Press cuttings - Pinpointing Priorities: Polish Perspectives
06.03.2000
The conference proceedings were opened by EFC Chairman Luc Tayart de Borms, Chief Executive of the King Baudouin Foundation, who welcomed delegates to the opening plenary session of the 11th Annual General Assembly and Conference of the Centre which, he added, was the second EFC Assembly to be held in a country in Central Europe.
It was appropriate, said Mr. Tayart de Borms, that AGA 2000 was being hosted in Kraków, one of the most beautiful cities in Poland and one with such a wonderful architectural and cultural heritage. A first duty, therefore, was to congratulate the members of the Polish Host Committee on their choice of conference venue and to thank them most sincerely for the time, effort and resources they had so generously contributed to the organisation of this year's event. Congratulations were also due to the EFC Secretariat and staff for the invaluable behind-the-scenes work that made each Assembly possible, not least in view of the logistical and other problems that impact on meetings of this size, not least bearing in mind the wide range of satellite events that are now such a traditional and important feature of each annual event.
It same as no surprise, he said, that Kraków old town, with its magnificent marketplace and Barbican fortifications, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was essential to recall, however, that Kraków is much, much more than a tourist destination:
The history of this city, once the capital and economic and political centre of Poland and a major trading gateway between Western and Eastern Europe, resonates with civil society overtones This was the nations intellectual and cultural locus, as evidenced by the surviving medieval structure of the Jagiellonian University, the second oldest university in Central Europe.
Over the years, ' the European Foundation Centre has come to be synonymous with quality and relevance to the point where
" EFC" is acknowledged as a mark of quality - as a generic brand, I am certain that this Assembly will build on that and I trust that, in our deliberations over the next two days, we shall do Kraków proud.
Mr. Tayart de Borms pointed to an AGA agenda which, he noted, ranged across the full spectrum of civil society concerns from organizational capacity-building through thematic issues such as education, minorities and multiculturalism, intermediaries, and community philanthropy. Current issues on the agenda included corporate citizenship; benchmarking; ethical investment; the new informational technologies and the new EFC Philanthropy Portal, and the search for new donors in the wake of intergenerational transfers of wealth and the emergence of a new community of young entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, regional and International issues would be addressed under the aegis of the EFC European Union and International Committees and within the framework of the Funding East Forum.
The Chair concluded his brief opening statement by introducing Archbishop Jozef Zycinski, Professor of Philosophy and Theology at the Papal Theological Academy in Kraków and Chancellor of the Catholic University of Lublin, who had graciously agreed to moderate the opening plenary session on The New Europe; Foundations for Partnership.
The session featured a distinguished panel:
Professor Maciej Grabski, President of the Foundation for Polish Science and Chair of the AGA 2000 Host Committee
Former Polish Prime Minister Professor Hanna Suchocka
Hryhoriy Nemyrya of the Institute of International Relations at Kiev University for European and International Studies; and
John O'Rourke, Deputy Ambassador of the European Union to Poland..jpg)
Maciej Grabski: "Many mistakes were made but we are learning fast..."
Professor Grabski opened by pointing to the intrinsic and extrinsic importance of the Kraków Assembly: intrinsic, in the sense that it marked a contribution to the internal functioning of the foundation community, and extrinsic, in that it addressed the future course of organised philanthropy and its relevance to European civil society.
Deeply-Rooted Concepts
Professor Grabski noted that the concepts of charity and good works were deeply-rooted in Polish history and tradition. When foundation assets were seized by the Communist state in 1952 N on the grounds that such assets being held in non-state hands was ideologically unacceptable to a centralist regime foundations effectively ceased to operate, as indeed did other democratic structures:
For nearly half a century, there were no foundations active in Poland other than non--Polish foundations
Pre-eminent among these were the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, the Robert Bosch Stiftung; the Volkswagen Stitftung, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and many others who deserve the greatest respect as it was to a large extent due to them that, in Poland, the Iron Curtain had sufficient holes in it as to make possible contacts with the Free World.
Re-Emergence of Foundations
Prof. Grabski pointed to the fart it was the scientific and artistic communities which benefited most. This was only natural, as scientists and artists are the best conveyors of ideas. In that respect, Poland was much more fortunate than others countries which were coerced into the Soviet empire:
In the 1980s, when Communist rule in Poland began to decay under pressure from the Solidarity movement and marginal political pressures were just around the corner, it was due to the efforts of the Catholic Church in Poland that a new Law on Foundations was passed ~albeit with difficulty~ and that the creation of independent, non government institutions again became possible. In effect, the first Polish foundation - the Rural Development Foundation - started activity in 1988, closing a long period of absence of International civil society organizations east of the Iron Curtain.
Since then, a large number of diversely -structured organizations have emerged at the International, national and local level. Their endowment structures vary from Treasury--funded to corporate donor-supported. The growing commitment of the corporate sector is manifest in the establishment of major corporate foundations, That said, the number of independent grantmaking foundations is still too small.- of some 5,000 registered foundations, only a handful are in that category.
Limited Awareness
Prof. Grabski noted that foundation activity in Poland had started with only a limited awareness of the modus operandi of a modern foundation. Foreign models existed but had not been studied in any great detail. As a result, many mistakes were made initially, and these were compounded by the proliferation of different, imprecise and often contradictory legislation which, on the whole, may have proved detrimental to the good reputation of foundations generally:
However, we learned fart, espousing the principles of good practice, not least those set out by the European Foundation Centre,
We take pride in being reliable and fully transparent and we are working hard to reinforce the image of foundations as an indispensable element of civil society.
Nothing can be taken for granted, however, especially the relationship between foundations and public authorities and policymakers Government and politicians have to understand and accept the role and relevance of foundations and other NGOs
This will take time. But what we are asking for is not too much N simply the creation of a clear legal framework and operating environment for donors rather than the unclear (and unfavourable) climate that currently exists We can only hope that, as the European Union expands, our law will become more coherent with the best solutions currently available..jpg)
Hanna Suchocka: "Foundations have fulfilled a very important social purpose in breaking the habits of the previous decades ..."
(Fragments of the report EUROPEAN FOUNDATION CENTRE ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CONFERENCE, KRAKÓW 2000)