Evens Foundation

“Teaching motivated kids from motivated families is not what this work is about.” Apolena Rychlíková explores the unexpectedly controversial issue of inclusive education in the Czech Republic, as part of a Solutions Journalism project around the Czech local elections: https://lnkd.in/e5FxFaJq Solutions Journalism focuses on reporting how people are addressing social issues, going beyond the problems to highlight potential solutions. Supported by a Strategic Microgrant from the Evens Foundation, the article is one of three born out of this Solutions Journalism pilot project with Transitions and the Page 404/Page Not Found media platform, co-founded by Rychlikova. Page 404/Page Not Found (https://pagenotfound.cz/) aims to foster dialogue between journalists and readers, encouraging engagement on important issues that often go underreported. "Regional elections are an ideal time to experiment and pilot new approaches because it is here that voters often express very specific demands in relation to their daily lives, allowing us to examine how well the political elite reacts to these demands before, during, and after the campaign,” explains Rychlikova. Find out more about our Strategic Microgrants: https://lnkd.in/eAtZFjSb Image: A first-grade classroom at Graficka Street school. Photo by Apolena Rychlikova.

🗳 Last week, local elections marked the first time voting was not mandatory in Belgium—a significant shift for a country where turnout had long been ensured by law. Participation plummeted. 🗣 The sudden drop in engagement of almost 40% should surprise no one given our current approach to politics, argues Marjolein Delvou, Evens Foundation programme curator, Antwerp resident, and co-coordinator of the #ChangingDemocracies project:   "In the vain hope that we might actually learn something new, we watched a political debate between the party leaders of the local elections in Antwerp last week. Our 11-year-old daughter—who has a keen interest and belief in politics—was still awake and curious, so we invited her to join us.   To her surprise and frustration, she discovered that the participants were barely given time to explain their point, interrupted each other, failed to listen, answered around and sidestepped questions, and scared people.    The journalists on duty stood by and watched: there were no critical questions, no corrections when politicians babbled nonsense, no ‘format’ to enable a constructive conversation.   How do you explain to your child, in good conscience, that this is how politics operates? That our democracy is not about exploring different world views and understanding their strengths and weaknesses, but only about the clash, about satisfying one's supporters and winning over as many new souls as possible.   Today’s political debates don’t inspire us to dream of a different reality, a democracy that works for all and meets the demands and challenges of the times. Instead, they narrow our view and drag the audience into the kind of political bickering that has seriously eroded public trust in institutions.   At best, they reveal what our democracy has sunk to: a great election spectacle for your personal entertainment.    Isn’t it high time we woke up to this? To leave behind the doomsday rhetoric and engage in honest conversations about what we need to sustain, nurture and help our society flourish.   We owe it to the next generation. Ask yourself, ask others, listen, have a conversation: Is my democracy your democracy? And what are you willing to do if it’s not?" Follow the Changing Democracies project on Instagram: @ChangingDemocracies.eu   #Democracy #Elections #Belgie #Anvers #Future

It's time for #DemocracyAlive - 2024 edition! 💥 The rise of far-right movements across the globe pose major challenges to democracy. 🌍 The day after the US elections we will discuss how we can overcome the challenge of authoritarianism, harness technology and defend our most fundamental rights. The 3 panel discussions will feature: 🔸Hannah Neumann, MEP, Greens/EFA 🔸Joseph Elborn, Executive Director, Evens Foundation 🔸Laura Lázaro Cabrera, Counsel and Director of the Equity and Data Programme, Centre for Democracy & Technology Europe 🔸Marie-Hélène Boulanger,Head of Unit, DG JUST, European Commission 🔸Nanna-Louise Linde, Vice President, European Government Affairs, Microsoft 🔸Omran Shroufi, Post-doctoral Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel 🔸Renate Schroeder, Director, European Federation of Journalists 🔸Valeria Ronzitti, Secretary General, SGI Europe & Vice-President of European Movement International 🔸Vassilis Ntousas, Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow, German Marshall Fund 🔸Vittorio Di Trapani, President, Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana 🔸and so much more! Join some of Europe's most influential voices as they confront the critical challenges facing democracy today! Sign up 👉 https://lnkd.in/eBqqwymz

🎉 Now Open 🎉 Evens Arts Prize laureate Femke Herregraven has launched her solo exhibition, DIALECT, at Radius in Delft! 🌍✨ 💶 DIALECT explores how language is increasingly shaped by finance and capitalism, asking how we can break free from these transactional systems. Herregraven reimagines language as a tool for resistance and creativity, empowering us to imagine futures beyond capitalism. The exhibition also highlights the connection between language and the local ecology of the space, creating a unique "dialect" for the site. 📅 DIALECT is open until 24 November – don’t miss it! https://lnkd.in/eP9KmDkr Image: Femke Herregraven, The Murmur of the Dying, 2023, film still #FemkeHerregraven #RadiusDelft #VisualArts #EvensArtsPrize #EnvironmentalChange #ArtExhibition #LanguageAndCapitalism #CulturalEngagement

