Pavel Raška

Jan Evangelista Purkyně University | UJEP · Department of Geography

In this opinion paper, I address epistemological roots that impede transdisciplinary research and practices focused on disaster risk reduction (DRR). First, I explain the attributes of transdisciplinary thinking, and how it specifically relates to DRR, and illustrate seemingly transdisciplinary shifts in recent DRR practices using examples from int...

The major event that hit Europe in summer 2021 reminds society that floods are recurrent and among the costliest and deadliest natural hazards. The long-term flood risk management (FRM) efforts preferring sole technical measures to prevent and mitigate floods have shown to be not sufficiently effective and sensitive to the environment. Nature-Based...

The multilevel adaptive governance of flood risk reduction has been emphasized in the last decades and supported by the requirements of European Flood Directive (EC 2007), while assigning an increasingly important role to municipalities. By contrast, only fragmented efforts have addressed the personal (expert knowledge), financial, and institutiona...

Floods continue to remain among the costliest disasters worldwide and especially in Europe. Among the major causes of flooding are human impacts on water retention in catchments and extensive alterations to floodplains. While several policies and instruments have been coined internationally to mitigate land uptake in floodplains, their impact on re...

National and regional historical landslide databases are increasingly viewed as providing empirical evidence for the geomorphic effects of ongoing environmental change and for supporting adaptive territorial planning. In this work, we present the design and current content of the Czech Historical Landslide Database (CHILDA), the first of its kind f...

Municipal flood plans represent the lowest administrative planning instrument for flood risk management. Their value for local representatives in coping with floods remains unclear, however. We present a survey of municipal flood plans among 356 municipal representatives in Czechia. Our results indicate that legal and financial incentives are key m...

https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1h7ju7t2zZDOsj --- Anyone clicking on this link before July 12, 2023 will be taken directly to the final version of the article. --- The assessment of landslide impacts provides key information for understanding the hotspots of landslide vulnerability and risk, but it has mostly relied on accounting of immediate socia...

Informal institutions are increasingly emphasized by local development thinkers as preconditions and factors supporting local development. In post-socialist European countries (PSECs), the need to strengthen informal institutions has been postulated as imperative by some researchers, critically addressing previous decades of rather infrastructural...

The purpose of the article is to address the gap in approaches to assessing the quality of urban life (QoUL) in small towns, with a particular focus on the environmental dimension of the QoUL concept. The authors examined a statistical relation between life satisfaction and QoUL in small towns, detected the position of the environment among other d...

Urban areas are hot spots of flood risk due to how urban development concentrates people and assets into hazard prone areas, reinforcing negative externalities on the welfare of urban residents. Mitigating flood risk in urban environments, however, is challenging. This is not only because the process generating flood risk is complex, but the object...

Traditional adaptations to natural hazards have been increasingly explored as options for disaster risk reduction. We develop three critical arguments regarding traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) related to natural hazards. First, authoritative heritage discourses do not acknowledge the dynamics of TEK and may result in heritigized practices th...

Bohemian Switzerland (České Švýcarsko) is a name that has been associated with the prominent area of sandstone landscapes located in Northern Czechia (Central Europe). Over the last centuries, the development of the area and the locational transformation of tourism facilities has been influenced by multiscalar effects of transforming geopolitical c...

With immensely growing pressure on land and its scarcity, conflicting societal expectations concerning land use increasingly result in land use conflicts (LUCs). In this paper, we explore local LUCs, which we define as the complex situations, where fragmented planning policies encounter place-based societal conceptions and perceptions of site-speci...

Plain Language Summary Flood risks are expected to increase in the future due to the combined effects of climate change, land use change and population growth. New approaches are needed to complement conventional flood risk management (FRM) based on engineering solutions and project‐based approaches. In this Commentary we present the findings of th...

Informal institutions are increasingly emphasized by local development thinkers as preconditions and factors supporting local development. In post-socialist European countries (PSECs), the need to strengthen informal institutions has been postulated as imperative by some researchers, critically addressing previous decades of rather infrastructural...

Perspektivy průmyslového dědictví Podkrušnohoří

Staré průmyslové regiony se potýkají s rozsáhlou fyzickou infrastrukturou související s průmyslovou výrobou, která často bývá nevyužívaná či využívaná jen z menší části. Tím, že zabírají podstatnou část sídel se následně mohou stávat bariérou rozvoje daného sídla. Na druhou stranu, velká část obyvatel měst má vytvořeno k daným objektům určité emoci...

