Our Collaborative Projects
In the last fifteen years, NEF has incubated or supported around 20 collaborative projects.
NEF collaborative projects unfold under three main domains of action: democracy, social inclusion and international development. Those domains represent important areas of engagement for foundations across Europe.
Democracy
Amid global rises in polarization, authoritarianism and surveillance, democracy is at a crossroads. This area of NEF’s work seeks to consolidate European partnerships to strengthen solidarity and democratic principles in the digital age. Our collaborative projects seek to influence key developments in Europe – on supporting transparency and pluralism online and offline, on regulating tech policies to serve participation and human rights, and on keeping citizens and civil society engaged in the discussions that concern them.
Social Inclusion
Social cohesion remains a central challenge for our European societies, in which inequalities and diversity have become substantially starker. Covid-19 has hit the most vulnerable groups in health and society hardest. These include the elderly, children, women and migrants. Improving the social participation and integration of those groups in an age of intersectional crises is essential to the social justice mission that brings collaborative projects together in this area of work. Building an inclusive vision for a future impacted by public health and climate crises will require investment and community mobilization from the local to the transnational level.
International Development
International development brings collaborative projects with an international remit together at NEF. This area of work is characterized by a diversity of themes on philanthropic engagement. For example, foundations come together through the Joint Action for Farmers’ Organisations in West Africa (JAFOWA) to support a strong and equitable farmers’ movement in West Africa.
