What may in time prove to be a landmark conference in the history of European foundations has just ended. The European Foundation Centre raised its game and came of age, delivering a world-class conference on the themes of philanthropy, peace and social justice.

Dr Astrid Bonfield, CEO of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, urged delegates in her keynote address to ‘look at where the big ship is sailing’. The 2012 EFC gathering in Belfast may prove to be the moment when foundations across Europe and the EFC did just that.