DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-082-5-0209

Regional Disparities and the Perception of Sustainability in the Czech Republic

Ladislava Míková¹, Václav Friedrich ORCID...¹, Pavlína Forstová Kuráňová ORCID...¹

¹ Faculty of Economics, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 2172/15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

The concept of sustainable development, formulated in the 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment and Development chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, is today widely accepted and provides a fundamental framework for environmental, economic, and social policies at both national and regional levels. Nevertheless, sustainability cannot be understood as a universally perceived concept, since its three pillars may be emphasised differently depending on the specific conditions of each region. This study focuses on the Czech Republic at the NUTS 3 level. It examines the extent to which regional disparities – in economic performance, social cohesion, and environmental quality – influence how sustainability is perceived by the population. The research is based on a questionnaire survey conducted among residents of individual regions, complemented by an analysis of statistical data from the Czech Statistical Office. The results indicate that different regions tend to prioritise different pillars of sustainability, with these variations reflecting local socioeconomic and environmental contexts. Such findings suggest that perceptions of sustainability are not homogeneous but shaped by region-specific conditions. The discussion also addresses the Parthenon, where pillars stand independently side by side, and the Venn diagram, which highlights their interconnectedness and mutual interdependence. The study concludes that effective sustainability policy must be sensitive to regional contexts and to the chosen interpretative framework.

Keywords: Sustainable Development, Regional Disparities, Perception of Sustainability, Regional Context, Sustainability Models

pages: 209-215, online: 2026