The Evens Foundation is a public-benefit foundation started as a family endeavour in 1990. Its founders, Irène Evens-Radzyminska and Georges Evens, established it because of their commitment to the European project. Born in Poland, they witnessed the troubled history of the Second World War that tore the continent apart. Forced to leave their country of birth, they found a new home in Belgium.
Corinne Evens, daughter of the founders, is the Honorary President of the Foundation. Monique Canto-Sperber is the Chairwoman of the Executive Committee of the Foundation.
The expression Living together harmoniously in Europe embodies the founders’ vision and stands at the core of our work. We look for tangible ways to engage with this concern across the arts, democracy, education, media and science.
We identify and support innovative ideas and award achievements through our prizes and calls. Furthermore, we foster experimental projects that bridge the gap between research and practice and facilitate knowledge exchange through lectures, seminars, debates and publications.
We collaborate with an ever-expanding network of citizens, practitioners, researchers, NGOs, academic and cultural institutions connecting different communities and perspectives across the continent and beyond.
As an operative foundation, we initiate and run projects together with our partners. Since the foundation’s outset, we have opted to take risks and we remained solidly committed to experimentation—be it through designing our own projects or supporting independent pioneering ideas. We mainly focus on the development of pilot projects testing scientific hypotheses, innovative pedagogies or artistic processes.
Working from a range of different areas in Europe, we have acquired a deep knowledge of local and transnational realities and the stakes involved. Our initiatives consider these specificities while seeking a broad dissemination and pan-European praxis exchange.
Find out all about our activities and projects in the last years in our Annual Reports or check our current projects and prizes.