Industrial heritage is frequently accentuated in development strategies of old industrial regions as an asset that may be subject to commodification and thus helping to support employment, improve the quality of public spaces and more generally to facilitate re-imaging of rather negatively perceived old industrial regions. However, incorporation of...

National and regional historical landslide databases are increasingly viewed as providing empirical evidence for the geomorphic effects of ongoing environmental change and for supporting adaptive territorial planning. In this work, we present the design and current content of the Czech Historical Landslide Database (CHILDA), the first of its kind f...

Floodplains include unique environments shaped over a long time horizon along rivers and smaller streams and formed by alluvial sediments. As floodplains are flat, often with highly fertile and well‐accessible land, they have become the intrinsic focus of human society—while providing a variety of goods and ecosystem services. Intensive land use of...

Industrial heritage is frequently accentuated in development strategies of old industrial regions as an asset that may be subject to commodification and thus helping to support employment, improve the quality of public spaces and more generally to facilitate re-imaging of rather negatively perceived old industrial regions. However, incorporation of...

Industrial heritage is frequently accentuated in development strategies of old industrial regions as an asset that may be subject to commodification and thus helping to support employment, improve the quality of public spaces and more generally to facilitate re-imaging of rather negatively perceived old industrial regions. However, incorporation of...

Das Thema der Ländlichkeit in der Stadt wurde in den letzten Jahren in den urbanen Räumen vor allem aus Sicht der Land- und Sozialkonflikte im peri-urbanen Raum erforscht. Die Ländlichkeit in den innerstädtischen Lagen – z.B. in ehemaligen Dörfern, die durch die schnell wachsende Stadt baulich integriert wurden - wurde aber, mit wenigen Ausnahmen,...

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are often framed positively in terms of win–win options or no-regret measures. However, are NbS equally beneficial for everyone? Are burdens and benefits of NbS really equally distributed and projects embraced by everyone? Is the process leading to the implementation of NbS always fair and inclusive? This chapter provid...

Přestože se o tématech modro-zelené infrastruktury u nás diskutuje v rámci různých oborů, nemá tento termín v praxi zatím jednotné vymezení. Jak ilustruje rozbor plánovacích dokumentů Plzně, aktuálně se v této souvislosti prosazují nástroje adaptace na klimatickou změnu a efektivní využití dešťové vody, často ve vztahu k veřejným prostranstvím. Jak...

Průmyslové dědictví je často zmiňováno v rozvojových strategiích starých průmyslových regionů jako jedinečný místní zdroj, který by měl být komodifikován za účelem podpory oživení veřejných prostorů, re-imaging daného regionu, popř. zvýšení zaměstnanosti. V některých regionech je toto dědictví využíváno intenzivněji, v některých méně. Ve vědecké ko...

Socio-ecological hazards are processes that − depending on the vulnerability of societal systems − may have profound adverse impacts. For this reason, the current discourse in disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been experiencing a shift toward a vulnerability-led paradigm, raising new questions about how to address (i) the complexity of vulnerabilit...

Old cadastral maps represent a historical reference dataset for long-term land-use reconstructions. This study presents identification of inconsistencies in the nineteenth century Franziscean cadastre, one of the largest sets of old cadastral maps worldwide, by comparing three versions of the maps and written documents created in the same period. W...

Uncoordinated land development results in landscape fragmentation, which is a complex and serious environmental threat to the Czech landscape. It poses a challenge especially for (post)industrial urban agglomerations with extremely low connectivity of green–blue infrastructure. Environmental and spatial planning strategic policy documents are consi...

The recent paradigm shift towards multilevel flood risk governance has raised discussions about the potential of different entities to undertake specific flood risk management (FRM) measures and about the effects of their efforts on other governance levels. Among the key questions being addressed are those related to the balance and possible invers...

The publication „Ecohydrological management of the urban landscape’s microstructures“, which is elaborated by team of authors from two geographical workplaces (in Pilsen and Usti nad Labem) and a few external co‑workers, presents along with maps one of the key outputs of the project under Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TAČR TD03000343). F...

Lidé měli od nepaměti potřebu zaznamenávat si zajímavé a mimořádné události, kterých byli svědky. Tím spíše byly evidovány takové jevy, které měly přímý vliv na jejich životy nebo u nichž byl takový vliv předpokládán. K nim bezpochyby patří přírodní hrozby.

Flood recovery is an important period in the flood risk management cycle. Recently, flood recovery has become viewed as an opportunity for future flood damage mitigation. Financial flows to cover flood damages and rules regarding their allocation are crucial for supporting or undermining mitigation efforts. In this paper, we map and compare state f...

