Reflections from the State Visit: Creative Heroes Strategic Session

On June 5th, during the Business Forum in Dolní Břežany, the Netherlands-Czech Chamber of Commerce hosted a Strategic Session titled Creative Heroes Czech Republic -a focused meeting to explore how creativity and business can join forces to address pressing societal and environmental challenges.

Despite a 20-minute delay due to changes in the earlier program, the session - moderated by Alena Huberová - was very impactful. It brought together award-winning Creative Heroes and corporate leaders of companies such as NN, Randstad, Heineken, Philips, ING  and Albert.

After corporate perspectives from Rukmini Boelens (NN) and Martin Jansky (Randstad), who shared how their organizations are embedding purpose-driven projects into their ESG strategies, the session featured six Creative Heroes, each presenting their initiatives:

• Jana Merunková – founder of yourchance, empowering youth—especially those often overlooked—through financial education, coaching, and entrepreneurship training.
• Martin Kozel – co-founder of Teach Live | Učitel naživo, transforming Czech education by equipping teachers and principals with skills rooted in trust, relationships, and personalized learning.
• Jitka Andrlíková – leader of Forum for Experiential Education | Fórum pro prožitkové vzdělávání, using theater-based methods to prevent social risks and improve financial literacy among youth.
• Cyril Klepek – founder of CYRKL, a digital waste platform that helps companies close material loops, save resources, and reduce CO₂ emissions.
• František Mach – head of the CIMRA research group at the University of West Bohemia, working on miniature robots and smart technologies for sustainability, including plastic waste separation.
• Stanislava Bezdíček Králová – researcher at Masaryk University, investigating antimicrobial compounds from Antarctic bacteria as a response to the global antibiotic crisis.

Each presenter had just a few minutes to share their vision and challenges, but the presentations made a lasting impression. Participants showed strong interest in how creative heroes and corporates might collaborate—through mentoring, funding, or strategic partnerships.

We’d love to do this again.
During this session we learned how valuable this type of dialogue is: Creativity and business are not separate domains—they’re complementary forces, especially when aiming for long-term, meaningful impact.

Sessions like these are a perfect fit with the mission of the Creative Heroes Awards, helping turn inspiration into action, and connecting ideas with the people and resources that can help them grow. Later this year, we aim to do this again, hopefully with even more creative heroes, companies and with you!