Sladovna Písek brings the riverbank to the community

One ordinary October morning, a not-so-ordinary caravan appeared among the panel buildings of the Portyč housing estate in Písek. For three days, it occupied the space between the blocks and the Otava riverbank, inviting local residents and passers-by to pause and join unusual activities. Under the trees, neighbours met for coffee and conversation, stopped at the “water bar” to taste spring water and hear its stories, had unique portraits created from music and poetry, and even stepped into the mysterious caravan to travel forward in time to the year 2050.

This was the pilot project of the Mobile City Laboratory, which has begun traveling through Písek as part of the Re-Value project. Here, the Otava River is literally within sight. Instead of asking residents to come down to the water, the project brought a piece of the riverbank to them – and gently invited them to walk back with us, seeing their familiar surroundings with fresh eyes.

To understand the area more holistically, we went on a guided walk with local residents, our team, and an architect. We discussed how people perceive the relationship between the river and the housing estate, what they need, what development plans exist, and how the place might change to become pleasant to live in while also being better prepared for climate change.

Inspired by the Re-Value Your Waterfront campaign and its travelling SeaTowel – a recycled beach towel woven from marine plastic yarn and recycled cotton, symbolising circular innovation and environmental responsibility – we created an autumn “Otava embankment” on the grassy bank where Portyč almost touches the river. A handful of towels marked small islands where people could sit and talk. The weather was long past sunbathing season, so the towels became something to wrap up in and shelter from the wind.

In this setting, conversations flowed naturally. Memories based on historic maps and plans met ideas about the future of a place once closely linked to the river – helped by questions such as: Where will you find shade here in 2050? What could grow along this bank if we left more room for water and wild plants, and how would that affect life in Portyč? How can this place welcome both high water and a safe, friendly everyday life? In this way, nature-based solutions shifted from abstract concepts to concrete images in residents’ minds: trees, wilder meadows, or floodable “rooms” by the river.

We will return to Portyč in spring to continue exploring these questions. The beach towels will again become a meaningful part of the next mission of the Mobile City Laboratory and, together with the caravan, create an unconventional space for ideas to grow and be shared. This pilot project confirmed that rediscovering the riverbank can start with something as simple as a place where people can stay and sit together. A magical caravan, a few towels, and kind guides asking curious questions opened a safe space for imagining a cooler, greener, and more accessible Otava – and for residents to feel that the future waterfront belongs to them and that the Otava River is a living part of the city.

About Sladovna Písek

Sladovna Písek is the largest gallery for children and their adults in the Czech Republic, located in a historic building of a former malt house on the banks of the Otava River. As a partner city of the Re-Value project, Písek and its organizational unit SMART Písek, through Sladovna, work to involve children, families, and local communities in the co-creation of climate-neutral, sustainable, and high-quality urban waterfronts.