Nature-based solutions (NBS) have recently spread to the flood risk management (FRM) agenda as potentially efficient and sustainable measures to reduce the susceptibility to and impacts of various kinds of floods. The aim of this chapter is to introduce the roots of various conceptualizations of scale, the way they are encountered, and the implicat...

We explore the mismatches in post-socialist Central Europe between the goals of urban renewal (to address urban shrinkage) and flood risk management (resulting from the EU Floods Directive). Taking as examples three declining urban sites significantly affected by extreme floods since the 1990s, we argue that the failure to adopt a multilevel approa...

Do landowners realize (and privately fund) natural water retention measures (NWRM) on their own land? Why? And how are they capable of assessing the hydrological and ecological effects of these measures? The Czech case study presents the story of an individual farmer who decided to invest his private resources in water retention and biodiversity en...

This article describes the intertwined history of scientific research and landslide disaster risk reduction efforts in a small peasant community in the Rampac Grande of the Peruvian Andes. It was struck by a catastrophic landslide in 2009, claiming five fatalities and challenging local knowledge about landslide occurrence and mitigation practices....

Volcanic landforms resulting from Cenozoic volcanism represent the most peculiar features of global geodiversity and provide eminent narratives for geoeducation. Among them, however, relict volcanic forms and site-specific landforms in remote areas have received less attention. In this paper, we provide the first description of unique volcanogenic...

The polarity of the city centre and its periphery is one of the basic attributes characterising the Central European cultural landscape, as well as the social structures and economic relationships that exist in its space. Hence, it is also one of the important components in the creation of the territory and cultural identity of Central and Western...

Current research has identified extensive changes in land-use structure and land management of Central European rural landscapes due to shifting political and economic trajectories. These changes are exemplified by diverse processes of agricultural intensification, privatization and land fragmentation, land abandonment and overall changes in modes...

This book is a final outcome of the research project supported by Czech Science Foundation. Its aim was to explore the motivations, mechanisms and effectiveness as well as efficiency of decisions concerned with environmental risk reduction in Czechia. The project was carried out by the interdisciplinary team of J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad...

Slopes in motion: The paper presents didactic summary of the current knowledge about mass movements, their causes and triggers, spatiotemporal distribution, impacts on society and their role as landscape forming processes.

Nordböhmen stellt eine spezifische Region dar, in der die Entstehung des Verkehrswegenetzes durch die Entwicklung der Siedlungsstruktur in dem sehr abwechslungsreichen Gelände bedingt wurde. Und zwar in Bezug auf Zugänglichkeit der bedeutenden Bodenschätze und der Grenzlage zu Sachsen. Genau hier befinden sich die meisten Sitze, von denen die bedeu...

Following the current emphasis given to community-based action in landslide disaster risk reduction (DRR) and with reference to traditional community-based approaches, recent studies have increasingly addressed regionally diverse experiences with community engagement in DRR. In this paper, we question the mechanisms of the community-based landslide...

Old maps are a fundamental source for land-use reconstruction frequently used in biodiversity conservation and environmental management. In particular, cadastral maps as one type of old maps, depict both land tenure (discrete category) and land-use (continuous category); thus resulting in uncertainties in determination of individual parcels and the...

Quarrying represents a major human impact on the landscape. The positive effects of quarrying have also been appreciated over the last several decades and concern the role of quarries as sites with the potential for geoscientific education and geotourism. In this paper we present a procedure for establishing a multitemporal database of abandoned qu...

Flash floods are natural hazards that may last only a few hours, but their sudden onset often results in severe impacts on society and the environment. Therefore, efforts to reduce flash flood-related losses have primarily focused on the compilation of emergency operation plans (EOPs). Conversely, there have been only a few attempts to provide cart...

The aim of this paper is to examine the association between double-loop disaster learning and transformations of political systems. The particular question is how disasters increase the rapidity and complexity, with which the transforming regimes face the unsuitability and inadequacy of the past forms and processes of disaster governance. The cente...

Abstrakt: Význam komunit v lokálním rozvoji a při zvyšování pružnosti reakce společnosti na nepředvídané a extrémní události je v posledních desetiletích stále více zdůrazňován a stal se součástí mezinárodních i národních strategických dokumentů. Ačkoliv byl již i v českém prostředí komunitní přístup částečně implementován, v rámci odborného i prak...

Modifications to fluvial systems justified by provision of drinking water supply, irrigation for agriculture, flood protection measures, river navigation or simply extension of settlement and transportation significantly affect the morphology and hydroecological functions of rivers. Quantifying such changes must rely on availability of multitempora...

