In the winter semester of the 2025/26 academic year, the first bilateral COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) cooperation took place between Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU) and Thomas More University within the HEROES Alliance. After several weeks of intensive online collaboration, the students met in person at MENDELU during the week of 17 November 2025. Over five days of joint work, team-based problem solving, and networking, they focused intensively on economic topics such as market research, financial analysis, and strategies for entering the Czech market as a foreign company. The COIL programme combines practical, real-world experience with the unique sharing of expert knowledge from industry professionals.
This initiative would not have been possible without the exceptional contribution of Prof. Ing. Lubor Lacina, Ph.D., holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Economic Studies, Director of the Mendel European Centre and the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at PEF, MENDELU, as well as the outstanding collaboration of our partners from Thomas More — Goedele Clybouw, Nadine Vanesh, and Eva Catteeuw — and the highly motivated students from both countries, whose enthusiasm and eagerness to learn were the driving force behind this program.
It was also a great honor to have Koenraad Van den Borne, the diplomatic representative of Flanders in Central and Eastern Europe, whose insights into diplomacy and international relations were invaluable. We also warmly thank KBC Global Services Centre in Brno for giving students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the world of international business.
The event was officially opened by Prof. Ing. Jiří Skládanka, Vice-Rector of MENDELU, and Ing. Ivona Marková, coordinator of HEROES MENDELU.
As part of the program, a lecture and discussion were also held with Libor Hoření. Libor Hoření is a startup consultant at JIC and an experienced entrepreneur who, at the age of 17, founded Toprecepty.cz, one of the most visited Czech cooking websites. After successfully selling the site, he focused on projects with both entrepreneurial and social impact, such as Dobrokáva, Nesnězeno, and the crowdfunding platform Donio.cz. He has long supported initiatives with a positive impact on the community, earning him recognition in 2018 as one of the most inspiring personalities in the Czech Republic.
As part of the COIL MENDELU program, he dedicated an entire afternoon to students, during which they discussed what it means to be an entrepreneur and the true purpose of entrepreneurship. At JIC, he shares his experience with aspiring entrepreneurs and students through mentoring and consultations.
The visit of Thomas More University students to PEF MENDELU concluded with an informal gathering and a European-themed pub quiz, organized by Europe Direct Brno and Eurocentrum Brno.
