The early years of the 1990s were turbulent years for Europe as a whole. The fall of the Iron Curtain was one among other events, and people in Western Europe got a glimpse of the social situation in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2011, it has been 20 years since representatives from a number of Dutch foundations undertook an exploratory trip to Hungary and (at the time) Czechoslovakia to investigate possibilities for Dutch support to small-scale social initiatives. In the wake of that visit, the network of the Co-operating Netherlands Foundations for Central and Eastern Europe (CNF) was born.
The CNF network grew during the years to a wide circle of cooperating organisations among the region. They all came together to mark the twentieth anniversary of the programme in the countries in transition at a celebration gathering in Amsterdam.
An informal gathering on 12 October provided an opportunity for exchange and networking. The formal meeting took place in the beautiful old building of the Convent of Bethany in Amsterdam on the following day.
All participants from the Dutch foundations and partner organisations from Central and Eastern Europe looked back together – through words and images - at the growth of the network and at twenty years of support to civil society initiatives. They also looked ahead at future opportunities for cooperation and for civil society in the region.
Thomas van der Ven, general coordinator of the programme for many years spoke about the beginning and the vision of CNF. Tom Bax, CNF chairman and Director of Janivo Foundation congratulated the participants and presented an update of the recent years. Many of participants shared their experience and lessons learned in the frame of the programme.
The pioneers have started the programme as a temporary co-operation. Twenty years later it has come to an end. During the second part of the meeting Vlado Matej from Socia Foundation in Slovakia, Piet Broerefijn from Sunflower Charity Foundation in Estonia and Maria Petkova from Tulip Foundation in Bulgaria presented the successes and the challenges in the development of the local grant making organisations.
