The project followed up on a pilot initiative called Pilot PoVE Water. As part of the project, five interconnected vocational education centers collaborated, including the Center of Vocational Excellence Water Central Europe at Mendel University in Brno. This center, established through cooperation between SPŠS Kudelova, Lipka, CREA, Hydro&Energy, and Women Engaged for a Common Future, is coordinated by the Faculty of AgriSciences MENDELU as the regional captain for Central Europe. The center primarily focuses on supporting innovative approaches to education in the field of water management. Each year, it organizes events such as Water Days in Brno, which takes place not only at MENDELU but also at other locations across the South Moravian and Olomouc regions. The program is aimed at high school students, teachers, and the general public, and focuses on water-related topics in forest, agricultural, and urban landscapes. University students also participate in the activities and, through expert mentoring, gradually become lecturers with specialized knowledge.

Thanks to the PoVE Water Scale-up project, several new educational materials for high schools have been developed over the years. “Within the consortium, we created a number of courses that are available online through the Moodle learning platform. The project also includes virtual reality scenarios that can be directly used in teaching,” said Michaela Menšíková, project manager of PoVE Water Scale-up.

One of the project’s unique outcomes is the Spatial Lens application, developed in cooperation with representatives of the Institute of Applied and Landscape Ecology at the Faculty of AgriSciences and the Spatial Hub operating within the Faculty of Business and Economics át MENDELU. The application is an educational program based on data from Google Earth. It focuses on comparing natural and artificially modified watercourses, specifically the Italian Tiber River and the French Seine River. The application is freely accessible and includes tasks, quizzes, and practical challenges through which students gradually acquire new knowledge. It also features educational videos, information panels, and other interactive elements. The development of the application took several years and has potential for future commercial use.

An important part of the project is also the cooperation with the educational institution Lipka and industrial partners on the educational games Příběh řeky, Hrad o vodu, and Zadrž vodu. “In the game Zadrž vodu, players take on the roles of municipal representatives who must make several decisions regarding landscape management within a fixed budget during their term in office. During the game, they may also encounter unexpected events such as extreme droughts or floods. Their task is to think strategically about landscape adjustments in order to prepare for future climate change,” explained Michaela Menšíková. Thanks to its flexible design, the game can be played not only by students but also by water management professionals and even real municipal councils.

Photographs (Water Days in Brno 2026)