Initiatives and networks
© Centar za nenasilnu akciju
© Centar za nenasilnu akciju
The EVZ Foundation is a strategic partner and supporter of civil society. As such, it is involved in various professional and thematic networks and platforms. It also actively initiates and promotes the development of networking formats.
Subject: Culture(s) of remembrance
The Digital Collective Memory platform is a digital meeting place for experts in digital memory culture, which was established in 2021 in cooperation with iRights.Lab. It currently brings together around 170 actors from 13 countries.
The Foundation is part of the Global Learning Hub for Transitional Justice. The project is implemented by the Berghof Foundation and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The aim is to bring together different experiences in the sphere of transitional justice and to strengthen global exchange relating to issues of the culture of remembrance, dealing with the past and reconciliation. The Foundation contributes its experience and expertise in this area.
More information: transitionaljusticehub.org
Subject: Ukraine
In March 2022, approximately 50 memorial sites, museums and various initiatives as well as associations from all over Germany established an aid network for survivors of National Socialist persecution in Ukraine in order to help the elderly victims of National Socialist exploitation and extermination policies and their families quickly and without bureaucracy. The institutions represented in the network have been in contact with many of them for several years and decades. The long-standing partner organizations are also supported not just in Ukraine, but also in Russia and Belarus: for the benefit of staff but also to secure their work results, archive materials and data. A donation account has been set up for this purpose, which is administered in trust by the Berlin-based association KONTAKTE-KOHTAKTbI, which has many years of experience in disbursing donations in the region. The coordination of the network is supported by the EVZ Foundation.
More information: www.hilfsnetzwerk-nsverfolgte.de/en/
Further alliances and cooperations
In cooperation with the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO) the organization specifically promotes Franco-German youth encounters that focus on joint memory work.
In the "Change Makers" Policy Lab, young people from Israel and Germany look at issues such as climate change and security in both countries. It is a result of the cooperation with the German-Israeli Future Forum (DIZF) that aims to jointly promote youth exchange between the two countries.
The EVZ Foundation is a member of the Association of German Foundations and is committed to the Guiding Principles of Good Practice for Foundations in its funding activities. The principles provide a reference framework for effective and altruistic foundation action.
The EVZ Foundation is a signatory to the Transparent Civil Society Initiative. At the suggestion of Transparency International Deutschland e.V., players from civil society and academia have defined ten basic items that every civil society organization should make accessible to the public. They include, among other things, the articles of association, the names of the key decision-makers as well as information about the source of funds, the use of funds and the HR structure.
To the ten items of transparency information of the EVZ Foundation
The Berlin Foundation Week aims to highlight the commitment of Berlin's foundations. For this purpose, the Berlin Foundation Week provides a stage for foundations to present their projects; it offers a platform for joint dialog; it shows how lively a pluralistic society can be and facilitates cooperation between foundations. The EVZ Foundation has been a member of the Berlin Foundation Round Table since 2022, which supports the Berlin Foundation Week with its resources, ideas and experience as well as its financial contribution.
More information: https://www.berlinerstiftungswoche.eu/ueber-uns/die-initiatoren
The completed three-month fellowship program supported "Activists at Risk" who are personally in danger due to their civil society engagement in their home countries. It was set up after the start of the full-scale Russian war of aggression. On the one hand, it was used for Ukrainian partners who had to leave their country at very short notice for safety reasons or were unable to continue their work under the circumstances of the war. The program also applied to partners in Belarus and Russia who are committed to the objectives of the EVZ Foundation and work for peace, which exposes them to great political pressure in their countries.
The program enabled 19 individuals who have to leave their country because of the war or who are personally in danger in their home country as "Activists at Risk" to have a three-month sojourn abroad. During this time, they were able to acquire experience in host organizations, continue their commitment or reorient themselves abroad.
Find out more: EVZ Fellowships
Learning from each other, meeting colleagues and forging effective alliances. These are the concerns of the networking format that is aimed at communicators from memorial sites, foundations and organizations. Practitioners give insights into their communication workshop from relaunch to campaigns and share dos and don'ts.
There are also numerous other organizations and partners with which the Foundation works together. A list of all project sponsors and projects can also be found in the Project Finder.
