Projects to transform the Most region and education in the Czech Ústí Region could receive EU funding

Projects to repurpose a mining site in the Most region and provide education focused on transforming the industrial region in primary and nursery schools in the Ústí Region could receive European Union funding. The Regional Standing Conference of the Ústí Region recommended both strategic projects to the Ministry of the Environment for assessment. The region said so on its website.

The only strategic project to have received support so far is the Ústí Region Transformation Centre. A decision on support for lithium mining at Cínovec is due at the beginning of June.

The Green Mine project to repurpose a mining site concerns the ČSA mine. Severní energetická announced last week that it was suspending lignite mining and laying off 500 employees. The remaining pit will be transformed into a lake. The mining company plans to install floating solar panels on part of the water’s surface and is also planning a green hydrogen production facility. Solar panels will also be installed on the roofs of houses to be built around the lake. The entire area, overlooked by Jezeří Castle, covers 5000 hectares. A new main road will open up the site to the public.

Experts recommend leaving around 20 percent of the lignite mine’s area entirely to nature, so it can recover on its own. Part of the area is to become a national natural monument. The project budget is 1.3 billion crowns.

The second project is called Animation for the Just Transition of the Ústí Region – Learning Through Play. Its aim is to create teaching materials for nursery and primary school pupils to help children prepare for changes associated with the transition. The budget is 52 million crowns, and its creators want to reach all the schools affected—more than 600 across the region.

In April, the Regional Standing Conference of the Ústí Region supported a strategic project by the University of Ústí nad Labem focused on energy, as well as a hydrogen mobility project by the Ústí nad Labem transport company. The final projects to be assessed at the beginning of June will be lithium mining at Cínovec and H2Triangle, which involves producing hydrogen in the Triangle industrial zone near Žatec.