[01:12:31]** So you touch the horn and he asks, what do you feel?

**[01:12:34]** It's warm. Well, the horn must be for something, right?

**[01:12:37]** If it's warm, then something must be happening there.

**[01:12:39]** And we think, yeah, something is probably going on there.

**[01:12:41]** Maybe vitamins are circulating there, you know, when needed, how it contracts.

**[01:12:43]** And now I ask myself, what does that imply?

**[01:12:45]** And he asks, what kind of horns do cows have in industrial farms?

**[01:12:48]** None, they're cut off so they don't hurt each other.

**[01:12:51]** And he says, well, something must be wrong.

**[01:12:53]** And from that excursion, I still draw the basics of biodynamic farming.

**[01:12:56]** And that happens on excursions.

**[01:12:58]** It's not just sitting, listening, and perceiving.

**[01:13:01]** That's why I feel that if you want to experience something hybrid, this is great.

**[01:13:05]** But as soon as I say, we're going over there to see

**[01:13:07]** Zenentor at the beginning of April,

**[01:13:10]** I won't just take you from afar and say,

**[01:13:12]** look, here you see it zoomed in like this.

**[01:13:14]** No, you have to come, breathe it in, and feel it.

**[01:13:17]** Feel it, see the palettes, and so on, and so forth.

**[01:13:20]** It's true, I highly recommend it, by the way,

**[01:13:22]** the open days are freely available.

**[01:13:25]** Moving on to the next area.

**[01:13:27]** You talked about perspective.

**[01:13:29]** Also, yes, I have a message for me,

**[01:13:33]** that someone will come to you at the Technical University.

**[01:13:35]** You don't have to like it anymore,

**[01:13:37]** they want you at the Technical University,

**[01:13:39]** and it's now the most requested inquiry,

**[01:13:41]** so yes, that will definitely happen.

**[01:13:44]** And greetings to Liberec as well.

**[01:13:48]** You spoke about perspective.

**[01:13:50]** A big threat to sustainability is overpopulation of the planet.

**[01:13:53]** There was a milestone recently, basically 8 billion people on the planet.

**[01:13:57]** What to do about it, how do we actually handle it?

**[01:14:02]** Better manage it with the resources.

**[01:14:04]** When we look at how many materials surround us,

**[01:14:09]** when you come home, someone to their apartment, someone to their house,

**[01:14:12]** just realize this small exercise.

**[01:14:15]** Even right here.

**[01:14:16]** How many materials surround us here in this magenta.

**[01:14:18]** We could have done it outside somewhere in a field,

**[01:14:20]** but we're simply here.

**[01:14:22]** And I think that when we realize,

**[01:14:25]** that all we need for joy and for,

**[01:14:27]** we all seek some happiness, health, love,

**[01:14:30]** let's each answer for ourselves what is most important,

**[01:14:33]** and I don't think it's in material things.

**[01:14:35]** Yesterday Michal Broža showed a perfect image

**[01:14:37]** at the UN info center.

**[01:14:38]** I wanted to include it but I didn't make it in time.

**[01:14:40]** Today, the biosphere,

**[01:14:42]** the nature around us, was shown as a column.

**[01:14:44]** And the anthroposphere, what we've already

**[01:14:47]** processed, was slightly larger.

**[01:14:49]** And it says that by 2050,

**[01:14:51]** a threefold increase is expected.

**[01:14:53]** We have plans to massively extract

**[01:14:55]** and massively produce.

**[01:14:56]** And to me, that's an answer

**[01:14:58]** to overpopulation.

**[01:14:59]** We can manage here with more people,

**[01:15:01]** but we can't use as a model

**[01:15:05]** owning a house, a car,

**[01:15:08]** a full wardrobe, sports equipment.

**[01:15:10]** That's not possible on this planet.

**[01:15:12]** And yet, it's not about lowering our comfort.

**[01:15:15]** We live in a tiny apartment,

**[01:15:17]** and recently Cyril talked

**[01:15:19]** with Petr Rokůský from Nanoenergies

**[01:15:21]** about sustainability, and Petr said,

**[01:15:22]** he's moving to a smaller place,

**[01:15:23]** because he realized,

**[01:15:24]** if he wants to do something sustainable,

**[01:15:26]** he can't have a huge house like crazy

**[01:15:28]** and try to heat it,

**[01:15:29]** and basically waste his time in it,

**[01:15:32]** if he wants to live a content life.

