Want to help clean up Prague? Here's how to join a volunteer event this weekend

Looking for an easy way to get outdoors, meet people in your neighborhood and give something back to Prague this weekend? Dozens of volunteer groups are heading into parks, forests and other public spaces to clear away litter.

More than 12,000 people across Czechia have registered for the autumn edition of Ukliďme svět (Clean Up the World), which runs this weekend through Sunday, Sept. 20.

Around 200 individual cleanups have been registered nationwide, including at least 27 in Prague. More than half of the country's registered events are concentrated in the capital and Central Bohemia, making Prague one of the easiest places to join at short notice.

And you don't need to have signed up weeks in advance: organizers say volunteers should feel free to find an event nearby and join an existing group.

The easiest way to find an event is through the interactive map on the official Ukliďme svět website, which displays registered cleanups by location.

Clicking on an individual event provides details about the cleanup and contact information for its organizer, allowing volunteers to check where and when to meet before setting out.

Events are organized independently by local groups, schools, associations and individual volunteers, so times and arrangements vary. The areas being tackled range from city parks and public spaces to forests, riverbanks and the outskirts of neighborhoods.

Volunteers can expect to collect the usual urban and countryside litter, including plastic packaging, cans and other discarded waste. The campaign organizers recommend checking the details of your chosen event before arriving. Cleanups vary in length, although organizers say they are typically around half a day.

Comfortable outdoor clothing and sturdy shoes are sensible choices, and gloves are particularly useful when handling discarded waste. Organizers participating in the main campaign can receive heavy-duty rubbish bags and other equipment, but arrangements differ between events.

You may notice two similar-sounding events taking place across Czechia this weekend.

Ukliďme svět, organized by the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP), runs its main autumn campaign from Sept. 18–20 and has been organizing volunteer cleanups in Czechia since 1993.

Separately, Ukliďme Česko (Clean Up Czechia) is marking World Cleanup Day this weekend, with Sunday, Sept. 20, designated as its main cleanup day. Find a cleanup spot to join on Sunday through map on the Ukliďme Česko website.

That campaign has more than 600 cleanups planned around the country, giving Prague residents another way to find a nearby event if none of the Ukliďme svět options fits their schedule.

The events are generally run by local volunteer organizers, meaning participation can be as simple as choosing a convenient location and showing up at the designated meeting point.

Ukliďme svět has been running twice a year for more than three decades. According to ČSOP, more than 750,000 volunteers have participated over that period, collecting over 10,000 metric tons of rubbish.