Welcome to the Twenties

2020 already started very hot, politically and climatically. President Trump’s threat to deliberately destroy cultural heritage sites in Iran as a weapon of war is unacceptable from any political leader but would have been unthinkable coming from the president of a leading Western democracy until now. The extend of the bush fires in Australia and the difficulties in containing them have moved the climate crisis from scientific prediction to reality.
 
I do not have to claim to be a fortune teller to predict that 2020 will be another interesting year. What Brexit will it be? What will Greta do next? Will Ursula von der Leyen be European business as usual or become the next Jaques Delors? Who will be the next US President? Will Macron tame France or the other way round? Will we change facebook or will facebook change us? And what will be the consequences for Europe in all these situations? 
 
How can we deal with these challenges without being simply reactive? How can we work on the future of Europe while also addressing the actual problems of today? We don’t have all the answers. But we do have a plan. In 2020 we will further develop and expand our Experience programme with a focus on citizens and cultural professionals. We will take care that our cross-border mobility initiatives are implemented in a climate neutral manner. We will invest in European public space to enable Europeans to share ideas, experiences, artistic expressions and news beyond national borders. We will support initiatives which tell Europe's stories and which imagine a better Europe. 
 
Will we succeed? Will it be enough? We will never know unless we try. We will certainly give it our best shot, be honest in evaluating our impact and be agile in responding to changing situations. The Twenties will be challenging times. But challenging times are also times of opportunity, they create space and urgency for new thinking. Europe needs imagination.
 
We can only do this together. Seriously. Anything else would be irresponsible. I am looking forward to working with all of you in 2020 and beyond.

Best wishes, 
André Wilkens, Director European Cultural Foundation
 

Europe Culture Lab: Spaces for Solidarity

The European Cultural Foundation, Rijeka 2020 European Capital of Culture, Krytyka Polityczna and ZEMOS98 invite you to apply for participation in Culture Lab Europe, which will take place from 16-18 April 2020 in Rijeka, Croatia. We are looking for cultural activists and mediators who are engaged in initiatives that create spaces for solidarity and public debate, and who are keen on European collaboration.

All across Europe, citizens (including those who are not formally recognised as such) are realising they are not alone and are organising their communities. They are creating new online and offline spaces where working together and generating solidarity is what matters. In these spaces culture functions as a language to describe reality, to express feelings and opinions. Culture works to strengthen social ties and helps to imagine alternative ways of living and engaging with others in understanding, trust and peace. Connecting these spaces will provide a crucial infrastructure for a cultural movement that can reclaim European democracy.

Culture Lab Europe has been set up as a live platform to strengthen this movement. Cultural activists and mediators will establish connections with colleagues from across Europe and work on common initiatives that can strengthen European Public Space. Culture Lab Europe provides a safe and inspirational working environment based on principles of free and open culture.

You can find all information on the application procedure via this link. Please, help share widely!
Deadline for application is 31st of January 2020, 12:00 CET. 
 

In Europe Now. History caught in the act

Geert Mak – Dutch bestseller author – published his book “In Europe” in 2004. For this book he travelled our continent and dedicated a chapter to each year of the 20ieth century. As this Guardian review argued it was as much a trip through our common history as a multi-vocal account as a particular view. A few years later the book was adapted for television by Dutch broadcaster VPRO. In 35 episodes the TV team tried catching up with 20ieth century Europe.

The book was conceived at a time when ‘the end of history’ still seemed more than an illusion. So when history re-appeared in our continent it forced the author to reconsider his beliefs and he embarked on a new series of travels: trying to catch history in the act. His history of the first twenty years of our current century has recently been published. As with his earlier book, this book is adapted for television. December saw the premiere of the TV series in the Netherlands and Belgium. New to this TV series is the educational trajectory the broadcaster developed in collaboration with EUROCLIO.

“In Europe Schools is a one of kind European exchange project in which students film their recent history, and research and compare themes like democracy, human rights, privacy, difficult histories, climate change and migration. In a time when pupils use all kinds of (social) media it is time to let them film their own recent history." Read more. Or watch this short video in which students explain the project themselves.
 

More stories of Europe
 

Two of our first round Democracy Needs Imagination grantees are telling Europe's stories in podcasts: Another Europe serves you a multi-generational view on the thirty year anniversary of the Fall of the Iron Curtain, whereas The Europeans feature intimate portraits of lives and places across the continent.

Just before Christmas holidays we learned we were amongst the winners in The Good Lobby Awards 2019, winning in the category 'Philanthropist of the Year'. 

On January 9, our project manager Menno Weijs participates in a public panel on the role of foundations in financing the fight for more diversity, more equality and more justice.

Our first round Democracy Needs Imagination grantee Kraftwork produced a series of videos that went viral in Hungary: "“If you feel lonely sometimes, you’d better know there is a somebody permanently listening to you, taking care of you, nobody else but Google."

Luckily we know other grantees are taking care of you too.