🎉 Congratulations to Emilie Caspar – one of our 2016 Science Prize laureates – whose book "Just Following Orders: Atrocities and The Brain Science of Obedience" with Cambridge University Press has just been published! 📘 The book is the culmination of 8 years of neuroscientific research into coercion and obedience and how it affects agency. “Throughout history, no society has been untouched by horrific events where obedience to authority played a pivotal role,” explains Emilie in her post. “The ‘Just Following Orders’ defence has been, and still is, frequently invoked by perpetrators to justify their actions.” 🧠 Dr Caspar – now Ghent University – was one of four researchers who collectively won the 2016 Evens Science Prize. “Their compelling research brings together neuroscience and philosophy and raises interesting questions for the organization of society,” said the prize jury “…[it] provides insights into the importance and consequences of a disconnection between agency and responsibility. It indicates that, if you are coerced into taking an action, your sense of responsibility for it and its outcome is diminished.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/exThGeSf

😢 We are very sad to hear that the Black Studies undergraduate degree at Birmingham City University, developed by our Education Prize laureate Kehinde Andrews, is closing for new students. The course was the first of its kind, exploring critical pedagogy that challenged Eurocentrism, focusing on student and community experiences and challenging how knowledge is produced and taught within the university context and beyond. Current students will be able to complete their studies, but new students at the university will only be able to experience some modules of the course, which are being redistributed across other degrees, according to Professor Andrews. “We are trying to do something new, but it just hasn’t had the support,” says Professor Andrews in his podcast Make It Plain, where he talks more about the reasoning behind the cancellation against a background of recruitment and funding issues in higher education in the UK. “There was this idea that because Black Studies is different and because I’m relatively well known, it’s just going to promote itself. That’s not how it works.” Make It Plain is supported by the Evens Foundation as part of the Education Prize programme. #blackstudies #evenseducationprize https://lnkd.in/eqBDX_vy

“We were really preparing for an absolute sh*tshow of misinformation and disinformation, and actually – it turned out – massively overestimated...” Listen to the first episode of the new podcast from Debating Europe, featuring our own Joseph Elborn on AI and the EU elections.

🌍 Spotlight on Vilnius: The Changing Democracies Workshop Arrives in Lithuania’s Historic Capital! 🇱🇹 After a long, hot summer, we’re thrilled to be back on the road with the Changing Democracies Travelling Workshop, now making its stop in the heart of Vilnius – a city deeply rooted in the struggle for democratic freedom. 🗳 Lithuania’s legacy of democracy serves as a powerful backdrop. In 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence, sparking a wave of democratic movements across the region. But has democracy really delivered on its promises for Lithuanians? 🤔 The workshop Is My Democracy Your Democracy?, invites visitors to engage with this question and explore different visions and experiences of democracy across Europe. Through a selection of fragments from 31 interviews with individuals living across Europe, each with a unique experience of the transition to democracy, the workshop challenges visitors to reflect on the evolving nature of democracy—what it means, who it serves, and how it’s experienced across Europe. The Vilnius edition of the workshop is hosted by Atviros Lietuvos fondas (Open Lithuania Foundation) in the Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus I National Museum of Lithuania House of Signatories. Surrounded by the portraits of the signatories of Lithuania’s 1918 Act of Independence, the location serves as a poignant reminder of the impact ordinary citizens can have in shaping the future of their nations. The Open Lithuania Foundation is one of 13 partners across 10 countries working on this ambitious pan-European project. Founded in 1990, the foundation has been at the forefront of promoting democratic values, human rights, and civic engagement in Lithuania. During the workshop’s run in Vilnius, the ALF team will be hosting school visits and educational tours to help visitors engage with the workshop. Join us in Vilnius as we continue this essential dialogue on democracy, exploring how these shared stories can inspire new ways of thinking about our social and political landscapes. #Democracy #ChangingDemocracies #Vilnius #Europe #CivicEngagement #Lithuania

"The women in our podcasts didn't just sit back and accept the situation; they fought against it every day, week and month. Their persistence serves as a powerful example for all of us." Elena Bonner was a soviet dissident, human rights activist, world war veteran, doctor and writer. Her story features in a new episode of Soviet Divas – a collaboration between NORM podcast studio and Radio Sakharov, the Russian-language podcast station staffed by journalists in exile from Russia. Listen to the podcast here: https://lnkd.in/e6RYhyxS "We need to highlight the importance of perseverance, and we can do this through the stories we are re-telling," explain Dasha Cherkudinova and Nastia Kurganskaya, the journalists behind Soviet Divas*. "It's crucial not to give up despite the challenges we face." The podcast episode was supported by a Strategic Microgrant from the Evens Foundation, which was granted to German investigative journalism organisation CORRECTIV to support its work on the Radio Sakharov project. *Dasha Cherkudinova and Nastia Kurganskaya were talking with Viera Zuborova and Polina Filippova.

Russian journalists in exile are still producing content for Russian audiences, against the odds. Among them are the team at Radio Sakharov. Based in Germany and supported by independent investigative journalism organisation CORRECTIV, Radio Sakharov was created to circumvent the censorship laws that have pushed independent media and reporters out of Russia. In 2023, the Evens Foundation awarded a strategic grant to the Radio Sakharov project. This grant supported a pilot collaboration with the young journalists and activists from NORM podcast studio to produce an exclusive podcast episode of the popular podcast show Soviet Divas, covering the life and works of Elena Bonner, a prominent Soviet dissident, human rights activist, world war veteran, doctor and writer. The grant was also designed to help the platform with its distribution and promotion, develop its technical infrastructure, and cover some of the podcast's core costs. You can listen to the podcast episode of Elena Bonner now on Radio Sakharov: https://lnkd.in/e6RYhyxS Find out more about our Strategic Grants here: https://lnkd.in/eAtZFjSb