Grantmakers East Forum
Reclaiming Civic Spaces
Imagination, Expression and Creation for Social Change
Vienna, 27 – 29 September 2017
EUROPEAN FOUNDATION CENTRE, AISBL
Philanthropy House ǀ Rue Royale 94 ǀ 1000 Brussels, Belgium ǀ +32.2.512.8938 ǀ [email protected] ǀ www.efc.be ǀ www.philanthropyhouse.eu ǀ VAT: BE0456.810.414
Concept note
Many European societies are facing increasingly complicated challenges to their economic
organization, political legitimation, and social cohesion. Coincidentally – or consequently - we
witness governments constricting those civic spaces available and necessary for healthy
political debate, expression, and interaction. Restrictions on freedom of expression and
association allied to targeted discrimination and attacks towards specific societal groups are
threatening inclusive and open societies. This is a phenomenon present not only in those
societies that suffered historically from repressive or autocratic governments but also in
democracies with longstanding traditions of supporting and promoting universal rights and
democratic norms. It is in this context that the Grantmakers East Forum (GEF) will explore the
role of institutional philanthropy in seeking innovative approaches to reclaiming and
reasserting civic spaces. It will do so from a starting point that such approaches require mutual
dependence and solidarity among a wide range of different actors seeking positive societal
change.
Throughout the programme, particular attention will be given to the role of arts and culture in
responding to the different threats Europe is facing. Plenary sessions and breakout
discussions will explore how arts and culture can be powerful tools to re-open spaces and recapture opportunities for open and challenging debate and expression. Conference sessions
will look at a wide range of different spaces which, taken together comprise the “civic space”
which is increasingly under pressure. Cultural production spaces, physical spaces, education
spaces, social innovation spaces, technology and digital spaces, safe spaces, will all be
examined to be understand the role of philanthropy in making them more robust.
GEF remains an open and welcoming space, a venue for inspiration, imagination, and free
expression. It is a forum for discussion and a vehicle to boost change, nourished by the variety
of experiences brought by the individuals and organisations who take part in it. In such
accommodating open space, the red thread of the discussion will be how imagination,
creativity and expression can be the fuel for social change.
Conference venues
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ERSTE Campus – Am Belvedere 1, 1100 Wien
Semperdepot – Lehargasse 6, 1060 Wien
Ankerbrotfabrik – Absberggasse 27, 1100 Wien
Wednesday 27 September
13:30 – 17:30
Pre-conference event on philanthropy development @ ERSTE GROUP office
1. Introduction and linking to previous meetings (Brussels in February and Warsaw
in June)
2. Three break-out workshops
o Endowment building
o Investment mechanisms
o Community philanthropy
3. Plenary discussion: what is the infrastructure needed to have impact in the areas
discussed in break-out / include a perspective on the operating environment?
17:30 – 18:00
Bus from ERSTE Group office to Semperdepot
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18:00 – 19:00
Registration / welcome aperitif
Public evening session
19:00 – 20.30
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Welcome by ERSTE Foundation and GEF Chair
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Speaker TBD
20:30 – 22:00
Dinner
22:00
Bus to hotels
Thursday 28 September
08:15 – 09:00
Buses from ERSTE Group to Ankerbrotfabrik, location TBD
08:30 – 09:30
Registration + welcome coffee
Opening plenary
During the opening plenary we will set the scene for the discussions throughout the
day.
Welcome:
ERSTE Foundation + Werner Binnenstein-Bachstein, Ankerbrotfabrik
09:30 – 10:45
Moderator
Vesna B. Agic - Fondacija Mozaik, Chair of Grantmakers East Forum
Speakers:
 Prof Michael Meyer, Vienna University of Economics and Business
 Eva Sobotka, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
10:45 – 11:00
Networking coffee
Morning breakout sessions
1. Culture Production Space
The fall and rise of funding art and culture
The role of philanthropy in promoting cultural exchange and contemporary art, again, is
increasingly growing: Over the last years, we have seen cuts on cultural budgets by
national governments as well as private players. These circumstances have made the role
of philanthropy even more vital in this sector. Experts working in foundations that have a
strategic focus on art and culture will share their expertise and discuss their experience.
We invite practitioners who understand their work as a link between art and culture and
society to participate in the discussion. We perceive this panel as a great opportunity to
strengthen the network of cultural foundations and look into the possibilities of cultural
policies as well as lobbying.