**[01:15:33]** And that's not the ultimate recipe for everyone.

**[01:15:35]** Some of you have a big house,

**[01:15:36]** we do too in Vysočina,

**[01:15:37]** and it's okay,

**[01:15:38]** that there are multiple generations and so on,

**[01:15:39]** but in the future, we have to look at a world

**[01:15:42]** that is somewhat dematerialized,

**[01:15:44]** so we can manage here.

**[01:15:45]** Because feeding 10 billion is doable,

**[01:15:48]** but clothing, housing,

**[01:15:51]** equipping with cars, equipping with mobiles,

**[01:15:53]** that won't work.

**[01:15:55]** When we prepared this lecture

**[01:15:57]** together,

**[01:15:59]** we said,

**[01:16:00]** OK, we'll start from the overview,

**[01:16:01]** from the macro perspective, going down, down, down.

**[01:16:03]** And I still sometimes struggle,

**[01:16:06]** I have it myself,

**[01:16:08]** when I relate,

**[01:16:10]** I don't know, to effective altruism

**[01:16:11]** and such concepts,

**[01:16:12]** that our little valley

**[01:16:14]** is like the hobbiton

**[01:16:16]** that we guard.

**[01:16:18]** And when I listen,

**[01:16:20]** really 20-50 Ondráš's podcasts and so on,

**[01:16:23]** about how,

**[01:16:25]** what happens elsewhere on the planet,

**[01:16:27]** affects us,

**[01:16:28]** and how it can be,

**[01:16:29]** that we don't understand the consequences.

**[01:16:31]** For example, when all the elections are in Brazil,

**[01:16:32]** what actually happens?

**[01:16:34]** How should we approach this?

**[01:16:36]** And how to monetize

**[01:16:37]** the big picture?

**[01:16:38]** The Facts about Climate do this quite well.

**[01:16:40]** Try it.

**[01:16:41]** I want you not to take what I say

**[01:16:43]** as a cliché.

**[01:16:49]** But in my opinion, the ultimate title

**[01:16:52]** is to be a global citizen.

**[01:16:54]** To erase the borders of individual countries

**[01:16:56]** and truly realize,

**[01:16:57]** that what happens on the other side of the world

**[01:17:00]** affects us.

**[01:17:01]** Whether it's elections,

**[01:17:02]** or climate change.

**[01:17:05]** Because we always compare ourselves

**[01:17:07]** to someone else.

**[01:17:08]** We say it doesn't concern the Czech Republic.

**[01:17:10]** We have an ideal position.

**[01:17:11]** We are also the heart of Europe.

**[01:17:12]** Even, as we see, the heart of the galaxy.

**[01:17:14]** On the other hand, we constantly define ourselves

**[01:17:17]** against other countries.

**[01:17:18]** We fight among ourselves,

**[01:17:19]** whether the Green Deal is good or bad.

**[01:17:21]** And we drown in this kind of

**[01:17:23]** bordering and defining ourselves.

**[01:17:25]** Some politicians go to fight in Brussels

**[01:17:27]** for something else.

**[01:17:28]** And I think that to maintain perspective,

**[01:17:31]** you just need to read two books,

**[01:17:33]** that come to mind immediately.

**[01:17:35]** One is Gaia Strikes Back by James Lovelock,

**[01:17:36]** who unfortunately recently passed away.

**[01:17:40]** He was a scientist who came up with the concept

**[01:17:42]** of the Gaia theory, which said

**[01:17:44]** that the planet is alive,

**[01:17:46]** as long as we still have the biosphere

**[01:17:47]** for some reason.

**[01:17:48]** And it really is an incredibly delicate,

**[01:17:50]** very gentle system,

**[01:17:53]** that if we remove one thing,

**[01:17:54]** we all probably know the food chains,

**[01:17:56]** it will have effects further along.

**[01:17:58]** And if we perceive it as a living organism,

**[01:18:00]** then it's probably clear,

**[01:18:03]** that when I stub my little toe,

**[01:18:05]** I can't do anything with the rest of my body,

**[01:18:07]** as if nothing happened at all.

**[01:18:08]** If you stub your little toe,

**[01:18:10]** it will hurt like hell.

**[01:18:12]** And that's how the world works.

**[01:18:14]** And the second thing,

**[01:18:15]** which brings us back a bit

**[01:18:16]** to how we function,

**[01:18:17]** I know that Saty Škumar

**[01:18:18]** wrote a book called The Beauty of Simplicity,

**[01:18:21]** which talks about

**[01:18:23]** the everyday joys,

**[01:18:25]** about walking not just as something,

**[01:18:27]** like you walked instead of driving,

**[01:18:29]** but as an opportunity to think,

**[01:18:31]** slow down, become aware,

**[01:18:33]** of what I need in life.

