We're not going to kick off this feature onto Pilsen European Capital Culture 2015 with the usual discussion on what the celebration of a European Capital of Culture should mean and why it is so important for Europe to keep the promotion of culture as a top priority for an ever enlarging Europe. Melina Mercouri gave us those reasons over 30 years ago, and besides, at Sustain Europe we're more interested at looking to the future; one which is of course clean and sustainable.

 

So let's kick off this feature instead with a look at what the European Capital of Culture Award actually meant for the City of Pilsen and why it matters.

 

 

Loos Interiors

 

First up, we have the Loos Interiors. This collection of eight apartment interiors as created by world-renowned architect Adolf Loos in the 1930's for the wealthy Jewish community. Throughout 2015, guided tours were taking place every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (and attracted over 10,000 visitors) and enabled people to appreciate one of the most forward-thinking and talented architects of his time.

 

Whilst 2015 is over, guided tours of Loos Interiors most certainly are not, so if you're interested in visiting, please make sure to check out the video below and book your tickets in advance here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arts

 

Arts played a prominent role in Pilsen's Capital of Culture. A whole host of events, from exhibitions, theatre, festivals took place over the course of the year. The most notable ones being the Čestmír Suška RESTART exhibition, Japan Fest 2015 and the Return of Ladislav Sutnar project.

 

Arts are most certainly an ongoing endeavour in Pilsen too. In January 2016, Pilsen celebrated the opening of its New Theatre, the only new theatre to have been built in the Czech republic in the past 30 years. The building hosts theatre, ballet, musicals and opera and promises to bring even more culture to a city which already has it in droves.

 

 

DEPO2015

 

As a place where start-ups and established companies have the opportunity to make use of the many advantages of being located in the city, DEPO2015 is one of the most exciting projects to come out of Pilsen's year as the European Capital of Culture. In fact, it's so exciting that we've decided to dedicate a whole page on the subject which you can read about right here.

 

 

Hospitality

 

Pilsen is hospitable. The Hospitality of Pilsen project gave visitors to the city the opportunity to be shown by the city's residents the real Pilsen as it should be seen. On the first Saturday of every month, Pilsen residents invited visitors to take a look at what daily life in Pilsen is really like by showing them around the residential areas, the local traditions, cuisines, culinary methods and providing an insight into Pilsen that the tourism seldom gets the opportunity to see. This was grassroots community action at its finest.

 

 

Tourism

 

The European Capital of Culture had its impact on tourism too. In the first quarter of 2015, Pilsen enjoyed the highest annual increase of tourists of any city in the Czech Republic, whilst overnight stays increased by 30% compared to 2013. Overall, Pilsen could boast over 3.4 million visitors in 2015 (not including people who were living, studying or working in the city, nor people who spent less than two hours in Pilsen). More than 2.8 million people visited Pilsen for one day, and around 540,000 tourists stayed for at least one night. A quarter of the day visitors were from abroad, with approximately half of them from Germany.

 

 “In the first quarter of 2015, 194,000 guests booked accommodation in Pilsen – 13.7% more than in the same period last year. The number of overnight stays in Pilsen as of 30 September was more than 380,000 nights, which is 13% up on last year. In the third quarter, during the summer months, the number of overnight stays in Pilsen increased by 17%. I see this as a great result given the extremely hot summer weather, which is not ideal for city tourism. One-day tourism is going through an even bigger boom. The number of clients at the information centre has increased four-fold. Between January and October, we organised 1,070 guided tours around the centre for more than 27,000 people, which is roughly five times more than last year when we had 218 tours in the same period,” said Zuzana Koubíková, the Director of Plzen Tourism, a municipal organization of destination management.

 

The city's appeal did not seem to wane as the year went on, either, and by the end of the year they had organised an impressive 1164 tours for over 30,000 people.

 

As Martin Baxa, First Deputy Mayor of Pilsen, said: “3.4 million visitors is a great result for the city which has around 170,000 inhabitants.”

 

He then went on to give some insights into some of the reasons why this was happening, “We have enjoyed an important year when Pilsen became a much sought-after place on the cultural map of Europe. Pilsen has been visited by various Czech and foreign artists, and the program has been dedicated to artists born in Pilsen, such as Jirí Trnka, Gottfried Lindauer and Ladislav Sutnar, who virtually returned to their home town. Some of Pilsen’s treasures were gradually opened to the public – the Adolf Loos interiors. The extraordinarily rich and varied program of the European Capital of Culture is now drawing to a close, but I believe that several projects will continue on and become a permanent part of the cultural landscape of Pilsen.”

 

One project which certainly caught our eye was a project which addressed an issue very close to our heart. Yes, you guessed it: sustainability.

 

 

Pilsen for Bees project

 

Apart from being one of the most hard working creatures on the planet, bees are also directly responsible for an estimated 1/3 of the food we eat.

 

You may have come across a popular quote: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

 

Whilst Albert Einstein is still quoted widely and credited with the remark, he never actually said it. In fact, nobody knows who originally said it or on what scientific basis these projections have been made. But there is consensus around the world today that bees are the most invaluable species on the planet, and right now they are under serious threat. Pesticides, fertilisers, invasions, urban development, climate change, are all threatening bees and right now one in ten wild bees face extinction in Europe. That might sound quite small in number, but the eventual cumulative damage this might cause to the ecosystem could have serious consequences and cause serious disruption to our daily lives. Bear in mind that pollination is essential for the reproduction of the plants they service, so we'd be losing out a lot more than just our food.

 

Thankfully Pilsen came up with the idea of promoting the local bee trade and increasing environmental awareness. The Pilsen for Bees Project has actually become one of the first projects in Europe to highlight the importance of bees in all of our daily lives through educational and practical engagement. Both adults and children in Pilsen were able to find out why bees play an essential role in sustaining ecosystems and were able to increase their understanding about bee conservation at a regional scale.

 

It's this new direction that we're hoping Pilsen continues to pursue. Certainly 2015 revealed that Pilsen is not a city which wishes to shy away from any issues, be them environmental, cultural or even historical. That in the end is what is going to guarantee that people continue to flock to the city.

 

As Pilsen Mayor Martin Zrzavecký put it, “Plzen has become a sought-after destination thanks to the project. In my view, the realisation has worked well and the program has been successful. But there is also an obligation for future years – we have to ensure its sustainability.”

 

Which comes as music to our ears.