Our founders created the European Cultural Foundation in 1954 as they envisioned a united Europe where citizens feel proudly European, a place where they can live, express themselves, work and dream freely, in diversity and harmony. Ever since the ECF promotes a European sentiment through developing and supporting cultural initiatives in Europe. We believe our mission is as urgent now as it was back then.

In 1954, the European Cultural Foundation was created at a moment when Europe had been physically rebuilt in parts, but remained fractured in spirit. Borders had hardened, trust had eroded, and cooperation alone was not enough to hold the continent together. What was missing was a sense of connection between people across those borders. From the beginning, the Foundation worked on that question through lived interaction: how people meet, learn, create and imagine together.

Across seven decades, that work has taken different forms as Europe has changed. In its early years, the Foundation convened intellectuals, policymakers and young people to debate Europe’s future. Later, it helped design and deliver programmes such as ERASMUS, enabling students to live and study across borders. During the Cold War, it maintained relationships across the Iron Curtain before political systems allowed it. Today, it supports cultural actors, independent media and civic initiatives working in a Europe where democratic life and public trust are under renewed pressure.

The archive now housed at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence traces how these connections were built over time. It shows how European belonging has been shaped through repeated acts of exchange, collaboration and persistence, carried forward by people as much as by institutions.

Seen together, these moments reflect a consistent reality: Europe becomes tangible when people experience it through others. A student arriving in a new city, an artist collaborating across languages, a journalist reporting across borders, or a citizen encountering unfamiliar perspectives are all part of how Europe is made real in everyday life. The Foundation’s work has focused on enabling these encounters, especially at times when distance, pressure or division make them harder to sustain.

In 1953, Denis de Rougemont, founder of the Centre Européen de la Culture in Geneva, brought together a group of European figures in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, including Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister and architect of the Schuman Declaration, Hendrik Brugmans, Rector of the College of Europe, and HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, President of the European Cultural Foundation from 1955 to 1977. Europe was already being reconstructed through political and economic agreements, but de Rougemont focused on the human dimension that remained unresolved.

In Habeas Animam, Denis de Rougemont wrote, “If Europeans could be made to realise their common destinies, the difficulties lying in the way to unification today will seem less formidable and even fall away in the case of prejudices and bias, unfounded suspicion and – particularly – ignorance of the real situation,” capturing the need to move beyond formal cooperation toward shared understanding. This thinking shaped the creation of the European Cultural Foundation in Geneva in 1954, with Robert Schuman as its first President and Denis de Rougemont as its first Director. Under HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the Foundation relocated to Amsterdam and secured long-term funding, allowing it to sustain its work over time.

In its first decade, the Foundation created large-scale encounters across Europe. Congresses in cities such as Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna and Athens brought together thousands of participants to debate education, culture and Europe’s future. These gatherings placed people with different histories and perspectives into shared spaces, where exchange could begin again, and familiarity could be rebuilt across a continent still marked by division.

For those who participated, these were not abstract debates. They were moments of re-entry into a shared European space, often for the first time since the war. Participants encountered different ways of thinking, challenged their own assumptions and began to recognise themselves in others who had previously been distant or unknown. These early interactions established a human foundation for cooperation, rooted in experience rather than ideology.

By the 1960s, Europe was undergoing rapid social and economic change. Urbanisation, shifts in labour and pressure on education systems created a sense of uncertainty about the future. Under George Sluizer (pictured), Secretary General of the European Cultural Foundation from 1962 to 1972, the organisation chose to address this uncertainty directly.

Plan Europe 2000, launched in 1967, brought together around 200 researchers from 15 countries to examine education, work, urbanisation and the environment. The programme created a shared framework for understanding long-term change and translating that understanding into action proposals. As described in the programme brochure, “Europe has no idea where it is going, but it’s going there fast. Anxiety about the future, anxiety about the unknown, is the root of the present crisis in our society. But anxiety can be a creative force, provided we have the courage to analyse its causes lucidly and transform it into tangible proposals for action.”

This work extended to the creation of institutions such as the European Institute of Education in Paris and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP)  in Bonn. These organisations connected research with policy and practice, building a network that could respond to Europe’s changing conditions, with figures such as Konrad von Moltke, Director of the IEEP, and Ladislav Čerych, Director of the European Institute of Education, playing key roles in shaping their direction.

Behind this network were people working across disciplines, countries and institutional boundaries to make sense of shared challenges. Researchers, educators and policymakers collaborated across languages and systems, often navigating differences in approach and context. This process of working together was as significant as the outcomes themselves, as it created a shared capacity to think, plan and respond collectively to Europe’s evolving realities.

By the late 1970s, opportunities to study across borders in Europe were limited. Universities operated within national systems, and mobility was difficult to access. Established in 1973, the European Commission’s first Department for Education and Youth, led by Hywel Ceri Jones, was tasked with changing this. In this endeavour, the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) would prove essential.

Education had been a focus of ECF’s work since its foundation. It was also one of the central themes of its Plan Europe 2000, a seven-year research programme exploring Europe’s future, launched in 1968. One of the outcomes of this work was the European Institute of Education, which the Foundation co-funded from 1975. From 1976, this unique European think tank on education became a key partner for the European Commission in implementing and developing early student mobility schemes. By 1980, as responsibilities grew, the Institute’s Brussels branch, the Office for Cooperation in Education (OCE), took on an expanded role.

Gradually, a more ambitious programme began to take shape: ERASMUS. Between 1985 and 1987, Alan Smith, director of the OCE, played a key role in preparing the proposal submitted to the Council. Following the official launch of Erasmus in 1987, the OCE—renamed the ERASMUS Bureau—managed the scheme on behalf of the European Commission until 1994.

