The ECUMENICAL ACADEMY PRAGUE is an independent association which is committed to organising seminars, conferences and workshops of issues in the field of culture, politics, church and society, social justice, sustainable development, North-South gap etc. The Academy provides a place for discussion of these important issues among churches, and brings together Christians and those of various opinions and beliefs from all generations.
The Academy is active in networking with partner institutions in the country, in the region of Central an Eastern Europe and in whole Europe. In some cases takes it part in campaigning and lobbying and it also undertakes research activities.

The Academy started its Work in 1995. Now its members are institutional churches (The Czechoslovak Hussite Church; The Orthodox Church; The Silesian Lutheran Church; The Old Catholic Church, Christian Community in Prague) as well the Protestant Academy Meissen, The Ecumenical Information Centre Dresden (both Germany), and individual members from different backgrounds and nationalities.

The Academy is a member of the ECUMENICAL ASSOCIATION OF ACADEMIES AND LAY CENTRES IN EUROPE, a founding member of NGDO´s CZECH FORUM FOR DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION (FoRS) The Academy co-operates closely with European networks: WORK AND ECONOMY NETWORK IN EUROPEAN CHURCHES (WEN) AND EUROPEAN CONTACT GROUP (ECG ; a founding member of ECG Czech) and on some important programmes with the CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN CHURCHES and with the WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES.
There are dozens of other partners including churches, church related organisations, NGO´s nationally and internationally.

In recent years, the Academy has organised about 40 different events annually - some of them quite large. It works mainly in Prague, but some programmes are organised in other places in the Czech Republic or even abroad. Most of them involve co-operation with some partners. In many cases the Academy does pioneering work with its partners, bringing new issues into public discussion and initiating new activities in the country or in the region (e.g. Jubilee campaign, combating the trafficking of women…).

The usual annual budget is between 50 - 100 thousand EUR. The income comes recently mainly from grants of European Union and income from own activities.

The Staff of Academy: 4 persons + short-term contracts and volunteers.

During its existence the Academy has gained a good deal of expertise in some programme fields and especially very wide scale of national and international contacts with partners in churches and civil society. There is a growing interest in the work of the Academy on the side of public and different institutions and authorities. All this together encompasses a development potential that is, for this kind of work, rather unique in the CEE countries.

Jiří Silný, Director