Advocacy is a means to advance our mission and to achieve our programmatic goals. We aim at influencing public policy and decisions on priorities and resource allocations within political and philanthropic institutions. Within ECF’s 2020-2025 strategy, advocacy focuses on the following:

Influence EU policy and leverage of funding: The EU is a key actor but culture is not yet well and centrally enough positioned to unfold its full potential. Culture needs to be placed at the heart of EU policy making to contribute effectively to solving European challenges, and be more substantially and adequately funded to strengthen the European project. We advocate for the mainstreaming of culture in other than culture policies, and for the doubling of the EU’s Creative Europe budget from €1.4 billion to € 2.8 billion in the next 7-year budget cycle (2021-2027).

Philanthropy with a European purpose: While the foundation sector in Europe amounts to EUR 60 billion annually, there is hardly any philanthropy whose mission and core business are Europe. There is no equivalent to a European Gates Foundation, there is no Rockefeller, no Soros, no European Welcome Trust. Where are the European philanthropists? ECF, Europe’s first European foundation advocates for at least 1 per cent of philanthropic resources in Europe to be invested in a flagship initiative of European purpose.

Amsterdam partnership: We are a European foundation with a firm base in Amsterdam. We are eager to see initiatives, organisations and individuals join our cause in advancing Europe through culture, across Europe but also in Amsterdam. We support strategic ventures in Amsterdam with a European purpose. We aim at partnering with the City of Amsterdam and other locally-based key players to co-develop a vibrant European space and invest in innovative and inspiring organisations that ignite cross-overs between culture, politics, academia and creative economy.

Strategic Partnerships: We are a member of several foundation and civil society platforms that share our vision and values and and advocate together with us for a Europe that is democratic, open, inclusive, culture-based and future-oriented. This includes among others the European Foundation Centre (EFC), European Policy Centre (EPC), Culture Action Europe, More Europe – external cultural relations, NEF’s Civitates, and EDGE (Engaged Donors for Global Equity) Funders Alliance.

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#Double4Culture

Doubling the culture budget is the minimum request put forward by the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) to the EU member states, urging the EU Council to support the European Parliament’s proposal to increase funding for the Creative Europe program.

We campaigned with Culture Action Europe for #Double4Culture and #1%forCulture since the beginning of Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiations in 2018, highlighting the fundamental role of arts and culture in different EU policy areas and its contribution to building a shared, prosperous future for all European citizens.

Read more about the #Double4Culture campaign here.

Participants of the 2017 edition. Picture by Kostas Apostolidis - Cultural Diplomacy Platform

Participants of the 2017 edition. Picture by Kostas Apostolidis - Cultural Diplomacy Platform

Global Cultural Leadership Programme

The GCLP is the main training component of the Cultural Diplomacy Platform. Its main objective is to support young cultural managers emerging on the international scene, and coming from the 10 Strategic Partners of the European Union as well as from EU Member States, in developing and strengthening their cultural leadership skills.

Find out more.

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Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities

Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities (CCSC) is a policy project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. The project brings together a consortium of ten organisations led by Trans Europe Halles, the European network of non-governmental cultural centres. 

Visit the project website

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Mapping of COVID measures

We teamed up with Culture Action Europe to map emergency initiatives and measures carried out across Europe that address the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on culture, arts, creative sectors – with the aim to identify key challenges and possible gaps, or needs, yet unaddressed by the policymakers. 

With these findings, based on a large number of available resources, we hope to contribute, along the numerous sector-driven initiatives, to a better understanding of this situation, and to try to generate ideas for future scenarios at the European level.

Read the mapping here.  

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Bring Back Culture, Ms. President!

MEP Sabine Verheyen, Chair of the Culture Committee of the EP congratulated Culture Action Europe for its public campaign Bring back culture, Ms. President to support the call for changing Ms Gabriel’s title to “Innovation, Youth and Culture”.

Read more about the campaign and watch the creative reenactment on act for Europe through Culture Debate.

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Forces of Art

We are excited to introduce you to Forces of Art: A joint Hivos, European Cultural Foundation and Prince Claus Fund project.

This in-depth research features powerful stories and raises the question of how to measure the impact of culture head-on. From the role of cultural spaces and art events in Dakar to digital program initiatives in South East Asia, to the experiences of Syrian diaspora artists in Istanbul and beyond, Forces of Art is a truly global effort that sheds new light on a critical debate about the value of the arts. 

Read more about the Forces of Art here.

 
 

Latest publications

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Mapping of COVID measures

Culture Action Europe and the European Cultural Foundation have mapped emergency initiatives and measures carried out across Europe that address the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on culture, arts, creative sectors – with the aim was to identify key challenges and possible gaps, or needs, yet unaddressed by the policymakers.

Based on these findings, based on a large number of available resources, we hope to contribute, along the numerous sector-driven initiatives, to a better understanding of this situation, and to try to generate ideas for future scenarios at the European level.

Download the mapping.

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Displaced in Media

In this publication we present the practices and learnings of Displaced in Media to media makers and policymakers.

Across Europe, individuals and collectives of journalists, filmmakers, cultural professionals, activists, teachers and researchers are trying to break through the power structures that stop the most disadvantaged from being heard.

Emerging from this are contacts and networks, a pool of knowledge and educational methodologies, channels and strategies to reach general audiences, and also increase awareness among policymakers.

Download the magazine.

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CO–MAKING THE CITY: Ideas from the Innovative City Development meeting

We need to co-make our cities together: institutions collaborating with local people. This report presents ideas on how to do this based on the collaborative thinking of city makers who attended the Innovative City Development meeting in Madrid in March 2017.

Find out more.