Administrative leaders of Central European cities meet in Prague

From 2 to 3 December, the Chief Executive Directors of Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague and Vienna gathered in the Czech capital to discuss strategies for current flood protection measures and share their experiences in managing crises. As part of this year's meeting, the Chief Executive Director of the Vienna City Administration visited the exhibition of best practice models in urban planning from Vienna that is on display at Prague City Hall.

The new Chief Executive Director of Prague, Tomáš Havel, welcomed the delegations from the five participating cities to the Prague Botanical Garden in Prague-Trója. The visitors also went to see a current tourist highlight, the new Crystal Garden outdoor exhibition, and were given a tour of the historic shafts and filtration facilities dating back to 1906 at the historical sewage treatment plant of Prague-Bubenec, which is slated for protection by the UNESCO.

Inspiration from Vienna and flood protection

Dietmar Griebler, Chief Executive Director of the Vienna City Administration, took the opportunity of his brief stay in the Czech capital to visit an exhibition showcasing examples of best practice in urban planning from Vienna. The exhibition held at Prague City Hall was conceived by the Prague team of the International Offices of the City of Vienna.

At the official opening, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda welcomed the Chief Executive Directors and emphasised the challenges facing all cities. All participants agreed that continuous knowledge exchange is central to finding joint solutions that benefit citizens. Consequently, experts from the five cities presented their strategies to manage current challenges in flood protection - from ongoing protection measures and updated crisis plans to specific hazard scenarios. This was followed by intensive expert debates.

Importance of annual exchange between five cities

In the afternoon, the participants provided an outlook on the meeting of Chief Executive Directors from EU capitals in Nicosia to be held in 2026, once again emphasising the importance of the compact working format provided by an annual five-city meeting. The next meeting of the series is planned for 2026 in Budapest.