Ratiboř, Zlín, Czech Republic

Ratiboř is a municipality with 1,834 inhabitants, located around 30 kilometers from the district town of Zlín in the middle of the hilly Vsetín region, surrounded by forests and species-rich meadows. The strong heart of Ratiboř is its intact village community, which is aware of its roots and closely connected to the Wallachian culture. On the other hand, it has opened itself up to cooperation with neighboring municipalities and regions and is successfully integrated into the development strategies of the Czech Republic and the European Union.

With the involvement of the entire village population, a group of young enthusiasts drew up a strategic development document for Ratiboř in 2014, which is based on the needs of the residents. The focus is on infrastructure development, environmental issues, support for local services and businesses, respect for tradition, strengthening of the village community and modern technologies.

Ratiboř has played a leading role in bringing together thirteen municipalities of the Vsetin region into one municipality whose aim is to jointly solve the region’s most pressing challenges. These include the promotion of rural tourism, the maintenance of cultural monuments, the use of renewable energy sources and the search for common solutions to waste, water and other environmental problems, as well as in the areas of social services, health care and public transport. Great attention is also paid to communication. Various communication channels inform and serve the population, but also serve as a platform for ideas, offers and services from citizens, associations and companies.

The heart of cultural life in Ratiboř is the Kosáci Society, which is dedicated to maintaining Wallachian culture. Songs, dances and customs are performed all year round. The costume with the typical features of Carpathian clothing culture also plays an important role. But people not only come together in the cultivation of traditions and folklore, but also in many other clubs and when pursuing a wide variety of interests.

The focus of Ratiboř’s development work is the question of how economic, social, cultural, ecological and climate policy aspects can be reconciled. This enabled sustainable projects to be implemented and financial resources from the municipality, the state and the EU to be used extremely efficiently. Also noteworthy is the carefully planned out settlement development, which focuses on strengthening the town center, renovating existing buildings and filling vacant lots. A municipal architect ensures that the old and new buildings are sensitively coordinated. The municipality also aims to acquire buildings that are worthy of protection, to repair them step by step and to preserve them for future generations.

The school and kindergarten were renovated, expanded, designed to be barrier-free and equipped with great sensitivity to create a modern and high-quality educational facility. The fact that space was also created for musical and artistic training and that a school garden was laid out, which the students tend themselves, is an additional enrichment.

The refurbishment of the community center was used to create space for barrier-free and high-quality health care that is rarely found in rural areas. The impressive measures in the social and cultural area include all generations, which is also reflected in the village community center: It not only houses a representative event hall, but also a day care center for seniors, which proves to be a place for development, participation and encounters.

In order to strengthen ecologically responsible agriculture, the municipality and the agricultural cooperative Mír agreed that areas affected by erosion would be revegetated and converted into pastures. The municipality is the largest forest owner and attaches great importance to sustainable reforestation of the forests damaged by the bark beetle catastrophe. Mixed forest stands with predominantly amelioration trees are now being planted. At the same time, ponds and wetlands are gradually being restored, which serve both to retain water and to preserve animal diversity.

Ratiboř is a founding member of the regional community association for the realization of new ways in energy and environmental issues. Priority topics are LED lighting, thermal insulation of buildings, development of renewable energy sources such as wood from local forests and photovoltaics, heat recovery systems and reduction of waste through a well thought-out reward system. With the help of modern digital systems, the waste generated by each household is recorded individually, and reductions automatically reduce the waste fees. This has reduced the amount of waste by a third in two years.

The municipality encourages the involvement of local companies in the implementation of municipal projects, which has a positive impact on both the quality of work and the economic situation of the companies. The greatest strength of Ratiboř is its people with their commitment and cooperative spirit. Particularly noteworthy are the deep respect for traditions, the courageous approach to new things, the coexistence of generations, the diverse inter-communal and regional cooperation and the ability to access financial resources and use them efficiently.

Evaluated: 2022