11:00 -12:30
Moderator: ERSTE Foundation
Speakers:
 European Cultural Foundation (Netherlands)
 Fritt Ord Foundation (Norway)
 Fundació Bancària ”la Caixa” (Spain)
 Open Society Foundations (USA)
 Vehbi Koç Foundation (Turkey)
 Sabanci Foundation (Turkey)
2. Education Space
Schools as spaces for co-creation empathy and creativity: the potential of arts in education
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Children and young people approximately spend between 700 and 1200 hours a year in
their schools, most likely more time then they spend in any other organized activity and
sometimes more time then they spend with their family. Hence they are an important place
for the education and personal development of the young generation.
But can schools also be a place to strengthen the ‘social capital’ of a community? Can
they be a space to develop roots for a vivid civil society? What is the potential of arts and
culture to empower schools to fulfil this role and nurture a ‘holistic’ development of their
students? How can arts and culture help schools to reach out to their communities and
vice versa?
Moderator: Markus Janzen, Porticus
Speakers:
 Dijana Pejic, Genesis Project
 Dr. Harald Katzmaier, FAS Research
3. Public Spaces
Creating New Public Spaces
Public spaces play a vital role in shaping the social and economic life of communities. New
types of public spaces offering opportunities for meeting, connecting and co-working are
now being created around the world. They serve as an important social resource and
stimulate collaboration for positive impact through offering inclusive physical places to
activists, artists, and social entrepreneurs. The session will feature some of the most
recent projects in Eastern Europe and talk about how these spaces have created hubs for
social impact. The speakers – representatives of public, private, and philanthropy sectors,
and a blogger with a critical view on commodification of public spaces - will outline their
roles and discuss their views on this variation of collective good, which opens new
platforms for ever more marginalized civil society actors.
Moderator: Ketevan Vashakidze, Europe Foundation
Speakers:
 George Ferguson, former Mayor of Bristol (TBD)
 Valeri Chekheria, Ajara Group Hospitality, representing the Fabrika project
 Patrick Dooley, PostPravda
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch
Afternoon Breakout sessions
13:30 – 15:00
4. Safe Space
SAFE and SOUND: Arts and Culture in a Time of Crisis
In today’s world, where socio-political and economic instability and forced migration is our
everyday reality, improving the conditions of co-existence is more important than ever.
Thus, reaching the broadest audience possible and ensuring more active participation in
public life through arts and cultural activities play a substantial role. Adopting public
engagement in the arts paves the way for improvement in many fields such as cultural
rights, participation in public life, social integration and arts education. In the long term, it
brings about an enrichment of cultural life, opens up more space for art within our daily
routine and helps large masses to embrace its power and importance in terms of critical
thinking and participation.
This session will give a close up look into the arts and cultural scene in south eastern
Europe, explore how participation in and production of arts and culture is effected by
economic crises, war and political crises. Based on research, field experience and arts
production practices, the speakers who are coming from diverse backgrounds like
academia, NGO sector and arts, will give examples and engage in discussion on the role
and power of arts and culture in creating safe spaces for all.
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Moderator: Seçil Kınay, Vehbi Koç Foundation
Speakers:
 Leni Konialidis, Greek Turkish Youth Orchestra
 Dr. H. Ayça İnce, İstanbul Bilgi University
 Sejla Kamaric, Artist
 Zeyno Pekunlu, Artist and Curator (TBC)
5. Social Entrepreneurship Space
Shrinking space for civil society motivates creation and development of new and
innovative solutions that will provide resilient and sustainable responses to various social
problems. Thus, the rise of social businesses and social entrepreneurship emerged as a
logical trajectory towards solutions that do good to society and do well in the market place.
After years of dwelling over theoretical issues surrounding the term, we are finally ready
to dive in and discuss practical topics concerning social entrepreneurship – what makes a
social entrepreneur, is there a specific mentoring for impact businesses, what are specifics
for social businesses using art and culture for their impact, what the ecosystem for SE
development should look alike.
In this session, we will bring together three panellists who will open and try to answer
questions about practice of establishing and developing good ecosystem and successful
social businesses.
Moderator: Georg Schön, Ashoka Austria
Speakers:
 Matteo Bartolomeo, Make a Cube3
 Vesna Bajšanski-Agić, Mozaik Foundation
 Dušanka Ilić, Kutpoint ltd
6. Technology & Digital Space
The role of Memory & Heritage Institutions empowered by new technologies in
Strengthening Civil Society: The Role for Foundations
Memory and heritage help us understand who we are and when we come from. They often
serve as tools in creating identities: personal, national and European. With the rise of
populist governments and the overwhelmingly populist rhetoric dominating the public
discourse, the empowerment of the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums)
Institutions are particularly important.
