📅 Tuesday, 25 November 2025
🕗 10:00 – 20:00
📍 Clubco, Vlněna 5, Brno | Vila Stiassni, Hroznová 14, Brno | Starobrno Brewery, Hlinky 160/12, Brno
On 25 November, we spent a full day in Brno celebrating and deepening Dutch-Czech cooperation across business, innovation, and culture.
The programme began at the beautiful premises of Clubco Vlněna, where we were inspired by Bert Hesselink’s presentation on how CTP Czech contributes to the development of Brno and the South-Moravian Region.
Special thanks go to Otto van Leuven from NTS for sharing his personal story, introducing the company, and offering an impressive reflection on how we can achieve more when we take inspiration from the Netherlands – and perhaps start by keeping our curtains open. 😊
We also appreciated insights from Lucie Meznikova of the City of Brno, who shared her experiences from the Netherlands and reaffirmed the city’s openness to innovation.
From Clubco, we continued to a reception at Vila Stiassni, marking an important milestone in Dutch-Czech relations: the establishment of the Honorary Consulate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Moravia, and the appointment of Pavel Iványi as Honorary Consul in Brno. Pavel – also President of the Netherlands-Czech Chamber of Commerce – will thus further contribute to strengthening our bilateral relations.
The last, but certainly not least, part of the programme was a behind-the-scenes tour of Starobrno, one of the region’s most iconic breweries. We were welcomed by Andrea Vogliazzo, CEO of HEINEKEN Česká republika. Thereafter, Klára Konupčíková, Brewery Director, and her colleagues provided fascinating insights into the brewing process as well as Heineken's sustainability strategy. And of course, we enjoyed tasting excellent local beer.
We concluded the day at Pivovarská, the Starobrno brewery restaurant, where conversations continued in a warm and inspiring atmosphere.
A huge thank you to our partners in Brno – CTP and HEINEKEN Česká republika – and special thanks to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Czechia for making this happen and for their lasting support.
And most importantly, thank you to all participants for joining us, sharing your perspectives, and helping make this day so inspiring.
