Chairwoman’s Message

Monique Canto-Sperber Chairwoman, Executive Committee

The year 2020 marked history with an unprecedented global health crisis causing a disruption from which, as we write this report halfway through 2021, is still unresolved, and for which future consequences to our societies are still to be discovered.

None of us would have foreseen the dramatic health and economic situation in which the world has found itself and the consequences society has had to accept as a result. Not long ago, it would have been difficult to imagine the restrictions recently experienced in regards to our freedom of movement, of assembly, or even the impact on education or access to cultural spaces.

We have experienced, beyond the differing views and criticisms of the European Project, its usefulness, whether through its integrated response preventing a heavier death toll in Europe or through an unprecedented mobilisation to create a strong economic recovery plan amidst a wave of solidarity.

On the other hand, it has also been the year of the U.K. leaving the European Union and thus a moment to reflect, as a critical friend, on the future vision for the European Project.

At an individual and collective level, we have also seen the best of mobilisations with citizens all over Europe engaging in a wide range of formal and informal initiatives, both as immediate responses to the public health crisis and as political actors to reshape our societies’ functioning, priorities and policies. In parallel, innovative ways of belonging and coming together emerged that gave life and a voice to the long-standing work of the Evens Foundation over its 30-year span. Moreover, our guiding principle to bridge radically different opinions to nurture a contemporary and sustainable vision for the future became more relevant than ever. All we have collectively experienced during this unique year has reaffirmed our direction as an organisation. The Evens Foundation will not cease to promote, support and initiate harmonious living together in this unprecedented turning point in history.

With the ambition of rethinking and experimenting with ways of living together in complex times, the Evens Foundation’s projects build upon the diversity of human histories, cultures, and experiences, considering the recognition of these differences as a precondition to shape a common world.

For thirty years, we have been active in key fields of intervention such as democracy, education, media, arts and science. For our strategic plan 2018–2020, we designed two leading initiatives: Common Purpose Through Differences, and Norms and Values Within the European Reality. These concerns unfold several thematic axes, exposing the challenges that Europe faces.

Our projects explore different forms of togetherness and belonging, call for new solidarities and aspire to create a neutral space for the plurality of voices and discordant viewpoints to intersect. We seek to critically investigate values, social constructs and narratives in order to enable collective reflection within the wider society.

In this very unique year of operating under permanent uncertainty, which we are reporting about, some of our activities had to be cancelled, postponed or reinvented. As with most of our peer organisations, all the activities that have been realised for which you have the examples below, could not have been possible without the creativity and engagement of our team, the solid trust and collaboration of our partners and the adaptive support received from our board.