**[01:18:35]** And I think

**[01:18:36]** that this, the beauty of simplicity

**[01:18:38]** in everyday actions

**[01:18:39]** makes us incredibly rich.

**[01:18:41]** When I tell people,

**[01:18:43]** they all go like,

**[01:18:47]** but we have such a small space around us,

**[01:18:49]** and it can be balanced so that,

**[01:18:51]** in the end, we do

**[01:18:53]** in a spiritual sense,

**[01:18:55]** but not just material prosperity.

**[01:18:57]** And that's what needs to be brought into everyday life

**[01:18:59]** and talked about more.

**[01:19:00]** I think if we talk about

**[01:19:02]** what makes us happier,

**[01:19:04]** and that can be traveling,

**[01:19:05]** we'll realize

**[01:19:06]** that we really are citizens of the world,

**[01:19:08]** because it's the beauty of nature

**[01:19:09]** and how we spend our time.

**[01:19:11]** And those who don't see it that way,

**[01:19:13]** I would just say,

**[01:19:14]** that they are a bit poorer in experiencing it,

**[01:19:16]** but I wouldn't have the tendency

**[01:19:17]** to convince everyone of something,

**[01:19:19]** of some one truth.

**[01:19:22]** Right now I have several paths

**[01:19:24]** that I would like to take.

**[01:19:27]** Just regarding that museum,

**[01:19:29]** thanks to you,

**[01:19:30]** I last visited the National Museum,

**[01:19:33]** because there was a great exhibition,

**[01:19:34]** so thanks a lot for that.

**[01:19:35]** And it's there.

**[01:19:37]** Maybe we can do some advertising,

**[01:19:39]** if you...

**[01:19:41]** That's right,

**[01:19:42]** there is an exhibition called Earth at the National Museum.

**[01:19:44]** And it's stunning.

**[01:19:46]** It's by passionate people,

**[01:19:47]** who even set up a little corner there,

**[01:19:49]** a reading corner,

**[01:19:50]** and they have their own books there,

**[01:19:51]** which visitors can read

**[01:19:53]** even from their home libraries.

**[01:19:54]** It's an exhibition about the circular economy,

**[01:19:56]** waste, energy, and other topics,

**[01:19:58]** and it's incredibly beautifully done.

**[01:20:00]** I think it runs until April or May, and several other museums have already shown interest,

**[01:20:05]** so that's probably a sign that it's very well made and that it will be recycled itself.

**[01:20:09]** But make sure to see it in Prague, because at the National Museum it's truly an experience.

**[01:20:13]** It's true, you might not know, but I didn't notice that slide during preparation,

**[01:20:21]** but that playground in Fifejdy, I used to play there as a little kid.

**[01:20:26]** I looked at it and thought, wow, I know that place somewhere, and then I saw it there and said, that's like an unbelievable coincidence,

**[01:20:32]** but that was my playground, where I ran around as a little rascal,

**[01:20:36]** so points for that, if some AI somewhere told you that.

**[01:20:42]** Where Honza Mašek played.

**[01:20:44]** But I want to build on that, because many of the sources in the global world are actually in English,

**[01:20:50]** and people have a bit of a distance to that, and so on.

**[01:20:53]** I think with the arrival of these technologies here,

**[01:20:59]** these things will become more accessible,

**[01:21:02]** because GPT-3 just translates it easily into Czech for us, and so on, and so forth.

**[01:21:06]** I think this will also help with general knowledge, and we won't rely on just one person,

**[01:21:12]** who says, this is how it is, but it democratizes it, which is an innovation moving forward by leaps and bounds.

**[01:21:20]** But I'll go back because there are areas focused a lot on food, I kind of thought so.

**[01:21:26]** For me, you said you downloaded something about a cow's horn, but when I read somewhere

**[01:21:32]** or learned how much baked goods are thrown away every day worldwide,

**[01:21:36]** I was completely shocked, and actually I want to ask here.

**[01:21:41]** A big influence on how food is grown and produced.

**[01:21:44]** Is there a way to better promote ecological farming and organic food to improve landscape biodiversity?

**[01:21:49]** I think in the Czech Republic, the Pestre krajiny program by the Association of Private Farming definitely does that.

