Doc. Mgr. Zdeněk OPRŠAL, Ph.D.

Contact information

Email address: zdenek.oprsal(at)upol.cz

Telephone: +420 585 634 984

Office: 2.011 (Faculty of Science building)

Office hours: Wednesday 1pm-3pm or by appointment / scheduled by e-mail

ORCID: 0000-0003-4716-2114

Courses taught

  • Global Environmental Geography  (taught in English)
  • Development Geography and Globalization  (taught in Czech)
  • International Development Cooperation  (taught in Czech)
  • Environmental geography  (taught in Czech)
  • Environment and Development (taught in Czech)
  • Introduction to Development Studies (co-lecturing, taught in Czech)

Education

2020 – Doc. / Associate Professor – University of Live Sciences Prague (Czech Republic)

2011 – Ph.D. – University of Ostrava, Ostrava (Czech Republic);  Environmental Geography 

2004 – Mgr. (equivalent to M.Sc.) – Palacký University, Olomouc (Czech Republic); Nature Conservation and Environmental Management

Professional Experience 

16+ years’ experience in research and teaching in the field of environmental and development studies 

Research Interests

  • Foreign aid, aid allocations, subnational aid, environmental aspects of foreign aid
  • Transition countries
  • Sustainable development 
  • Food systems and rural development

Publications

Harmáček, J., Opršal, Z., Vítová, P., 2022. Aid, Trade or Faith? Questioning Narratives and Territorial Pattern of Gulf Foreign Aid, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2022.2037958 (50 free online copies: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/5SR8AQVMFVRECICRAMZQ/full?target=10.1080/19448953.2022.2037958)

Opršal, Z., Harmáček, J., Vítová, P., Syrovátka, M., Jarecka‑Stępień, K., 2021. Polish and Czech foreign aid: a ‘mélange’ of geopolitical and developmental objectives. Journal of International Relations and Development, 24, 279–305. DOI: 10.1057/s41268-020-00192-x. 

Macková, L., Harmáček, J., Opršal, Z. 2019. Determinants of International Migration from Developing Countries to Czechia and Slovakia. Ekonomický časopis, vol. 67, no. 9, 931-952. 

Vítová, P., Harmáček, J., Opršal, Z. 2019. Determinants of tourism flows in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Island Studies Journal, vol. 14, no. 2, 3-22. DOI: 10.24043/isj.90.

Opršal, Z., Harmáček, J. 2019. Clean Aid or Dirty Aid? The Environmentalization of Czech Foreign Aid. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 224, 167-174. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.198. 

Opršal, Z., Harmáček, J. 2019. Is foreign aid responsive to environmental needs and performance of developing countries? Case study of the Czech Republic. Sustainability, 11 (2), 401, DOI: 10.3390/su11020401. 

Opršal, Z., Harmáček, J., Pavlík, P., Machar, I. 2018 What Factors can Influence the Expansion of Protected Areas around the World in the Context of International Environmental and Development Goals? Problemy Ekorozwoju, vol. 13, no.1, 145-157.

Opršal, Z., Harmáček, J. 2018. Geographic, environmental and socio-economic determinants of tourism inSmall Island Developing States (SIDS). Geografický časopis, vol. 70, no.2, 161-177 

Pechanec, V., Machar, I., Pohanka, T., Opršal, Z., Petrovič, F., Švajda, J., Šálek, L., Chobot, K., Filippovová, J., Cudlín, P., Málková, J. 2018 Effectiveness of Natura 2000 system for habitat types protection: A case study from the Czech Republic. Nature Conservation – Bulgaria, vol. 24, 21-41, DOI: 10.3897/natureconservation.24.21608.  

Opršal, Z., Harmáček, J., Syrovátka, M. 2017. Geography of Czech aid: Where and why Czechia promotes development? Geografie, vol. 122, no. 2, 169-189. 

Opršal, Z., Nováček, P. 2017. Development Studies and Development Geography in the System of Earth Sciences.  In: Svobodová, H. (ed.) Proceedings of 25th Central European Conference. Useful Geography: Transfer from Research to Practice. 12th-13th October 2017, Brno. Brno, Czech Republic: Masaryk University.

Harmáček, J., Syrovátka, M., Opršal Z. 2017. Analýza faktorů selekce a alokace české rozvojové pomoci s využitím panelových dat a metod Probit a Tobit = Factors of Czech Aid Selection and Allocation: Panel Probit and Tobit Analysis. Politická ekonomie,  vol. 65, no. 2, 179-197, DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1135. 

Opršal, Z., Harmáček, J., Syrovátka, M. 2016. The Allocation of Czech Foreign Aid in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Influence of Historical Relationships.  Int. J. Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, 9 (4), 325—343. 

Voleníková, L.,  Opršal, Z. 2016. The Role of Urban Agriculture in Household Wellbeing: Case Study of Community-Based Urban Agriculture in Ndola, Zambia. Development, Environment and Foresight, 2 (2), 80—90. 

Dytrtová, K., Šarapatka, B., Opršal, Z. 2016. Does Organic Farming Influence Landscape Composition? Two Cases from the Czech Republic. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, vol. 40, no. 7, 714-735, DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2016.1186131.  

Opršal Z., Kladivo, P., Machar, I. 2016. The role of selected biophysical factors in long-term land-use change of cultural landscape. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, vol.14, no.2, 23-40.

Opršal, Z., Šarapatka, B., Kladivo, P. 2013. Land-use Changes and their Relationship to Selected Landscape Parameters in three Cadastral Areas in the Moravia Region, Czech Republic. Moravian Geographical Reports, vol. 21, no. 1. 

Krylová, P., Syrovátka, M., Opršal, Z. 2012. Assessing the aid effectiveness of the Czech Republic: Commitment to Development Index and beyond. Perspectives on European Politics and Society 13 (1), s. 100–116.

Projects 

Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GACR): Geographies of development aid at subnational level in transition countries of Eastern and South-eastern Europe, Principal Investigator; 2022-2024

Jean Monnet Module: Impact of European Union Policies on Geosciences (EUGeo), 2021-2023

Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) in International Development Studies (GLODEP) – glodep.eu; 2017-2021; head of the study programme Global Development Policy (Joint Degree – Palacký University Olomouc, University of Clermont Auvergne, France, University of Pavia, Italy)

Membership

Czech Geographic Society (ČGS)

Central and East European International Studies Association (CEEISA)