4. Letter from the Team

2022 was a rollercoaster year for the Evens Foundation. We experienced the significant organisational highs of our 30th-anniversary celebrations and completing projects that were years in the making, alongside global lows, including Covid-19 uncertainty early in the year, the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the fallout from the ongoing conflict.

We also lost two of the Foundation’s close friends: Sophie Lauwers, the director of Bozar, who died in May, and Caroline Pauwels, the mastermind behind Difference Day (see section 9.2), who passed away in August.

These contexts set a reflective tone for the year that was fundamental in informing how we shaped the day-long programme for our anniversary event. We titled the event “Tipping Points” to express the strange moment we found ourselves in and invited our guests to reflect on the challenges of contemporary Europe.

The event was a positive reminder of why we do what we do. Meeting up with diverse partners and friends again after years of forced distance was a true pleasure, and the day was peppered with moments of joy, alongside considered and lively debates and meaningful discussions. We introduced long-standing partners to new ones, forging new connections while sharing a moment of optimism.

While we planned the programme, we acted quickly to support projects related to Ukraine (see section 10.4), including offering financial assistance to on-the-ground organisations.

We also engaged in a process of introspection as we examined the core of who we are as a Foundation through the Theory of Change (see section 7) and a changeover in leadership.

This has set us in good stead for a year of action in 2023, with a new vision for the Foundation that will define our activities and projects for the future. We look forward to sharing our evolution with our network of partners, laureates and supporters in the coming year.

In the year 2022, the strategic plan of the Evens Foundation, which started in 2018 and was delayed due to the Covid epidemic, was completed, and our Foundation launched the preparations for the celebration of its 30th anniversary. This year was also a moment of reflection that brought together the entire Evens community.

This process has given us a new awareness and appreciation for the permanence of the Foundation’s commitments and its pioneering character: most of the themes that have been the object of its work since its creation have now become major issues of society. At a collective level, our Foundation anticipated the mobilisation of citizens all over Europe, engaging in a wide range of formal and informal initiatives. 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.

The year 2022 also saw the conutation of the Evens Foundation’s evolution. Following a necessary process of introspection after thirty years of existence, it tried to redefine its objectives and refocus its action on themes such as youth mental health, while reaffirming its commitment to democracy, in line with both the wishes of the Founders’ family and contemporary concerns. But such an evolution would not have been possible without the immense amount of work accomplished in the last five years, within the framework of the two initiatives defined by our strategic plan: ‘Common Purpose Through Differences’,

and ‘Norms and Values

Within the European Reality’. These concerns unfold several thematic axes, exposing the challenges that Europe faces.

The achievements in 2022 explored different forms of togetherness and belonging, called for new solidarities and aspired to create a neutral space for the plurality of voices and discordant viewpoints to intersect. Examples are many: a partnership with College de l’Europe in Bruges and the publication of What Makes An Assembly? Stories, Experiments and Inquiries with Sternberg Press, to name just two. In these two last years of operating under uncertainty, all the activities that have been engaged would 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.

Finally, the year 2022 was the year in which I put an end to my responsibilities as the head of the Foundation. While remaining on its Board, I will also become the Chair of its new Advisory Board. This is a new stage in my commitment to the Foundation, and I assume this new role with gratitude to all those who work in the Foundation and pride in the work we have accomplished. All my best wishes to the new management.