The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) is a Dutch foundation started in 1954. Its mission to "initiate and support cultural expression and interaction that empower people to realise a shared future in Europe".
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Organisation
The European Cultural Foundation was set up in Geneva, in 1954, by the Swiss philosopher Denis de Rougemont. The Foundation’s first President was one of the principal architects of the European Economic Community, (later the European Union), Robert Schuman. However, from the beginning the Foundation was mainly a forum for industrialists and bankers and its Board of Governors in the 1950s was dominated by members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg group.
The foundation has several European programmes including "Plan Europe 2000", the European Commission’s educational programmes Erasmus (1987–95), Eurydice (1980–2001) and Tempus (1992–93) and the Cultural Policy Research Award (2004-2013, now administered by ENCATC). ECF has set up project initiatives such as East-West Parliamentary Practice Project and Art for Social Change. ECF is a registered charity and is funded by BankGiro Loterij and de Lotto in partnership with Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds. It is a member of the Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation (NEF).
Website
ECF website