After 1989, the Foundation extended this cooperation eastwards through TEMPUS, supporting collaboration between universities in Central and Eastern Europe.

Over time, this work helped shape how Europe was experienced by those who participated in it. Students formed relationships, navigated differences and became familiar with life across borders. Mobility was not only about moving from one country to another: it created opportunities for encounters and exchanges through which trust, participation and a sense of belonging could develop.

For many participants, these experiences became defining moments in their lives. Living in another country, navigating unfamiliar systems and building friendships across cultures reshaped how they understood themselves and others. Individual journeys became part of something larger: a generation for whom Europe was not simply an institutional project, but something lived, experienced and carried forward into personal and professional life.

Alan Smith later wrote, “Erasmus is widely regarded as one of the most important cultural initiatives in post-war Europe. It was also an eye-catching public success for European policymaking.”

During the Cold War, Europe was divided by political systems that limited contact between East and West. The European Cultural Foundation worked to maintain and build relationships across this divide through cultural exchange.

In 1987, this work became a strategic priority, led in part by Robert Picht, Vice-President of the European Cultural Foundation from 1977 to 1994. Programmes such as Concorde East/West, developed with Leona Francombe, musician and programme lead at the European Cultural Foundation, supported collaboration between musicians across the Iron Curtain, while the Central and East European Publishing Projects, shaped by historian Timothy Garton Ash, enabled the circulation of intellectual and literary work across restricted contexts.

In September 1989, the Foundation co-organised a seminar in Leningrad with the Cultural Foundation of the USSR, bringing together foundations from the US, western and eastern Europe at a moment of political uncertainty, where it was noted that “on both sides, culture is not only following the process of economic and political change, but is also one of the key forces in the aspiration for a better future.”

In the years that followed, the Foundation expanded its work to support democratic transition. The East West Parliamentary Practice Project, directed by Jill Adler, the programme’s Director, strengthened parliamentary systems, while programmes such as APEXchange supported artists working across changing political landscapes. The relationships built over time enabled this work to respond quickly and in a relevant way as conditions shifted.

For individuals working within these transitions, the experience was often uncertain and uneven. Artists, writers, policymakers and citizens navigated shifting systems while trying to maintain continuity in their work and lives. The Foundation’s role was to support these actors as they adapted, ensuring that connections did not disappear in moments of upheaval but instead evolved alongside new political realities.

As Europe became more interconnected, the media’s role in shaping public understanding increased. The media influences how people see one another across borders and how public debate develops.

The European Cultural Foundation began working in this area through initiatives such as the European Working Group on Television and the European Institute for the Media, founded with the involvement of George Wedell, Professor at the University of Manchester and founding figure of the Institute. As George Wedell wrote in 1982, “the role of the media in such recognition is self-evident,” highlighting the importance of shared information spaces in shaping European awareness.

With the development of digital technologies, the landscape expanded. Under the leadership of Katherine Watson, Director of the European Cultural Foundation from 2010 to 2019, the Foundation supported initiatives such as LabforCulture, Doc Next Network and ReMapping Europe, enabling cultural practitioners and young creators to participate directly in shaping narratives. These efforts contributed to a more open and participatory public sphere across Europe.

At the individual level, this shift meant that more people could see themselves reflected in public discourse and take part in shaping it. Young creators, artists and media practitioners began to tell their own stories, often bringing perspectives that had previously been marginalised. This broadened who is visible and heard in European conversations, contributing to a public sphere that is more representative of lived experience across the continent.

Cultural cooperation requires sustained resources and long-term commitment. The European Cultural Foundation has worked to strengthen the structures that make this possible through philanthropy and advocacy, particularly under the leadership of Raymond Georis, Secretary General from 1973 to 1994.

The creation of the European Cooperation Fund in Brussels supported collaboration between public and private actors and contributed to a broader understanding of shared European challenges. On 9 November 1989, the Foundation became one of the founding members of the European Foundation Centre, now Philea, marking a significant step in connecting philanthropic organisations across Europe.

In the 2000s, under Gottfried Wagner, Secretary General of the European Cultural Foundation from 2002 to 2009, the Foundation expanded its advocacy work through initiatives such as 70 Cents for Culture and More Europe, contributing to policy discussions at the European level. Today, this work continues under André Wilkens, Director of the European Cultural Foundation since 2019, who has stated, “We cannot leave the future of Europe solely in the hands of the EU and the increasingly polarised and competing nation states.”

This work connects directly to how individuals and organisations can act. Funding, policy recognition and institutional support determine whether cultural initiatives can exist, grow and reach people. By strengthening these conditions, the Foundation contributes to an environment in which cultural work can continue to support participation, connection, and shared European life.

Programmes such as Mémoires de la Méditerranée supported literary exchange between Arab and European writers, while Art for Social Change worked with young people and artists in Southeast Europe to rebuild connections in post-conflict contexts. These initiatives focused on shared experience and dialogue across different regions.

At the same time, Policies for Culture, developed with Corina Șuteu, founder of ECUMest and programme leader, introduced participatory approaches to cultural policy across Southeast Europe, linking cultural practice with democratic processes. This work informed the Enlargement of Minds, which was shaped in part by Dragan Klaić, Chair of the “Europe as a Cultural Project” reflection group. As Dragan Klaić wrote, “Europe’s cultural specificity should be sought in openness to other voices and stances, as well as in the absorbing capacity and readiness for intercultural engagement, rather than in some invocation of European tradition as an emblem or ideological cornerstone.”

For those involved, this work opened new ways of understanding Europe beyond formal definitions. Artists, writers and cultural practitioners engaged across regions, sharing experiences that challenged fixed ideas of identity and belonging. These interactions continue to shape how Europe is understood today, as a space defined by relationships, exchange, and ongoing negotiation rather than by fixed borders or singular narratives.