About Us (Otevřená Společnost)

Who we are

A non-profit organization, the Open Society, public benefit company, aims to help strengthen the civil society in the Czech Republic by establishing principles and promoting policies that are based on and respect the culture of law, the rule of law, democratic state administration and the protection of human rights.

The Open Society, p.b.c. implements new approaches, and as a program laboratory it helps launch new initiatives drawing upon good practice. The Open Society serves as a source of information, analyses, expertise, and provides a knowledge-base in all of the areas it works for:

• people's public participation
• police service reform
• cultural policy
• social inclusion
• equal opportunities for women and men
• social economy

History

The Open Society, p.b.c. was founded by the

Open Society Fund Praha. The OSF Prague decided in 1999 to spin off several programs and to assist them in the process of self-sustainability development.

The first programs implemented by the Open Society, p.b.c. were two educational programs called Poryv and Začít spolu (Step by Step). Both programs became independent, establishing their own organizations that are still involved in issues related to the education reform in the Czech Republic.

In 1999-2000, the Open Society used its Internet program to help other non-profit organizations benefit from its technology and expertise (training room and graphical studio, low-threshold training in computers and computer communication technologies, specialised workshops and seminars) so that they could enhance their skills of communication technologies. In addition, an internet café was opened so that the general public could benefit from the knowledge base.

Non-profit organizations were assisted by Open Society, p.b.c. by a program called Enhancing the Skills of Non-Profit Organizations that in 2002-2003 held seminars and launched its internet portal at www.studujte.cz thus giving non-profit organizations excellent knowledge-base and expertise.