How to celebrate

Seventy years is a significant milestone for any organisation, and for us at the European Cultural Foundation, it marks seven decades of promoting European exchange, fostering cultural collaboration, nurturing a sense of European belonging, and making a tangible impact across the continent.

As much as we’d love to throw a big party to celebrate our anniversary, now doesn’t feel like the right time. Of course, like any institution with a rich legacy and a lasting influence, there is much to celebrate. Over the years, we’ve co-created the Erasmus programme, the European Foundation Centre, and numerous other ventures. We’ve nurtured ideas that have grown through partnerships with other foundations and the EU. Through our initiatives, we’ve supported countless artists, thinkers, doers and projects that have shaped European society. We’ve sparked vital conversations on democracy, education, the environment, identity, and inclusion, all with the goal of creating a Europe where culture and creativity unite people. While we are far from perfect, we feel pride in what we have achieved.

Originally, we imagined a grand celebration with inspiring speeches, artistic performances, prizes, joyful tears, and, of course, some dancing. But given the state of Europe and the world, such an event feels out of place and time. Despite all the good efforts of so many, the world seems to be moving backwards. How did we get here? Why does the future look so much like the past? What could we have done differently? These are the questions we’re asking as we reflect on our 70-year history.

So, as much as we like a good party, here is how we are marking our anniversary:

We have embarked on a listening tour to understand today’s challenges and how culture and philanthropy can address them. Under the theme “What Can Culture Do?” we organised 13 roundtable meetings in 11 countries, involving around 200 participants from various fields. These insights will shape our next strategy, to start in 2025, and inform our future work.

We will reaffirm our mission, derived from our original statutes: “The European Cultural Foundation was created for the stimulation of the European sentiment, to promote the development and preservation of a feeling of mutual comprehension and democratic solidarity between the peoples of Europe by encouraging cultural and educational activities of common interest.” This mission is just as relevant today as it was in 1954. As nationalism rises and polarisation within societies and between countries grows, Europe needs a sense of democratic solidarity more than ever. We have invested in this mission for 70 years, and it will likely take another 70—if not longer—to sustain this European sentiment in a changing world. We see this as our “cathedral mission,” one that extends beyond the lifetimes of those of us working today.

We will both continue and change—continuing successful initiatives and scaling them where possible, but also change, adapting to address new challenges and opportunities. We will connect the libraries of Europe to a European Social network, we will empower European Digital Citizenship, we will grow a European Culture of Solidarity, we will enable more philanthropy for Europe. In early 2025, we will move to a shared office space with close Amsterdam – based partners, symbolising a new chapter for ECF. This new home will further our vision for international cultural cooperation and solidarity.

Any looking back? Yes, we’ve organised 70 years of our foundations files and will move them to Florence, where our archive will be housed at the Archive of the European Union. This will ensure that our history is preserved and made accessible to students, researchers, and professionals interested in learning from the past for the future.

So, we’ve chosen to celebrate our anniversary with a renewed sense of purpose. Together, we can continue building a Europe where culture connects us, a Europe where everyone feels they belong.