• Students of landscape architecture, urban planning, nature conservation, landscape planning, spatial/urban planning, and green space management
• Also welcome: related fields
• Especially for students from Czechia and Austria

You’ll explore how to plan, manage, and maintain green spaces in urban and suburban settings – with a strong focus on:

• sustainable vegetation management
• smart plant selection
• autochthonous and regionally native species
• lawns and meadows

• 4 ECTS credits
• International experience in a multidisciplinary team
• New contacts across Czechia and Austria 
• A real project with feedback for your portfolio and CV

Each day has a clear rhythm:

• Mornings: expert talks + thematic lectures
• Afternoons: teamwork on a week-long project

In small teams, you’ll develop a real design proposal for improving or creating a public green space in a defined area:

• created in cooperation with the municipality
• guided by professionals
• includes implementation + management ideas 

Non-forest sites and their origin. History of the management of grasslands and the current trends in management. What are the current biggest threats? Why do we need the restoration of grasslands, and what approaches do we use? Methods and standards for grassland restoration in Czechia and Europe.

Landscape planning is a conceptual, multidisciplinary activity whose goal is to develop a functional strategy for territorial development. The subject of landscape planning is the landscape itself, including built-up areas. The greatest challenge of our time is adaptation to climate change, which affects all aspects of the environment. This lecture presents an approach to thinking about the adaptation of landscapes and settlements to climate change and introduces nature-based solutions as key points of connection with landscape architecture.

Understanding landscape history remains valuable, but future challenges require more than simply repeating proven practices of the past. By observing and working with natural processes rather than against them, we can create effective solutions that are both ecologically sound and resource-efficient. Practice from Dolní Dunajovice.

Introduction to urban and landscape planning in Dolní Dunajovice: strategies, concepts, and challenges that open new possibilities for sustainable development of the municipality.

Central European grasslands are among the global biodiversity hotspots. This is caused by the long-term persistence of the Eurasian grassland ecosystem and by the ease of migration during past climatic oscillations. This also comprises functional and phylogenetic diversity. Unfortunately, most contemporary grasslands fall short of realising the biodiversity potential provided by the large species pool. This biodiversity debt is caused by the conflict between biodiversity and productivity in productive grasslands and by dispersal limitation and poor management practices in urban grasslands. Successful grassland biodiversity restoration requires careful planning based on an understanding of the effects of the environment and management on community structure and ecosystem properties. Simultaneously, good knowledge of species is crucial as even closely related species may have very different ecological demands or effects on community functioning. Modern online databases provide detailed information on species' ecology and distributions, making them a useful tool for restoration ecologists and biodiversity managers.

Landscape/public space and people - the human scale of the planning process, perception of space, accessibility and permeability; Connecting built-up and unbuilt areas - landscape interfaces, green corridors; Quality and livability of public space - Gehl’s approach to public space design, creating vibrant and livable spaces; Participation - creating space with people, involving the public in planning processes.

This lecture will provide a practical introduction to species-rich seed mixtures used in landscape design and nature conservation. Students will learn about different types of seed mixtures, ranging from intensive lawns to extensive wildflower meadows, and gain insight into the process of designing and producing them. The lecture follows the journey of plant material from wild seed collection and genetic resource acquisition through cleaning, cultivation, and propagation to its final use in restoration and urban environments. It also explains the ecological and technical challenges behind establishing successful plant communities and the factors that make high-quality native seed mixtures significantly more expensive than conventional lawn seed.

The lecture will focus on contemporary approaches to designing perennial plantings in public spaces, with particular emphasis on urban environments in South Moravia. It introduces a range of design concepts, including naturalistic prairie-inspired plantings, matrix planting, English and German planting traditions, and optimized perennial mixtures, supported by examples from real projects. The presentation also explores the role of ornamental plantings in climate change adaptation and urban ecology. Its main goal is to demonstrate how ornamental perennials can serve as both aesthetic and ecological tools for creating sustainable, resilient, and publicly accepted urban landscapes.

Classification and management of different lawn systems, including commonly used species and recent developments in lawn management. The lecture will also focus on forage conservation through haymaking and silage production, methods for evaluating forage quality, and the effects of forage composition on animal productivity. Additionally, the lecture will discuss anti-nutritional and toxic substances found in forage.

Practical insights into tree establishment and early-career management in rural and urban landscapes - factors affecting tree survival, growth, and resilience, including planting material selection, maintenance practices, and adaptation to environmental stresses such as drought. Drawing on field experience, the lecture highlights key principles for successful long-term tree development and care.

How rivers can be meaningfully integrated into urban environments while balancing ecological, spatial, and flood-protection requirements. It introduces key concepts of river continuity and nature-based flood mitigation, along with the technical and planning approaches used in urban water management. Through historical context and detailed case studies, particularly from Brno and its river systems, it illustrates different strategies for river restoration and urban adaptation. The lecture also reflects on the complexity of implementing such projects, including design constraints, hydrological factors, and long-term urban development goals.

This lecture introduces principles of organic farming, including crop rotation, fertilization, and ecological pest management, with emphasis on legumes. It also addresses climate change impacts on agroecosystems and adaptive strategies such as extensive grassland use, hedgerows, and agroforestry. Finally, it considers how shifting climate conditions affect the suitability of selected tree species.

A fast introduction to the complex, process-oriented field of public participation will be guided by Eli Havla Pomyjová, an architect, urban planner, service designer, and lecturer. She began working with citizen engagement after experiencing a crowded community meeting where residents passionately organized to express their disagreement with an urban design proposal that she and her team had been working on for six months. You can look forward to a concentrated sharing of insights drawn from nearly a decade of interdisciplinary practice

This lecture presents the story of agricultural landscape restoration around Mikulov driven by local citizens through the Mikulov Civic Beautification Association. It explores how biodiversity and landscape connectivity can be enhanced even in intensively farmed areas by restoring field paths, grass strips, tree alleys, and orchards. Using concrete examples of community tree planting and participatory initiatives, it shows how local communities can actively reshape their surroundings and overcome feelings of helplessness about the state of the countryside. The lecture also addresses cooperation with municipalities, land use after land consolidation, volunteer-based landscape care, and the importance of long-term maintenance for sustaining such projects.

Primarily for students of landscape architecture, urban/spatial planning, nature conservation, green space management and related fields from Czechia and Austria. 

22–26 June 2026, Dolní Dunajovice (CZ)

Capacity is min. 10 / max. 15 participants. Apply via [application link]. If the course is oversubscribed, we may use simple selection criteria.

Morning expert lectures, afternoon team project work.
Wednesday is a full-day field excursion.
A public mini-conference (project presentations + discussion) will take place on Friday.

• 2,000 CZK.
• The fee covers meals, social activities, and excursion costs.
• Accommodation is provided free of charge. 

• Comfortable outdoor clothing and shoes.
• A notebook/laptop for your project work. 
• Writing and creative supplies for designing projects (pencils, markers, rulers, scales, tape measures, etc.).
• We’ll share a detailed checklist with participants a few weeks before the summer school.