World Monuments Fund

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1965 that is dedicated to the preservation of sites that hold unequivocal cultural importance; “The stories sites tell are universal. The dangers they face are immense”.

For more than half a century the WMF have paved the way in conserving sites of special cultural interest which are irreplaceable to the communities that value them. The organisation identifies architecturally important sites from all periods of human civilization, as well as unique cultural customs and traditional crafts.

We live in a world where cultural treasures are facing immense pressure due to the fiat of ongoing natural and human ensued processes such as earthquakes, landslides, floods as well as issues such as conflict and lack of care. The WMF will act accordingly to such pressures and protect sites from further degradation with a plan of recovery.

The protection of cultural heritage has been the primary motivation for the WMF and together with its local partners they can provide financial and technical support for areas that need it most (to ensure sustainability). Since the beginning of its existence, WMF has managed to support more than 600 projects in 90 countries. Today, together with affiliated organizations based in England, India, Peru, Portugal and Spain, the WMF sponsors projects for the preservation of cultural heritage around the world.

Furthermore, the WMF works right in the heart of the communities who are the true guardians of such cultural treasures. They are provided with the infrastructural means to counteract degradation through local and participatory projects; sustaining such sites will bring enjoyment and appreciation for future generations. WMF teams are composed of international specialists who lead pilot projects, organize training programs, and plan a long-term management strategy for the projects.

The Worlds Monument Watch is the pilot project founded by the Worlds Monument Fund, which aims to identify sites of interest. Every two years, a list of monuments is published of that are under threat because of their isolation and widespread social disregard for cultural value. Organisations around the world have the opportunity to nominate projects that deserve attention. Czech National Trust signed projects last year: Beniess Villa in Litol and Cibulka Mansion in Košíře. We did not get our picks this year, but the CNT plans to draw attention to the WMF sites in the Czech Republic in the coming years as well.

CNT enters a partnership with Prague College (PCU)

Prague College now Prague City University (PCU), one of the top private higher education institutions in the Czech Republic, has entered a partnership with the Czech National Trust (CNT).

The partnership should bring multiple exciting opportunities and benefits to both parties involved. It will start with a team of PCU School of Art & Design students reviewing the entire CNT branding strategy and the current position of the Czech National Trust on the local market, and continue with these students devising and presenting their suggestions for upgrading the CNT marketing policy, materials and the website while making the website more user-friendly at the same time.

The Czech National Trust will be joining the PCU Industry Network in return. This will provide PCU students with the opportunity to intern at the CNT outside of term time, and will enable the two institutions to further cooperate on other marketing and educational activities.

„Entering this partnership has always felt very natural to us, mainly because both Prague College and the Czech National Trust are Czech institutions with very strong connections to the United Kingdom. Prague College is the only higher education institution in the Czech Republic offering courses taught in English which holds accreditation from a British university (Teesside), while the Czech National Trust has been founded with the very same mission and vision as the British National Trust. We always find it very beneficial when we can provide our students with real work opportunities, and we are sure that our Art&Design students as well as our Communications students will be very excited and interested in this work opportunity.“ – Douglas Hajek, Prague College Founder and Director

„We are absolutely thrilled about this partnership. Not only it will give us the opportunity to benefit from the extensive knowledge and expert skills of Prague College students, but it will also give us the opportunity to show the younger generations the importance of supporting one’s cultural heritage in both practical and educational ways.” – Dr. Irena Edwards, CNT Founder and Chairman

*)In 2021 Prague College merged with Akcent College to become Prague City University (PCU) and as a result its programmes have Czech and British accreditation.

Festive Evening Reception at the Residence of Austrian Ambassador to the Czech Republic

We had the wonderful opportunity to present the Czech National Trust, our mission, activities and projects as part of a festive evening reception which took place on May 17, 2017, at the Residence of the Austrian Ambassador to the Czech Republic in Prague. The event was opened and hosted by Alexander Grubmayr, Austrian Abassador to the Czech Republic.

As many as 80 guests have attended the evening reception, which was also a fund-raising event. The guests have made donations and pledges amounting to the total of 400 000 CZK which will be used for our pilot project in Zdislavice, for creation of a nature trail and for our Prague projects.

Among the reception guests were Jan Thompson, British Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Catherine Leonard, Secretary General of the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO), and almost all our main donors and supporters: Eduard Kučera (Avast), Magdalena Součková (Ernst&Young), Milan Šimonovský (Sigma), Eliška Kaplický (Chair of the Prague Culture and Monument Care Department), and many other CNT volunteers and friends.

New Project: Little Gems in the Streets of Prague

A new group of CNT volunteers, whose main aim is the conservation of cultural heritage in the capital city of the Czech Republic, has been founded in Prague.

Its members are planning a wide range of activities. One of these is a series of projects aiming to repair and restore small architecture features in the streets, to replace statues which have been removed or lost and to restore certain parts of Prague streetscape. The curator of this series of projects is Zdeněk Lukeš, Czech architect and art historian.

