Where do we come from, what are we and where are we going?

The Czech National Human Development Report, prepared by the Center for Social and Economic Strategies of Charles University in Prague, focuses on identifying the most important problems of human develoment in the Czech Republic and formulating priorities and possible methods for their solution. The solutions to those problems and the debate surrounding them will help to successfully incorporate the Czech Republic into the main stream of European civilization and prepare them to face challenges and issues that will need to be addressed in the following decades. The Report first reviews development tendencies in the past ten years of Czech transformation, suggesting possible development scenarios and discussing the potential impacts of EU accession. The following chapters discuss individual areas and aspects of Czech Society relating to education, social policy, public policy and administration, minorities, and the economy. These discussions result in the selection of key strategic tasks, the solutions of which could influence development perspectives of the Czech Republic in the decades to come. The tasks identifiied are development of population and family policy, pension reform, support for the knowledge society, reinforcement of social cohesion and national identity, and reform of the country's constitutional and political system.