News

How can participatory mapping support better urban planning? A new open data portal provides the answer.

As part of his Bachelor’s thesis, our student Tomáš Polák, in collaboration with the City of Olomouc, developed an open data portal presenting the results of participatory mapping campaigns conducted in Olomouc.

The portal has now become part of the city’s official open data platform, making the data freely accessible to the public, researchers, students, and anyone interested in evidence-based urban planning.

Tomáš Polák and his thesis supervisor, Dr. Jakub Koníček, presented the project in a Czech Television report broadcast on 30 June 2026.

Explore the portal here: https://pocitove-mapovani-olomouce-smol.hub.arcgis.com/

Czech report broadcast: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10122978233-udalosti-v-regionech-ostrava/426231100030630/cast/1196564/

🌡️ How does the temperature vary across different parts of Olomouc during the current heatwave?

This weekend’s extreme temperatures are affecting much of the country. But how large are the temperature differences across different locations within Olomouc?

Explore real-time data from our urban sensor network and compare temperatures across the city using our interactive application (see the bottom of the page):

👉 https://iot.citiq.cloud/dashboard/environmental/heat-islands/

The sensor network is operated by the Department of Geoinformatics, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, in collaboration with CityOne and CITIQ. The collected data help us better understand the urban heat island effect and provide valuable evidence for planning climate change adaptation measures.

☀️ How are you coping with this weekend’s heat? Have you noticed how temperatures change between the city centre, parks, and residential areas?

The sensor network is part of the EnCLOD Project

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Dean’s Awards! Thanks to our students, the department has once again achieved excellent results.

In the Bachelor’s section Earth Sciences, Michaela Krpcová won with her thesis “Design of a symbol key for the creation of tactile maps printed on microcapsule paper.”

Second place was awarded to Kristián Šarluška for his project “Interactive web application for teaching statistical methods in geoinformatics.”

The Master’s section was won by Tomáš Kröner with his thesis “Assessment of healthcare accessibility in cross-border regions of Europe.”

In the Doctoral section, Ondřej Biemann achieved second place with his work “Climatic anomalies predict overwintering losses of honeybee.”

The Poster section was won by Oke Bamidele Clement.

We thank all participants for their excellent representation of the department and wish them continued success! 👏

Map of the Year 2025 Winners Announced!

The results of the prestigious competition, organized by the Czech Cartographic Society, were announced at the Army Museum Žižkov.

We received awards in several categories:

Atlases, Map Series and Editions

Atlas of Czech Dialects – Locative Plural of Nouns (Institute of the Czech Language CAS, Palacký University Olomouc) (https://lnkd.in/drsHeMi5)

Student Cartographic Works

Flood Vulnerability in Punjab, Pakistan: A Geospatial Analysis and Cartographic Approach (Gernot Nikolaus) (https://lnkd.in/dKzJfve6)

Cartographic Achievement

Cartographers on the Move (Gabriela Godišková, Dajana Snopková, Markéta Beitlová, Michaela Vojtěchovská; Masaryk University, Charles University, Palacký University Olomouc) (https://lnkd.in/d5T2n7xY)

Additional achievements and nominations

Including the International Spring School on Visualization, a set of three interactive maps (Differential Sounds in Czech Dialects), evaluation of visualization tools, and the Map of Olomouc’s transformation over time. Many thanks to everyone involved! 🙌

Our department is involved in a new research project aimed at developing improved methods to tackle Varroosis in honey bee colonies. Together with colleagues from the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Science of Palacký University Olomouc and other institutions, we are working on an innovative solution that will replace the outdated monitoring system for this disease. 🔬

What role do spatial data play? 🗺️

Since 2014, the research team has been collecting data on bee colony losses, treatment methods, and nectar flow conditions. Our department will combine these datasets with temperature and other spatial data to analyse the development of the beekeeping season in detail. 📊

This integration will help create a modern and flexible system capable of proposing better management measures depending on seasonal conditions and the dynamics of Varroa destructor populations. 🌡️📈

🌍 Registration for EuroCarto 2026 is officially open!
📅 Join us 8–11 September 2026 in Brno, Czech Republic.
🗺️ Look forward to inspiring talks, workshops, and leading experts in cartography.
🤝 A perfect opportunity for networking in GIS and mapping.
👉 Register here: https://eurocarto2026.org