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Village of the Year Award

photo: (vesniceroku.cz)

The Village of the Year of the Czech Republic is a competition aiming to draw attention to small municipalities and encourage people living in the countryside to actively participate in the development of their home. The “Village of the Year” has been annually awarded since 1995 and its main purpose is to point out the importance of the countryside to the general public.

The organisers of the competition include the Association for Rural Development of the CR, the Ministry for Regional Development, the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the CR and the Ministry of Agriculture of the CR. Municipalities of village-like character with a total population of up to 6,300 residents and their own official plan for municipal development, the European Village Renewal Programme or a development programme for the given territory can participate in the competition. It comprises two rounds representing the regional and national competition. Apart from choosing the winning municipality that will proceed to the next round, the regional juries can also award special certificates and awards, such as the blue ribbon for cultural life, the white ribbon for youth activities or the green ribbon for well-kept greenery and the environment.

One municipality from each region proceeds to the national round, where the first three villages are awarded. The winner of the national round, i.e. the whole competition will gain the “Village of the Year” title. Consequently, it also qualifies for the European Village Renewal Award competition organised by the European Association for Rural Development and Village Renewal.

In total, 305 municipalities took part in the 17th Village of the Year competition in 2011. Thirteen regional winners proceeded to the national round. The overall winner of the Village of the Year Award for 2011 was the village of Komňa (map) in the Zlín Region. Second place was awarded to Hlavenec (map) in the Central-Bohemian Region and the village of Skalička (map) in the Olomouc Region took third place.