This paper focuses on landslide phases, this being a somewhat neglected aspect of landslide research. These are events during which an increased number of individual landslides have been concurrently activated. Landslide phases are an important proxy as their occurrence indicates the presence of a triggering event which predominantly involves thres...

Regional databases of natural hazards and their social impacts have been increasingly established from documentary data to provide a rationale for the adoption of new disaster risk reduction strategies. This approach is extended in this article by pointing out factors that may underlie the changes in social vulnerability to natural hazards and that...

The ecological value of abandoned quarries has gained increasing scientific attention in the last few decades, resulting in a paradigm shift in restoration programs regarding the use of natural processes. The linkages between biotic and abiotic diversity, such as landform and microclimatic diversity have been analyzed only slightly, however. In thi...

Povodně představují významné přírodní ohrožení, a zmírňování jejich škod je tak ve strategických dokumentech věnována značná pozornost. Je proto překvapující, že záplavová území jsou často intenzivně využívána. Poster mapuje dlouhodobý vývoj využití prostoru v rozlivových zónách s cílem porozumět reflexi povodňového rizika v rozvoji území.

A drought of exceptional severity took place in Central Europe in 1947, with marked socio-economic consequences and far-reaching political responses in the Czech Lands. A rich body of meteorological observations from the Czech Lands is drawn upon to construct a comprehensive picture of the various direct and indirect factors that led to this extrem...

Damming and water impoundment have fundamental influences on the geomorphology and ecological processes of lotic systems. Although these engineering projects affect all segments of the river channel, fluvial (mid-channel, river) islands are among the most threatened features because of their link to both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic effects of damm...

During the period of transition after the fall of communism in the late 1980s, cities in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) encountered a range of processes that have reshaped their structure and functions. Regeneration effort was a major approach considered as a suitable tool to overcome burdens of the communist urbanistic model, w...

Located in the borderland between the NW part of the Czech Republic and Saxony, the Krušné hory Mts. (highest peak Klínovec, 1244 m a.s.l.) represents the longest mountain range in the Czech Republic. Its current geomorphologic character with a steep SE fault scarp and extensive planation surfaces at the top has been influenced by long-term tectoni...

The beginning of the 1770s in the Czech Lands is well documented for its meteorological extremes and their social impacts. However, the effects of these extremes on geomorphic systems and on landslide occurrence and activity in particular have been minimally studied. In this paper, we use a complex set of written and iconographic documentary data t...

The České středohoří Mts. represent the largest volcanic terrain in the Czech Republic. Volcanic evolution dates from 37 to 9 Ma ago, but the largest volumes of volcanic rocks were produced in the early phases of volcanic activity . Current geomorphological characteristics of the area are the result of long-lasting erosional history, being predomin...

Central-Eastern European (CEE) post-communist member states of the Euro-pean Union have experienced several catastrophic floods during the last two decades, resulting in further discussions on implementation of the European Flood Directive (EC in Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks. European Community 2007). A particular issue...

The paper presents results of geomorphological research carried out on a low altitude scree slope in the České středohoří Middle Mts. The locality is represented by the rock cliff and accumulation of basaltic clasts, and is surrounded with the forest vegetation. Detailed geomorphological mapping, Schmidt-hammer tests and joint orientation analyses...

Participatory responses to natural disasters are currently considered to be the primary tool for disaster risk reduction. However, the implementation of this tool in post-communist Central European countries is constrained by the strong position of the central government and a weakened civil society as a heritage of the former communist governments...

Historical documentary sources from two regions with contrasting historical and social development were examined for information about landslide occurrence and characteristics. The archive search was complemented with limited field work to acquire information about the degree of recent landslide activity and land use. The results from two study are...

The role of social resilience and local-based adaptation strategies as efficient tools for natural risk reduction has been increasingly emphasised over the last decades. Many authors have noted that learning from historical disasters is a background process contributing to social resilience. In this study, three case studies examining multiple natu...

The use of geospatial visual displays – geovisualization is recognized as a useful way how to explore, analyze and present geospatial data. Integration of geographical information systems and virtual reality find its use in various fields from decision making processes to education. The reconstruction of devastated landscapes and its visualization...

The Certovka landslide at Vanov south of Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic, is developed in a steep slope of the Labe River valley (LRV). A major episode of landsliding occurred in the first months of 1995, and the slope at Vanov has been subjected to geological and geomorphological investigation since then. This paper presents the structural setting...