Under the Lens: Community Building with Petra Pivovarová

Four ways CTP fosters meaningful connections and supports people at our parks 

 Building communities, not just structures, is becoming increasingly vital—not only for enhancing productivity but also for fostering social and environmental well-being. For both our clients and us to be successful, it’s crucial that we integrate into the regions where we operate, becoming part of a healthy, connected ecosystem. Moreover, we recognise that it’s increasingly important for our clients to cultivate positive community cultures and workplaces to attract and retain talent.

Petra Pivovarová arová, our Head of Community Management with CTP Czech knows all about this. She has worked with the bottom-up community-building process at CTP for nearly 20 years. While she stresses that each region and its community-building process is unique, there are four key thematic pillars. Building communities, not just structures, is becoming increasingly vital—not only for enhancing productivity but also for fostering social and environmental well-being. For both our clients and us to be successful, it’s crucial that we integrate into the regions where we operate, becoming part of a healthy, connected ecosystem. Moreover, we recognize that it’s increasingly important for our clients to cultivate positive community cultures and workplaces to attract and retain talent.

1. Creating “Third Places”

Providing space, beyond just workspace, is a key start. While our parks are primarily composed of space which our clients rent for their businesses’s activities, CTP goes a step further and provides shared common spaces, also known as “third places”, for our clients, their employees, and the local community.

“Third places is a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg and refers to places where people spend time between home (‘first’ place) and work (‘second’ place). They are locations where we exchange ideas, have a good time, and build relationships.” – Brookings Institute

This buzzword is reemerging as its importance to a healthy civil society is being recognised by a wide spectrum of professionals – from policymakers to psychologists. At CTP, we see how investing in third places improves employee attraction and retention, provides space for social and educative events, and enables networking opportunities for business and employee growth.

Examples:

-Clubhauses (our signature community hub that provides spaces for dining, leisure, meetings, education and well-being) which we currently have at CTPark Bor, CTPark Bucharest West, CTPark Budapest West, CTPark Sofia, and CTPark Ostrava with plans for more like at CTPark Warsaw West and CTPark Prague North to name a few.

-Outdoor gyms and sports facilities to support mental and physical well-being, and for hosting fun sporting events

-Outdoor hangout spaces with attractive landscaping to improve mental well-being, host social events, and simply relax with colleagues when the weather is nice

2. Facilitating Events

Our team, often in collaboration with partners like clients, local schools, and municipal bodies, hosts a variety of events at our parks that support a wide range of causes, including social, educational, and charitable initiatives.

Examples:

-Educational classes which are free for park employees on topics like first aid, language learning, financial literacy basics of ESG reporting, and using AI

-Meetings among our clients’ HR teams to collaborate on hiring, and also among CEOs to exchange experiences and interesting ideas

-Special summertime events (all free to anyone) like yoga classes on our park lawns in Brno and Ostrava or outdoor film screenings and dance classes taught by local professionals at our urban park Vlněna

-Annual sports days for our clients employees and their families at our major parks like CTPark Bor, CTPark Brno, CTPark Plzen and CTPark Bucharest West, in addition to regular jogging sessions with professional trainers at CTPark Ostrava

-Charitable events like fundraisers for local charities and blood drives

-Social events like networking brunches every Friday at CTPark Bucharest West and seasonal festive activities such as Easter egg painting, and summer cinemas to name a few

Petra highlights that thanks to such events, people who once perceived each other as business competitors, were able to see one another as peers and even forge partnerships, shared learnings, and best practices.

3. Connecting Regional Stakeholders 

Making connections within local regions is a key building block of an effective and resilient community. CTP strives to work as a networking facilitator, especially for our clients who are new to the regions where we operate. We connect local stakeholders such as:

-local authorities

-universities and tech schools – particularly career centres

-our existing clients and other local businesses

-chambers of commerce

-investment and innovation agencies

-recruitment agencies

-charities and NGOs, etc.

4. Providing Support & Amenities

Lastly, for a community to blossom, people need to be secure, supported, and informed about the right services and amenities. That way, they can thrive and help the community at large thrive.

To help foster this, CTP has designated property and community managers across all our parks and we strive to provide awareness and transparency so our clients and local stakeholders know they can reach out to us if they have questions, concerns, or ideas.

Besides just park and community managers, our parks can provide a unique assortment of services depending on the park and the surrounding area. This can be amenities such as medical points, childcare, cafeterias, cafes, fitness centres, bike paths, shared bikes, and public transport connections.

So, you understand that when we talk about park management at CTP, it’s about much more than just taking care of buildings and landscaping.

By working with these four pillars across our network, we help our clients not just overcome their pain points, such as finding employees and connecting with the right local partners, but we help them thrive along with other local stakeholders through boosting shared learning, social wellbeing and synergetic collaborations through the power of community building.

And that’s a real win-win we love.

Read more from CTP's Under the Lens series:

• Under the Lens: Five Ideas From EXPO REAL 2024 from five different perspectives

• Under the Lens: Construction Innovations with Piotr Flugel, Managing Director CTP Poland

• Under the Lens: Energy Utilisation Optimisation with Peter Janko, Head of Property Management CTP Slovakia

• Under the Lens: Leasing Vs. Owning with Ivan Pastier, Head of Business Development CTP Slovakia

• Under the Lens: Brownfields with Alex Hund, Managing Director CTP Germany