Cartography of (Eco)systems: Black Edition

Summary: The Ústí nad Labem Region, or rather its industrial areas, has long been one of the most neglected regions in the Czech Republic. It shares last place with the Moravian-Silesian Region in the standard of living ranking.

With a health burden stemming from a history of industrial production, mass mining and the burning of brown coal, the ruined environment has no hope for a promising future. The most educated, well-off inhabitants have been fleeing the region for a long time, and their place has been taken by more and more poor people, fleeing the problems that affected them in their previous homes.

So far, politicians who are in a position to influence the social system have only resorted to populist statements, scaring the population and positioning themselves as protectors against the inadaptable, or making flattering proclamations instead of implementing a comprehensive reform of the entire social support system. At present, it is still common in excluded localities for people to receive benefits for practically their entire lives, without their lives being improved in any fundamental way and without enabling them to return to society.

In order to achieve any major change, we need to reform not only the social assistance system, but also focus much more attention on education and the entire school system. Unless there is a vision of how the funds could be used in a meaningful way and the state prepares for the changes of the social system, so that poor people are given a chance to become agents of change themselves, the money from the Modernisation Fund and the Fair Transformation Fund may help only a select few instead of achieving deeper social change in the region.

There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel and the region may start to improve relatively soon. There is hope on the horizon in the form of a massive restructuring of the region and EU funds aimed at ending the use of brown coal.