COE was founded in September 1989, shortly before the Velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia, as an unofficial initiative of several ecological activists in Prague.
[1][2] Czech environmentalists Jindřich Petrlík,[1] Miroslav Patrik, Ivo Šilhavý, Jiří Macas and Tomáš Fajkus were among founders of the association.
[2] In the last two decades Dětí Země lobbied for ozone layer protection, sustainable transport[3] and air quality,[4] among other issues.
Major focus of Děti Země since 2001 were environmental aspects of building new highways, in particular through České středohoří mountains.
[2] Members of the Honorary Board are Jiří Dědeček, Erazim Kohák, Vladimír Merta, Zdeněk Thoma, Jaroslav Pavlíček and Jan Vodňanský.