Fostering Creativity

May 29th - 31st 2008 | Istanbul, Turkey

Record numbers gathered at the European Foundation Centre’s (EFC) 19th Annual General Assembly (AGA) and Conference in Istanbul, in Turkey, to consider the role foundations play in encouraging social, cultural, scientific, and technological change by working creatively. The Conference offered manifold examples of how foundations can tackle problems by thinking innovatively. There were debates aplenty on new ways to collaborate. With over 600 delegates from 56 countries at the event there was no lack of opportunity to compare experiences. Thirty-one Conference sessions were arranged into four thematic strands: analysing practices, building effective organisations, fostering partnerships and tackling global issues. The sessions highlighted issues ranging from culture, research and the environment to productive management, peer learning and youth empowerment. Several organisations took advantage of the Conference’s popularity to hold their own pre-conference events. Twenty-six independently-organised events focused on issues and foundation work, such as social justice philanthropy, the important role of grassroot organisations, and how US and European funders can work together on peace and security. Find out more about this event by readng the highlights below and browsing the links on the right.

This year, for the first time, EFC presented a pre-Conference soirée. The Transborder concert featured three celebrated soloists and a 12-piece international orchestra. The concert, jointly organised by Anadolu Kültür, the Festival of North Norway and Erik Rudeng, of Institusjonen Fritt Ord, opened with an introduction on artistic practices in the border regions between Pikene på Broen (Kirkenes), the main cultural player in the Barents region, and Anadolu Kültür (Istanbul), which facilitates artistic collaboration in Anatolia.

At the Opening Plenary, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish Prime Minister, and Mary Robinson, former Irish President, set the scene, highlighting aspects of foundation work which can be inspired using the lens of creativity. Üstün Ergüder, of the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TÜSEV) and Wilhelm Krull, EFC’s outgoing Chair, welcomed participants.

A special plenary, ‘European Foundations on Trial’ asked how effective foundations really are. Designed as a courtroom trial, the foundation representatives acted as judge, jury, prosecution and defence, debating the charge that foundations are failing to execute their full potential by tackling the challenges which confront humanity, creatively and competently.

At the Closing Plenary, Wilhelm Krull, Secretary General of the VolkswagenStiftung, and EFC’s Chair since May 2006, handed over to his successor, Emílio Rui Vilar, President of the Board of Trustees of Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. Dr Vilar closed the Conference by urging EFC and its members to continue focusing on today’s major issues such as climate change, migration, poverty and global health.

Keynote speaker, Avila Kilmurray, Director of The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, stressed the importance of the moral imagination and the need to give a voice to marginalised people. She likened the unexpected nature of the creative process to the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

The winner of this year’s EFC photo competition, ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ was Fondation de France with its entry ‘Annabelle the Clown’. Conference delegates chose the winner, which was announced by Vera Klementova, of the Slovak Czech Women’s Fund at the Closing Plenary.

Also at the Closing Plenary, the Raymond Georis Prize for Innovative Philanthropy was awarded to Diego Hidalgo Schnur, President and founder of La Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diàlogo Exterior (FRIDE). In accepting the award, Mr Hidalgo Schnur expressed his gratitude, saying the prize represented the bridge-building between key players in philanthropy.