Successful finalisation of the 4EU+ UNREAD project’s second edition

Course „Urban Regulations and Political Memory: Towards understanding Spatio-Temporal aspects of Urban Development” (UNREAD) is one of the educational projects developed under Flagship 1 of the 4EU+ alliance. A team of historians, lawyers and geographers from University of Warsaw, University of Milan, and Charles University conducts this interdisciplinary course. The first edition started in October 2021 and was finalised in March 2022, while the second began in October 2022 and was completed in March 2023. The topics of this course are driving forces of urban changes, the development of smart cities and interdisciplinary methodologies of urban studies applied to cases in Czechia, Poland and Italy.

The final conference was organized by the Faculty pof Science, Department of Social Geography and Regional Develoment. Two members of the research team Urban and Regional Laboratory (Martin Ouředníček and Adel Petrović) together with master students of geography (Jakub Kraft and Daniel Bečvář) and the head of the Map Collection (Eva Novotná) prepare the whole two-days program. Students of the course presented their research project outcomes: suburbanisation, smart villages, social housing, spatial planning, urban green areas…These are some of the topics presented by students during two panels on the first day of the conference. On the second day, the main coordinator of the project dr. Karolina Wojciechowska led a panel discussion and asked the participants for feedback. The positive aspects pointed out that the course is interdisciplinary, interactive and international, providing hands-on knowledge and preparing students for not only academic but also professional careers. The students mentioned that meeting in person, not only at the end, but also at the beginning of the course, would make the research and their engagement easier and smoother. Throughout the two days, the participants could enjoy a guided tour around the inner-city of Prague, visit the map collection of the Geographical Institute, and participate in workshops aimed at integration with colleagues from other universities and developing international contacts.