**[01:21:54]** I was there or still am on the commission, but this year it didn't quite work with meming.

**[01:21:58]** It's an amazing project that yesterday announced more finalists.

**[01:22:03]** Every year, about 10 farmers are awarded for doing things differently, and this is probably the fifth or sixth year,

**[01:22:08]** so there are maybe 50 or 60 of them now.

**[01:22:10]** And if you can do something for sustainability, try buying one food product next week from a farmer

**[01:22:18]** in the Czech Republic whose story you can read somewhere.

**[01:22:20]** I think that's the most important thing; it gives people jobs.

**[01:22:24]** Often ecological farmers also employ people with disabilities or even those with criminal records.

**[01:22:29]** And I think it's also a way to revive people who are currently in prison,

**[01:22:35]** because SoFarms is a project that provides or connects prisoners to farmers for seasonal work,

**[01:22:43]** and many of them revive their purpose through working with the land.

**[01:22:48]** And I think there are many ways; talk about them every day.

**[01:22:51]** Hey, this meat is simply from this farm. Good, right? That's enough.

**[01:22:55]** The person says, oh, from a farm, where did you get it? And it starts to take off.

**[01:22:59]** Then you refer someone to community-supported agriculture, called KPZ,

**[01:23:03]** so they can try it, or just go to the shelf, whether in online apps,

**[01:23:10]** where you shop, or in some supermarket, or go to farmers' markets.

**[01:23:14]** Just try it. I think the quality of food for those not used to organic products

**[01:23:19]** will already be noticeable in the taste, and at the same time, it's something you do for yourself.

**[01:23:25]** If you read a bit about how agriculture actually works,

**[01:23:28]** and we live in a time when companies like Monsanto can still lobby so that

**[01:23:32]** glyphosate doesn't have to be labeled as potentially carcinogenic,

**[01:23:35]** we really can't trust that all raw materials are completely safe and tested.

**[01:23:39]** There is huge lobbying by chemical companies, and I think ecological farming is the way.

**[01:23:45]** And just like we talked about the cow's horn,

**[01:23:48]** ecological farming isn't just about not spraying pesticides somewhere.

**[01:23:51]** It's about animal welfare, about animals not being kept in cages,

**[01:23:55]** it's about cows not being dehorned,

**[01:23:57]** and when you drink that milk, the cow had a significantly different life

**[01:24:01]** than one in conventional farming, and I think it's worth paying 10 crowns for that.

**[01:24:05]** So the change is worth it.

**[01:24:06]** So just reading a little about the story of one farm and occasionally discussing it over lunch is a significant step.