As many cultural institutions, the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums)
have been struggling with coming up to speed with the societal change catalysed by the
internet. More and more resources are digitised, but do not attract users’ attention.
Attendance rises in big and recognised cultural institutions, but the small and local need
to reinvent themselves in order to find audiences.
Moderator: Anna Sienicka, Techsoup Global
Speakers:
 Aleksandra Janus, Open Culture Studio
 Alicja Peszkowska, National Gallery of Denmark
15:00 – 15:15
Networking coffee
Interactive Music Workshop by Rafael Neira Wolf, Superar
Based in Vienna and active in Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Slovakia and
Switzerland, Superar offers free, high-quality musical training for ALL children, to empower
those taking part to ultimately boost their chances in society of the future.
15:15 – 16:15
Together with Rafael Neira Wolf, an experienced Superar trainer and artist on stage at the
Vienna Music School, Vienna Concert House and the private University of Music- and Art
in Vienna, we will experience the positive energy unleashed by music, which is able to
generate empathy and transcends borders. Don’t be afraid, all that is requested is your
openness to make a transformative experience and co-create a space of joy and harmony.
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Closing plenary
In the closing plenary three expert speakers will connect the different discussions of the
day and look forward to what it is philanthropy and civil society can do together to reclaim
civic spaces.
16:15 – 17:30
Moderator:
Alina Serban, ERSTE Stiftung
Speakers:
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18:00 – 20.00
Kati Marton, Trustee of the Central European University (confirmed)
Katherine Watson, European Cultural Foundation (confirmed)
Third speaker TBC
Dinner
Concert by Proximity Mine
20:00 – 22:00
Proximity Mine is an up and coming band from Mitrovica, Kosovo, led by frontowman
Ilda Krama and lead guitarist Alem Redzepagic. Their songs comine Ilda’s background in
indie, pop and alternative with Alem’s love for metal.
With members from three different ethnic groups and both sides of ethnically divided
Mitrovica, Proximity Mine crosses all musical and social borders and gives a vocie to the
young people of Sout-East Europe.
21:15
First bus back to hotel
22:00
Final bus back to hotel
Friday 29 September 2017
Site visits
10:00 - 12:30
Option 1 – Vienna Design Week
VIENNA DESIGN WEEK is Austria´s largest design festival, with a variety of locations
and events in Vienna. The festival, curated by Lilli Hollein, will enter its 11th round.
Opening up creative processes and giving scope for experimentation on site are core
elements of the festival concept. During VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, the city becomes a
platform and showcase of design.
Mesteshukar ButiQ (MBQ) is one of the organisations we will visit at the VIENNA
DESIGN WEEK. It is a Bucharest based social enterprise working on revaluing
traditional Roma craftsmanship. We provide premium lifestyle products with a story and
design that stands out in any context, using a blend of centuries old techniques
combined with contemporary design. Our product line is comprised of jewellery, clothes
and home- decor objects developed from a selection of natural materials such as wood,
copper, leather, wicker and fabrics.
Option 2 – Exhibition frei-raum
Almost 30 year after the fall of the “Iron Curtain” Vienna still is described as a gateway
between “East” and “West”. This fact has to do with the history of Austria as former empire.
Vienna indeed was a melting pot of different nations at the end of the last century. On the
other hand Austria’s role as a neutral country of the “West” and receiver of Gastarbeiter in
the 1960s and 1970s adds to this. Especially post-1989 Vienna was a host for artists and
scholars from the neighboring countries and thereby continues this long history of cultural
exchange. The themes of friendship and exchange, social movements and activism, the
historical dimension of imperialism and its impact on the present and the strengthening of
new nationalisms lie at the basis of the artistic productions. A number of events offer an
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opportunity for temporary exchange over the entire duration of the exhibition and
emphasize the process-related character.
Option 3 – House of Philanthropy
The House of Philanthropy is a co-working space of Austrian foundations and other
organizations enabling and supporting social start-ups, impact investing and social
businesses. It has only be founded in November 2016 on one floor in the well-known
building of the Old Stock Exchange in Vienna on Ringstrasse. The House of
Philanthropy was co-iniated by Peopleshare Foundation, Essl Foundation and Ashoka
Austria. Currently some 10 organizations have moved their premises, including
Bluehendes Oesterreich, Internet Privatstiftung Austria and the Association of Charitable
Austrian Foundations, working on very different social and environmental issues. A
delegation of these organization will be hosting you and is looking forward to connect
and share experiences with the delegates of the Grantmakers East Forum.
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