From 15th – 25th June 2011, the Berlin Foundation Week (Berliner Stiftungswoche) will showcase the breadth and diversity of foundations’ work in the German capital through debates, open days, exhibitions, youth activities and other events. 106 foundations, including EFC members such as Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, Freudenberg Stiftung, Körber-Stiftung, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stiftung Mercator, and Stiftung “Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft” will take part. Details of all participating foundations can be found here.
German Community Foundations also brought their work to wider public attention recently. The third national German Community Foundation Day took place on 9th June 2011. The event aimed to highlight at national level the creative, effective and sustainable ways in which Community Foundations are working to address social challenges across Germany. More than 50 Community Foundations bearing the ‘Gütesiegel’ (seal of approval) of the German Association of Foundations, along with various community foundation initiatives, celebrated the Community Foundation Day by hosting a range of activities and events across the country. The German Association of Foundations’ seal of approval is awarded to foundations demonstrating the 10 key criteria of a Community Foundation and which pledge to uphold a set of core foundation values, including among others independence and transparency. Community Foundations fund and develop projects in a whole host of thematic areas in Germany, including arts and culture, and preservation of local customs and traditions, as well as youth, education and social issues.
Press release and further information on the Community Foundation Day can be found here. More information about the initiatives of individual community foundations can be found here.