**[01:24:12]** And when someone does it on a scale like Luboš, who works with the company Zátiší,

**[01:24:17]** where they make 10,000 meals a day, getting some local food there is a whole different level.

**[01:24:23]** That's definitely true.

**[01:24:26]** When you talked about the prisoners, it reminded me of the monastery under Zněva and Dobrý pastýř,

**[01:24:34]** where people on the margins of society get this chance, and it's incredible,

**[01:24:38]** when people take care of the little pigs there, you see they've found meaning in something,

**[01:24:43]** and that's just incredibly powerful.

**[01:24:46]** I'll just jump in with one piece of advice.

**[01:24:48]** We had a meeting within Red Button about diversity and inclusion and related topics.

**[01:24:55]** And one tip: we are used to always requiring a clean criminal record in selection processes.

**[01:25:00]** Which, first of all, as I found out, is illegal.

**[01:25:03]** And secondly, it basically tells people who have returned from prison and want to do something new,

**[01:25:07]** 'not for you'.

**[01:25:08]** So we exclude those people without giving them a chance.

**[01:25:11]** So that's also a topic related to sustainability.

**[01:25:15]** I'm slowly wrapping up the questions about food and food waste, which are many.

**[01:25:21]** But I want to address this question,

**[01:25:25]** whether you also think sustainability is a big business opportunity for the future.

**[01:25:30]** I want to look at it from this perspective.

**[01:25:32]** Definitely.

**[01:25:33]** I'm actually on the external sustainability committee of Škoda Auto.

**[01:25:37]** It's a great opportunity to give companies a perspective

**[01:25:41]** that they can incorporate into their strategies.

**[01:25:44]** Whether we talk with such companies about new business models,

**[01:25:48]** or that they may already be doing a lot without thinking to communicate it,

**[01:25:52]** it's also an opportunity to showcase their actions,

**[01:25:56]** without fearing greenwashing,

**[01:25:58]** because even a perfectly optimized system where nothing is wasted,

**[01:26:01]** whether it's food or car production, is something worth following,

**[01:26:05]** and it's also an opportunity to speak to our customers with what we do.

**[01:26:09]** And when we approach them saying, even though we've heard in the news,

**[01:26:13]** 'I don't want to share a flat, I don't want to share a car',

**[01:26:16]** shared cars can actually make sense in some cases.

**[01:26:20]** It can be a business opportunity to bring them to small villages,

**[01:26:24]** where many mothers or people don't have a car at all.

**[01:26:27]** These are villages without accessible public transport.

**[01:26:30]** And suddenly these locations can be connected with community energy,

**[01:26:34]** so it's an opportunity for other companies providing this.

**[01:26:37]** They can be systems on digital platforms,

**[01:26:40]** I want to book a car from this date to that date.

**[01:26:42]** And suddenly, we won't use the car in percentage units of time,

**[01:26:45]** like cars in personal ownership.

**[01:26:47]** And maybe it will be used 20-30 percent.

**[01:26:49]** And that's a leap change for society and at the same time a business opportunity.

**[01:26:54]** So I believe that even when a person communicates humbly

**[01:26:58]** what they do in sustainability, the customer response,

**[01:27:01]** compared to eight years ago,

**[01:27:03]** we are all much more sensitive to the information we receive.

**[01:27:06]** And companies that drive this topic and really do something about it,

**[01:27:09]** gain huge reputation and great customer loyalty.

**[01:27:13]** So it's a big business opportunity also in relation

**[01:27:16]** to new opportunities in the market.

**[01:27:19]** You probably guess that there are many examples of good practice,

**[01:27:22]** Sonia has a whole range.

**[01:27:24]** So we might focus on that later in pairs.

**[01:27:28]** We focus on it precisely in the community, in sustainability.

**[01:27:32]** Maybe I'll finish now.

**[01:27:36]** I had a mindset when I first encountered this topic,

**[01:27:40]** that I have to do things perfectly.

**[01:27:42]** I probably got it from the school system,

**[01:27:44]** that if I don't have the top grade and I'm not the star,

**[01:27:46]** then it kind of doesn't make sense and so on.

**[01:27:48]** And over time, and what I really liked,

**[01:27:50]** you said mainly to take it easy.

**[01:27:52]** Over time and also thanks to Luboš Malý,

**[01:27:54]** who lives with this topic here,

**[01:27:57]** I got into the less wrong approach,

**[01:27:59]** which is a very nice approach for me.

**[01:28:02]** And you had at the end of your presentation,

**[01:28:04]** that a small step from each of us is enough

**[01:28:07]** and it will get better and we don't have to be perfect.

**[01:28:10]** So maybe, Sonia, if you could say,

**[01:28:12]** there are many people watching us here,

**[01:28:14]** what does less wrong mean to you?

**[01:28:19]** For me, it's the freedom of awareness,

**[01:28:21]** that in sustainability we are not in a system

**[01:28:24]** where we collect points and no one evaluates us for it.

**[01:28:27]** Even for companies that have ESG strategies

**[01:28:30]** and it's a certain evaluation,

**[01:28:32]** here no one gives you

**[01:28:34]** an A, B, or F,

**[01:28:35]** or lets you fail.

