André Wilkens is back on Eurozine's 'Gagarin' podcast: Europe has failed to recognize the threats right in front of us. Now, we must adapt rapidly and mitigate the losses. But inevitable change brings with it incredible opportunities too.

The 4th edition of the Forum on European Culture focuses on the meaning and future of democracy in Europe. The Forum brings together artists, activists and intellectuals to explore democracy as a cultural rather than a political expression.

In their latest episode The Europeans Podcast interview Bojana Grujic of the Novi Sad City Library in Serbia and Myrto Tsilimpounidi from the Feminist Library at the Feminist Autonomous Centre in Athens, both participating in The Europe Challenge that offered them support, resources and funding.

As part of Re:framing Migrants in the European Media tandems between legacy media and migrant-led community media have started. The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza published the first outcomes.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology selected the winning partnership to lead Europe’s biggest innovation community for the cultural and creative sectors and industries: EIT Culture & Creativity. We are delighted to be part of the carefully crafted pan-European partnership bringing together 50 partners from 20 countries across Europe that won the bid. EIT Culture & Creativity is a game-changer for Europe’s green, digital and social transformation, which will boost culture and creative industries and strengthen their role in and for Europe.

School, cultural, prison, academic, city and rural libraries are among the 32 successful entries to this year’s Europe Challenge. This programme supports libraries and their communities to design, test and deliver solutions to local challenges that can benefit all of Europe. The issues submitted in this year's edition include the climate crisis, social cohesion, loneliness, equal rights and inclusion, and active citizenship.

"Putin’s war on Ukraine has reminded us that Europe’s founding narrative of peace, security, solidarity and prosperity is as relevant and essential as ever. Instead of looking for the future of Europe at conferences and roundtable discussions, we should return to our original narrative and adapt it to today’s challenges," argues our director in a contribution to the Italian magazine 'La Nuova Atlantide'.

On 9 May, 2022, Europe Day, our president HRH Princess Laurentien gave a speech on what is the role of culture in building a resilient, sustainable and solidary Europe?

The German-Turkish Youth Bridge, the European Cultural Foundation, the Goethe-Institut, the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Mercator Foundation sharply criticize the verdict against Osman Kavala announced today by a Turkish court. From the point of view of European Foundations and Cultural Institutions, the court decision of Osman Kavala puts a considerable strain on European-Turkish relations and lacks any legal basis.

Cultural workers continue to be productive despite the war. An alliance of European foundations supports them in this. This is where our Culture of Solidarity Fund comes in. In a conversation with our Head of Programmes Philipp Dietachmair featured in Hamburger Abendblatt, Philipp Dietachmair discusses what is special about the Ukrainian art scene, the founding of museums in times of war and the protection of cultural assets.

On 3 March 2022, the Amsterdam based European Cultural Foundation launched the European Culture of Solidarity Fund - Ukraine edition. As a public-philanthropic partnership, the Culture of Solidarity Fund is to support cultural initiatives that, in the midst of a turmoil and crisis, reinforce European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space. After five successful European, regional and thematic editions, the Ukraine edition is now open for considering cultural emergency requests and joint European actions to stand with Ukraine.

We won the 'European Cultural Investor of the Year 2021' award. Our Culture of Solidarity Fund, established during the Corona crisis, was the impetus for the decision of the 40-member expert jury. The ceremony takes place on November 30, #GivingTuesday, in Tresor in Berlin.

More than 110 European cultural actors competed for nomination for a European Cultural Brand Award in eight categories. We are excited our Culture of Solidarity Fund is nominated in the category "European Cultural Investor of the Year 2021".

ECF directeur André Wilkens beantwoordt de noodkreet van Jett Rebel en doet tegelijkertijd een oproep aan Nederlandse beleidsmakers om zich te houden aan een Europese motie om minimaal twee procent van de Europese herstelfondsen aan cultuur te besteden.

There is a complex debate on what private foundations should exclude from or implicitly accept in an index tracker. In this blogpost, our Supervisory Board Chair (Ad interim), Rien van Gendt touches on whether Big Tech companies should also be excluded as new polluters in the figurative sense.

There is a genuine interest among philanthropic institutions to explore the opportunities to reorient investment policies to ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ (ESG) strategies. In this blogpost our Supervisory Board Chair (Ad interim) Rien van Gendt touches on why the SDG lens and the gender lens offer fascinating opportunities to have a sound investment and contribute to a better and equitable world.

Our President HRH Princess Laurentien and European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel spoke about the role that art and culture can play in the recovery of Europe after the corona crisis in the Financieel Dagblad. Read the article in Dutch here and in English here.

Our Head of Programmes Philipp Dietachmair is one of the seven voices invited by Wroclaw Cultural Guide to answer questions about current situations, operations, and plans going forward.

Euranet’s #EUnitedinMotion hosts a weekly debate with crucial EU decision-makers and experts to challenge the initiatives taken at the EU level when it comes to tackling COVID-19. Today our director Andre Wilkens will be one of the panellists talking about supporting the cultural sector through and post Corona.

For a forthcoming publication in collaboration with Allianz Kulturstiftung our board member Rien van Gendt spoke with Michael Alberg-Seberich, of think tank Wider Sense, on philanthropy with a European purpose.

In an open letter in the Financial Times, European Cultural Foundation Director André Wilkens called unto national governments, including the British, as well as the European institutions to join the initiative to increase investments in European cultural relations in the broadest sense.

All available material about the laureates of the 2019 European Cultural Foundation Princess Margriet Award. Press releases, image material, and more.