FAST BUT Graduate Wins the Žít krajinou 2025 Competition

Klára Kasalová, a graduate of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology (FAST BUT), has won first place in the prestigious Žít krajinou 2025 competition. She received the award in the Student Achievement category for her diploma thesis titled Design of Protective Adaptation Measures with a Focus on Variant Strip Cropping Systems. Her success follows last year’s victory by another FAST graduate, Markéta Blatecká, further confirming the faculty’s expertise in this field.

The ceremonial announcement of the winners of the 18th annual Žít krajinou competition, organized every year by the State Land Office, took place at the beginning of November in the premises of the Wallenstein Palace, the seat of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The awards were presented by Jiří Vosecký, Chair of the Senate’s Standing Commission for Rural Development, Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný, and Svatava Maradová, Director General of the State Land Office.

The goal of the awarded diploma thesis, supervised by Veronika Sobotková at the Institute of Landscape Water Management, was to propose protective adaptation measures focused on strip cropping as one of the key tools for soil erosion control and water retention in the landscape. Klára Kasalová carried out a comprehensive assessment of a selected area in the South Moravian Region, where a strip cropping system is already partially implemented. Using model simulations, she evaluated erosion and runoff conditions and developed 13 alternative designs combining various crops, buffer strips, and linear measures. Each variant was subsequently analysed and compared to determine the optimal solution in terms of erosion reduction, water retention, and practical feasibility.

The research demonstrated that the proposed variants significantly reduce both erosion and runoff, contributing to improved soil quality and better water management in the landscape. The diploma thesis thus shows that student projects can have a real impact on practice and can provide concrete proposals useful for land consolidation processes.

The success of Klára Kasalová follows last year’s first-place achievement by graduate Markéta Blatecká, whose diploma thesis also won the Student Achievement category. The Faculty of Civil Engineering continues to affirm its long-term expertise in water management, landscape engineering, and soil protection.