**[01:28:36]** You can't reach a level

**[01:28:38]** from which you can't recover.

**[01:28:40]** For me, less wrong,

**[01:28:42]** that less wrong, the everyday,

**[01:28:44]** is when you say,

**[01:28:45]** okay, I'll try today,

**[01:28:46]** and if it doesn't work, I'll try something else.

**[01:28:48]** And you'll find your own path.

**[01:28:50]** And you'll live in that freedom,

**[01:28:52]** no one is above you,

**[01:28:53]** who would slap your hands

**[01:28:55]** saying you won't succeed.

**[01:28:56]** And you'll enjoy the process itself.

**[01:28:58]** Because it would be a huge shame,

**[01:28:59]** if we stressed about

**[01:29:01]** how to apply sustainability

**[01:29:02]** to everyday life.

**[01:29:04]** For me, it's something

**[01:29:05]** that actually gives us a great opportunity,

**[01:29:07]** to say again,

**[01:29:08]** like the freedom of

**[01:29:09]** choosing our own path.

**[01:29:10]** And to enjoy it.

**[01:29:12]** Of course, thank you very much for your talk today,

**[01:29:14]** Marian Barclats.

**[01:29:15]** Thank you.

**[01:29:16]** Thanks for the invitation.

**[01:29:17]** Thank you.

**[01:29:24]** So.

**[01:29:26]** I'm happy

**[01:29:29]** this happened here.

**[01:29:30]** But always,

**[01:29:31]** when I meet with you,

**[01:29:32]** my head is like a search balloon,

**[01:29:34]** and I want to ask so many questions.

**[01:29:36]** First thing,

**[01:29:37]** to somehow settle it.

**[01:29:38]** We would definitely appreciate

**[01:29:40]** any feedback

**[01:29:41]** on today's breakfast.

**[01:29:43]** If it's the slide,

**[01:29:44]** switch to it,

**[01:29:45]** give us a star.

**[01:29:47]** There is also a word

**[01:29:48]** that came to your mind

**[01:29:49]** in connection with

**[01:29:50]** what you heard today.

**[01:29:51]** So, if you are watching us

**[01:29:52]** through Red Button Edu,

**[01:29:53]** you see it at the bottom,

**[01:29:54]** or on your mobile phone.

**[01:29:55]** Thanks a lot in advance.

**[01:29:56]** And I'll skip it.

**[01:29:58]** What’s important for me now is...

**[01:30:00]** That it doesn’t stay just with us, but that we actually share it.

**[01:30:05]** Share your aha moments, what you liked, what you didn’t,

**[01:30:10]** with the people around you, your team, your family.

**[01:30:13]** And after all, we will do that too, and Sonia already said several times,

**[01:30:20]** Brain and Breakfast Digestive is exactly for that.

**[01:30:23]** On March 31 at 4:30 PM, I invited a few more guests who live with this topic.

**[01:30:30]** Many of you saw some of them in the bluespot: Stanislav Martinec from Komi Modular,

**[01:30:36]** who was also a guest at Brain and Breakfast and works in modular construction.

**[01:30:39]** Peťa Výtek, among others, impact investing, and has been involved in this topic for a long time.

**[01:30:44]** Ondraž Příbyla, founder of Fakt o klimatu.

**[01:30:47]** And we will definitely invite more people to look at it from different perspectives.

**[01:30:51]** So that’s it. If you want to go deeper, explore it,

**[01:30:55]** definitely join us.

**[01:30:57]** Also, as we mentioned, in Red Button Edu we have an expert sustainability community,

**[01:31:04]** so if anyone wants to get involved and has something to offer or share with the community,

**[01:31:09]** don’t hesitate to connect with us.

**[01:31:11]** We have open arms and invite anyone who wants to share something they do well.

**[01:31:17]** So that’s that.

**[01:31:19]** Otherwise, Red Button is the platform behind Brain and Breakfast.

**[01:31:25]** One of the projects is also the Book of the Month.

**[01:31:28]** The new Book of the Month is Robert Vlach’s Na volné noze.

**[01:31:32]** The project is overseen by Hanka Jadavan, so definitely check it out.

**[01:31:35]** Also watch the broadcast and what's coming up on Red Button Edu if you enjoy and are interested in this.

**[01:31:42]** I also took the liberty to prepare something during the broadcast if you'd like a bit more than Brain and Breakfast,

**[01:31:50]** here's a QR code for Shortcut, which is a newsletter I've been sending for over seven years,

**[01:31:57]** that gives a broader view of the network.

**[01:32:00]** It covers not only the area we're discussing today,

**[01:32:03]** but also what members like Leo Žiřelá and others, who were mentioned, are doing.

**[01:32:08]** So if you're interested, definitely scan this code.

**[01:32:11]** And the last message is an invitation to another breakfast event.

**[01:32:18]** We've already sketched it out a bit with some laughs.

**[01:32:22]** It's about the future of non-work. On February 16th, Filip Dřímalka will speak.

**[01:32:27]** I believe this will be his last live appearance,

**[01:32:30]** because after that, it will only be an avatar and we'll never see him live again.

**[01:32:35]** So on February 16th at 8:30, we'll talk with Filip about the future of non-work.

**[01:32:41]** I'm really looking forward to it because it connects all the things we've talked about.

**[01:32:45]** So if you have the time and interest,

**[01:32:47]** you can come here to the Magenta Experience Center

**[01:32:49]** or watch us live on Red Button Edu.

**[01:32:52]** Thank you once again for taking the time,

**[01:32:54]** and thank you for coming, sharing, and for your great presentation.

**[01:32:58]** Take care, thanks a lot, goodbye and see you.

**[01:33:15]** www.arkance-systems.cz