Annual Report 2000

 

I. General

1)  Board of Directors

The National Council Act no. 248-1995 Sb. limits the term in office of Board members to a three years. The Act also regulates that after the first year of existence, one-third of the board has to resign in the second year another one-third. For this reason, Dr. Jan Pokorny resigned from the Board. He was re-appointed for a second term in office.

2)  Changes in Statutes and name

The Statutes and Certificate of Incorporation of the Society were changed to include formulations showing the Society to be a "non-US equivalent" of a US tax-exempt charity. This is a requirement to be eligible for funding from US sponsors. The main changes include a more explicit formulation of duties and restrictions that, according the Czech law, are already inherent to this type of legal entities. The legal Czech name of the Society was changed from "Rozmberk, o.p.s." to "Spolecnost Rozmberk, o.p.s."; making the English version "Rozmberk Society" an exact translation of the Czech name. The Board and Founders agreed with the changes in the board meeting of 25 August 2000. The new Certificate of Incorporation came into effect on 23 October 2000.

3)  Employment and staff members

In the year 2000, the Society did not employ personnel. Most activities, including those conducted by the director, were done so on a voluntary basis. Some activities were done through free-lance contract work.

II. Activities in 2000

The year 2000 was mainly used as a period to consolidate and enlarge local and regional support for the activities of the Society and to continue with the development of projects started in this and the previous years.

1)  Fund raising

Initially, our fund raising activities were not very successful. Likely reasons are the absence of a demonstrable track record, the short existence of the Society, and the lack of active, direct contacts with granting agencies. To counter this, the Society invested in presenting its activities more actively on international congresses and in establishing direct, personal contacts with specially EU and US granting agencies. Two fund-raising trips were made to the USA. This helped the Society to obtain a significant 3-year grant from the US Rockefeller Brother Fund. This grant will secure the survival of the Society for the next three years, enabling us in particular to further develop the Kojakovice project, help realize a sustainable regional economic development, and help strengthen the very weak non-profit sector in this part of South Bohemia. The first installment was received in December 2000.

2)  Project for the Kojakovice Peasant Museum and Information Center (hereafter "Center").

This project has made a substantial progress in the year 2000. A preliminary feasibility study on the impact of the Center by the Jilovice Municipality and the Rozmberk Society, was completed in January 2000. It indicated that the Center could be a significant factor in the municipal and regional economic re-development and help improve quality of life in the municipality.

In a democratic participation process involving locals and town council, the Jilovice Municipality agreed to rent the former school in Kojakovice to the Society, free of charge, to house the Center. A Steering Group was established including the Jilovice Municipality, Association Ruze (association of villages), Trebon Protected Landscape Administration, Institute of Landscape Ecology, International Cultural Resource Institute (USA non-profit), and the Society. Each of the Steering Group partners made clear commitments to actively support the project, financially or with in-kind contributions. The Steering Group has set the priorities for the first year; most important is to consolidate and extend the existing strong local and regional support for our activities. Conform these priorities, the Society concentrated on getting the Center up and running as a museum and community center. The hallway and one classroom were provisory repaired and a simple exhibition installed to help explain the aims of the Center. The villagers were involved in how to realize the different aspects of the Center.

3) Greenways program

The Society is now a certified partner of the Greenways-Zelene stezky program of the Environmental Partnership. Tourists on the Prague-Vienna Greenway visited the Jewish Heritage Project and in particular the Kojakovice project. The Greenways program is an important factor for the further development of the Center and especially for the development of sustainable tourism and cultural heritage conservation in the region. Donations from the Greenway program significantly helped the Society to survive and continue its activities in 1999 and 2000.

4) Migration project

Part of the museum activities focus on emigration from this region to the USA. It is our intention to link this exhibition with educational activities involving regional schools. Children will be asked to investigate their family history and help realize the exhibition about emigration. In future, this historic emigration will be used to help explain contemporary economic and refugee migration. The Jilovice municipal school agreed to join this activity.

Within this activity the Society joined an existing EU Minerva project on Migration and Intercultural Relationships. This Minerva project is a cooperation between educational institutions in Norway, Portugal and Northern Ireland. The Minerva project is now being enlarged into a network incorporating additional countries into the project. In a preparatory meeting in Stavanger, Norway, it was agreed that the Society will be the coordinator for the Czech consortium for this project. Other Czech partners include the Pedagogical Faculty (University of South Bohemia), the Czech-English Gymnasium (regional secondary school) and the primary schools of Jilovice and Borovany.

5) Restoration of Jewish Cultural Heritage in South Bohemia

Applications for funding have been made to the Dutch MATRA program and to the Nazi Persecution Fund. Both applications were rejected. In retrospect, the applications put too much emphasis on the first step in the project, that is, the physical restoration activities, and not enough on the public and educational aspects. The project received some funding through the Greenways partnership. With all attention focused on developing the Kojakovice project, the Jewish Heritage project was given a low priority for the moment. It is expected that this will continue at least till Summer 2001, but the project should receive proper attention again in the Autumn of 2001.

6) Proceedings VIIth International Otter Colloquium.

Work on the Proceedings is still continuing, expected to be completed in 2001.

III Future activities

In the year 2001, the Society will focus mainly on the opening of the Kojakovice Center and the associated activities in the field of education and regional development. The Proceedings for the VIIth International Otter Colloquium are expected to be completed in the year 2001. The Jewish Heritage project is expected to be remain on low activity until the Kojakovice project is running good and additional Society staff can take care of daily management. This is expected to take at least till the autumn of 2001, maybe even early in 2002.

IV. Financial Year 2000

The full financial report concerning the expenditure of the financial year 2000 and auditors report are available upon request. The main points of the report are mentioned here.

1) Income and expenditure

Beside other income, the Society received grants from the Rockefeller Borther Fund (RBF, USD 40 000), Foundation Open Society Fund Prague (CZK 50 000), and Greenways-Nadace Partnerstvi (CZK51 000). The RBF grant was received in the end of the year and is to be used mainly for expenses in 2001. A soft loan from the Founders to the Society covered expenses made in excess of the available income for 2000.
A more detailed financial report can be viewed at the Society office or is available upon written request.

2) Audit

The audit firm 'Audit, Dane H+V s.r.o.' has completed the financial administration of the Society and submitted the tax return over 2000. An independent, registered auditor has approved the financial administration for the year 2000.

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Dr. Vilem Zachleder                                   Drs Robert Dulfer

President Rozmberk Society                     Director Rozmberk Society