European Foundation Centre 20th anniversary conference and Grantmakers East Forum
Event European Foundation Centre 20th anniversary conference
Date 9-10 November 2009
Venue Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin
Event Grantmakers East Forum
Date 10-12 November 2009
Venue Allianz Stiftungsforum, Berlin
Title Scaling the next wall: doing better with less
I have had the privilege of attending most European Foundation Centre (EFC) and Grantmakers East Forum (GEF; formerly Grantmakers East Group) meetings in the past 20 years. I must say that it was a good decision to organize this year’s conferences of both groups in the heart of Berlin in the days around the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.
The selection of Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften for the EFC meeting (9-10 November) and of Allianz Stiftungsforum, just next to the Brandenburg Gate, for GEF (10-12 November) allowed the participants in these large gatherings of grantmakers from all over Europe, Eurasia and US to feel history. The venues and the dates were a huge part of the success of these meetings since they created a good framework for rich discussions on donors’ contributions to the historical processes of the last 20 years, assessing the situation today and looking ahead. A memorable link between the two events was the speech delivered to both communities by the president of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, William S White, who received the EFC’s newly created Philanthropy Compass Prize for his ‘outstanding contributions’ to European philanthropy.
I would like to share briefly some of my general observations from both events.
- The last two decades, following the fall of the Berlin wall, have been a period of fundamental rearranging of the European continent. In this period we witnessed an unprecedented growth of philanthropic institutions across the whole of Europe. The societies of post-communist Europe have undergone particularly profound changes, which allowed the reunification of Germany and the entry of ten Central and Eastern European countries to the European Union so far. Donors were an integral part of these processes and there was a natural sense of pride in the rooms, particularly at the opening plenary sessions.
- Many European countries are still lagging behind in their transition to prosperous and democratic societies and require the continued assistance and solidarity of the European and transatlantic community.
- Europe is facing new sets of challenges connected with its own governance structures in the post-Lisbon Treaty period; these include the economic and financial crisis, security and environmental challenges, and new global players like China, India and Russia. A call for more openness towards global challenges was very clear at both donor meetings.
- A decrease in civic participation in public life and the rise of populism, extremism and xenophobia in numerous European countries were identified as areas where donors should concentrate their attention. The environmental panel at the GEF meeting sent a very powerful message about the urgency of tackling the global degradation of our environment.
- The hope that the younger generation, who do not remember the Berlin wall, will contribute more significantly to new forms of participation, communication and problem-solving was expressed at both meetings.
Something that worked very well was that both organizers involved a significant number of outsiders – non-donors – to speak on various panels in their Berlin conferences. They brought fresh perspectives on various topics as well as a more critical look at some of our own activities and approaches. This is worth considering for future events too.
Pavol Demes is director of the German Marshall Fund’s Central and Eastern Europe office. Email pdemes@gmfus.org
For more information www.efc.be www.gef.efc.be
