Josef Vavrousek Award

Josef VAVROUSEK Award

The Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, where Josef Vavroušek worked as a teacher and vice-dean for science and research, has been announcing a student competition since 1996 dedicated to his memory. In the course of twenty-eight years (by 2023), 466 applicants participated in its three announced categories.

Human Values and Civilization Development Problems. Basic Issues Areas:

  • Human ecology;
  • Sustainable development;
  • Economy of natural resources;
  • Social ethics and economic system;
  • Ethics and functioning of the political system;
  • Social system as a holistic system with target behaviour;
  • Social systems and discount of the future;
  • International political and economic system, territorial international studies and global governance;
  • Media communication and journalism supporting the values of life on Earth;
  • Educational systems with these goals.

In the case of competitive works, the evaluators will especially appreciate:

• analysis of nature, society and culture relationships;

• the interdisciplinary nature of the approach or at least interdisciplinary overlap;

• resulting in public and social policy

Categories of the Competition:

  1. Bachelor‘s theses
  2. Master‘s and Rigorosum theses
  3. Dissertation theses

Areas of Potential Applicants:

Students, doctoral students and young university graduates in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (approximate age up to 35 years).

THE 29TH PUBLIC COMPETITION

RELATED LINKS

Statute of the Competition

Application for the Competition

Committee of Josef Vavrousek Award

Who Was Josef Vavroušek:

Josef Vavrousek photo

“Let’s not humble nature, let’s try to live in harmony with it.” * (Josef Vavroušek in 1992)   

 “Josef had an authority he did not force upon others. He could naturally lead and inspire others.” *

* photos and comments provided by Ing. Eva Vavroušková.

 

Doc. Ing. Josef Vavroušek, CSc. (1944-1995), scientist, intellectual, activist, politician.

He addressed the issue of management systems, including the management system of human society. Participating in the student expedition Lambaréné to Africa in 1968 framed his lifelong mission to promote the ideals of humanism and respect for life in political, social and administrative practice.

As one of the leading figures of the Civic Forum, a political spiritus agens of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, he significantly influenced the direction of country after 1989 towards promoting the principle of sustainability, both as chairman of the Program Committee of the Civic Forum and as federal minister - chairman of the Federal Committee for Environment and after the 1992 election as chairman of the influential NGO Society for Sustainable Life (STUŽ).

He worked as a vice-dean for science and research and as a teacher at the Institute of Sociological Studies at the newly founded Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University.

The KAROLINUM publishing house released the publication Economics, Ecology, Eudaimonia. Human Values and Civilization Development Problems to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Award in 2016 (in Czech). It was dedicated to the personality of Josef VAVROUŠEK and polemics, ideological foundations and horizons of his time.

 

Traces of Josef Vavroušek in the Czech Republic                              Traces of Josef Vavroušek in Slovakia

Josef Vavroušek: In search of human values compatible with a sustainable way of life