 

Chinese Pavilion Rescue

The Czech National Trust has made a contribution of 122 000 CZK to the rescue of the Chinese Pavilion, a construction built in the Romanticist architectural style in the 19th century, situated in a UNESCO site called Kroměříž Castle Garden. The sum is the proceeds from a public fund-raising campaign so far which the Czech National Trust organised in cooperation with the National Heritage Institute. Donations can be made via bank transfer to the transparent account with the ČSOB bank – the account number is 270472892 / 0300. The fund-raising campaign is still up and running, as the target amount to be raised is 700 000 CZK.

Thanks to the efforts of the Czech National Trust and other donors, the Chinese Pavilion will be safe this winter. The first phase of the rescue project has just finished and it consisted of two parts: a reparation of the island banks and a basic reconstruction of the wooden and metal structures. The total cost of the first phase of the rescue project was more than 250 000 CZK. We are immensely proud that the proceeds from our fund-raising campaign have covered almost half of this cost and we would like to use this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to all our donors!

CNT Representatives attend a St. Johanns Club Event in Vienna

CNT representatives had the unique opportunity to present the organisation, its mission and its pilot project at an event at the St. Johanns Club in Vienna. The event was organised in cooperation with Czech Tourism and was attended by Irena Edwards, Martin Krčma, Richard Podstatzký and multiple renowned members of the Austrian art scene. The event was opened by Jan Sechter, Czech Ambassador to Austria.

Czech National Trust has officially launched!

We are pleased to announce that the Czech National Trust has officially launched on June 18, 2014. The launch event was a festive evening reception at the Reform Club in London, United Kingdom. Among the reception guests were His Excellency Michael Žantovský, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,  Zdeněk Novák, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, and representatives of the British Parliament as well as representatives of multiple heritage conservation organisations, including Sir Simon Jenkins, CEO of the British National Trust.

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, His Excellency Emil Brix, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Helen Ghosh, Director General of the British National Trust, Simon Molesworth, President of the International National Trusts Organisation, and many others have all expressed their support for our organisation in writing.

CNT builds upon the tradition and principles of The National Trust, Britain’s largest NGO, whose main goal is to preserve, protect and maintain the British cultural and natural heritage.

As part of her speech Dr. Irena Edwards, founder and chairman of the Czech National Trust, has said “Our biggest challenge lies in raising the Czech public awareness of the natural and cultural heritage in the Czech Republic, and also of the historical monuments which are often neglected despite being situated right in one’s area of residence. We would also like to help re-establish the sense of national pride among Czech people in relation to what their ancestors have built and created in the past, and to help conserve and protect this precious heritage for generations to come.” Dr. Edwards has also emphasized the international significance of Czech historical monuments and the CNT goal to help acquire the funds necessary for their restoration and protection, both locally in the Czech Republic and abroad.

CNT Director Eva Žallmannová has presented the pilot CNT project as part of the event, which is the reconstruction of the Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach tomb and chapel in Zdislavice, a small town in the Zlín region. The Czech National Trust is planning to restore this extraordinary site and to open it to the public in 2016 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of one of the most remarkable figures of 19th century European literature, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, whose Czech origin and international significance represent the common cultural heritage of the Central European nations.

A collection was also part of the evening reception. The total of £ 22,000 (770,000 CZK) has been raised and will be used for the implementation of the pilot CNT project.

Photos from the event can be viewed here: http://jollythompson.dphoto.com/#/album/83708t

The Czech National Trust  promotes and supports the conservation, protection and maintenance of cultural heritage in the Czech Republic; a cultural heritage of international importance. It aims to inspire, foster and promote the development of an effective voluntary and donor culture in the Czech Republic.

 

Czech National Trust, o.p.s.

Mlýnská brána

Sněmovní náměstí 2

767 01 Kroměříž

+420 603 417 946

info@czechnationaltrust.org

www.czechnationaltrust.org

CNT welcomes a new Social Media Consultant, Taťána le Moigne

CNT welcomes a new Social Media Consultant, Taťána le Moigne. Taťána holds a Master‘s degree in Business Management and Software Development from the University of Economics, Prague. She worked for multinational companies, such as Digital Equipment Corporation (today’s Hewlett-Packard) and Microsoft. She has been the Country Director for Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary since 2006 and has recently become a CNT Social Media Consultant, which has been a great honor for the entire CNT team. Thank you!

CNT Chairman Irena Edwards attends the Templeton Prize Ceremony

Tomáš Halík, a Czech Roman Catholic priest and philosopher, has collected the prestigious Templeton Prize on May 14, 2014 in London, United Kingdom. The Templeton Prize honours individuals whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton’s philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.

The John Templeton Foundation has highlighted the fact that Tomáš Halík risked imprisonment for illegally advancing religious and cultural freedoms after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and that he has become a leading international advocate for dialogue among different faiths and non-believers.

Tomáš Halík has collected the Prize, valued at £1.1 million, at St Martin-in-the-Fields which is located in the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square. He intends to donate the sum mainly to initiatives focusing on the dialogue among different faiths and non-believers. According to Lidové noviny, a Czech newspaper, Mr. Halík will put the money into his newly created foundation.

Tomáš Halík talked not only about the general questions of faith and the importance of an interfaith dialogue, but he also commented on the current social and political issues as part of his speech at the ceremony.