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Volunteering in Prague

What are my options? How can I get involved?

In this chapter, you will learn about volunteering and how you can get actively involved in the community in Prague. The text presents different types of volunteering opportunities, from non-profit organisations and corporate volunteering to public institutions, schools and hospitals. You’ll find tips on where to look for volunteer positions and inspiration on how to get involved in your district. We also provide information about opportunities to participate in city planning, get involved in neighbourhood activities and tips on where to improve your Czech language skills.

What is volunteering?

Volunteering means giving your time and energy for the benefit of others, or the community, without financial reward. It is about leaving a mark, whether through formal organisations or informal community activities.

Volunteering is very important for civic participation – both formal, within non-profit organisations, and informal. “A volunteer is a person who, of his own free will and in his free time, helps people around him and engages in publicly beneficial activities without remuneration” (dobrovolnik.cz).

Since 2003, the Czech Republic has had the Voluntary service Act (Act No. 86/2014 Coll.), which sets the rules for organised volunteering. There are many ways to volunteer – from non-profit organisations to corporate volunteering or other institutions. Let’s take a closer look at the areas:

Types of Volunteering Opportunities

Non-profit Organisations

Many organisations offer a variety of volunteer roles such as tutoring, mentoring or supporting community events. For example, META’s publication entitled The Seven Brave Ones (in Czech) presents personal stories of volunteers with migration backgrounds and their contribution to the society. If you want to get involved, just contact organisations that match your interests and find out about open positions. Examples of organisations: Sue Ryder, Greenpeace, We are the Limits and others.

Find out more about non-profit organisations in the section Involvement in non-profit organisations.

Corporate Volunteering

Corporate volunteering enables employees to support charitable organisations while strengthening corporate social responsibility. For example:

Vodafone offers employees up to two paid volunteering days per year, financial grants for NGOs and runs a dedicated Volunteer Fund (for more information click here).

Other opportunities are offered by the platform Let’s Get Involved.

Public and Cultural Institutions

Institutions, such as the National Museum or Studio Hrdinů, rely on volunteers for show preparation, actor support or administrative tasks.

Schools, Hospitals and Libraries

Volunteers can support students in tutoring programmes, organise leisure activities for hospital patients or help with community projects in libraries. For example, the Municipal Library in Prague cooperates with the New School NGO on the Together in the Library project, which involves tutoring children in libraries (for more information click here).

For further support in finding volunteering opportunities, you can also contact the organisation MigAct, which offers individual mentoring and consultation.

How to Become a Volunteer

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Where to Find Volunteering Opportunities

Prague has a wide range of platforms that connect volunteers with suitable opportunities:

Involvement in Non-profit Organisations

Civil society organisations (also non-profit, charitable organisations) play an important role in participation processes and offer a range of opportunities for involvement. They can be viewed as schools of democracy which socialise citizens into civil society and offer the opportunity to train and develop civic competences. 

Thousands of these organizations are active in Prague, including various associations, foundations and religious institutions. They cover a wide range of topics and activities. In terms of their focus, we can distinguish two main types:

  • Service organisations that focus on areas such as sport, recreation, community development, social and health care, education or humanitarian aid.
  • Advocacy organisations that work to protect and promote important social issues, such as the environment, human rights and civil liberties. Their aim is to influence public opinion, policies and laws to bring about positive change in society.

How can you get involved?

Prague residents have many opportunities to get involved in these organisations. For example:

  • Volunteering (read the section Volunteering in Prague);
  • Setting up a non-profit organisation (e.g. an association);
  • Membership of Board of Directors or supervisory boards;
  • Active membership of associations;
  • Support and donations.

Useful resources and links:

How to establish an association? You can find a practical guide on the website of Frank Bold (in Czech).

Do you want to support non-profit organisations in Prague? Visit the donor portal Darujme.cz where you’ll find a number of inspiring projects.

More information about civil society organisations in the Czech Republic:

Tips and recommendations for working with a civil society organisation

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Public Involvement in City Planning

Public involvement in city planning can be initiated by a public authority. In such case, it is the so-called involvement of citizens in decision-making initiated from above. Participation takes place using various participatory methods such as:

  • Open days;
  • Questionnaire surveys;
  • Future Forums;
  • Community walks and bike rides;
  • Round tables;
  • On-line Platforms;
  • Working groups;
  • Neighbourhood meetings and more.

The main objective of these activities is to enable the public to participate in decision-making on the development of a particular area or city, strategic planning or social service planning.

There is also the possibility of public participation in the Prague City Assembly or in the councils of the individual municipal districts, in the Municipal Commissions or in the Committees of the Council for various areas related to the functioning of the municipality/region. You can find out more here.

The capital city of Prague has a rather complex administrative division, divided into 22 administrative districts, 57 municipal districts and 112 cadastral areas. Each municipal district is responsible for the participation processes in its territory because it is a self-governing unit.

In order to explore the city, you can use the Atlas of Prague offering an interactive map of the city.

In the territory of the City of Prague, there are quite many examples of participatory processes initiated from above. We’ve listed only some of them. 

All of Prague

Individual districts

Another tool for involving citizens in planning is the participatory budget. This concept allows funding proposals from local residents aiming at the development of their municipality or municipal district.

How does the process work?

  • Residents meet in public, thematic or local discussions to share their ideas.
  • Together they discuss what needs to be changed and make specific proposals to be submitted to the city hall for consideration.
  • Once the feasibility of the proposals has been evaluated, residents vote to decide which projects will be implemented.

In order to find out if participatory budget is also implemented in your municipal district, check out the corresponding website of your local City Hall.

Grassroot participation

However, participation doesn’t have to be initiated by public authorities alone – residents themselves can also be active. This approach is referred to as participation from below or grassroot participation. It is a less formalised form of participation, based on the initiative of informal civic groups or local associations.

In every municipal district, you can find a number of neighbourhood groups, community associations or informal initiatives working on different topics.

I want to get involved, where do I start?

Becoming an active member of the community or neighbourhood in which we live can seem difficult at first, especially if we don’t know anyone or if we have no previous experience in civic life. But don’t be discouraged. There is always a way to access the relevant information and to create new contacts. Language can also be a limiting factor, but there are usually people willing to speak other languages– or it’s just a matter of time before you learn to speak Czech. If you’ve already decided to try and get involved, here are some tips to help get you started. 

Get to know the place where you live. Take a longer walk and think about the following:

  • What are some of the amenities in the area (e.g. library, community centre, community garden)?
  • Who are your neighbours?
  • How do you feel about the city? Would you like to change anything?
  • Does the local authority offer any interesting activities?

Collect information:

  • Check out the flyers, posters or the newsletter of the municipal district.
  • Explore the possibilities on-line – social networks are full of groups focused on different community events.
  • Connect with others. Find active residents in your area who are already organising activities and join them. Don’t be afraid to ask about options for getting involved.
The society we live in corresponds to the way we behave. The more we get interested in what is happening around us, the more we cooperate and share our opinions, the more we will feel at home. The city we live in is the city we make for ourselves.

Language Skills

Some organisations in Prague welcome supporters and volunteers who speak English, other positions may require knowledge of Czech. In order to improve your language skills:

  • Sign up for free Czech courses.
  • Make use of on-line learning platforms.
  • Practise your conversation at community meetings, for example in InBáze or BlaBla Language.

Other options for learning Czech: