Desirable Futures: Continuing Our Inspiring Journey

We look forward, not as a simple continuation of the present, but as architects of a tomorrow that begins today. “Desirable futures” is not just a slogan for 2024, it is our active commitment to society and the planet. In our daily work, at the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, collaboration is the driving force that drives us towards new possible horizons, with knowledge and science as compasses that guide us.

We face complex challenges – both environmental and social – that require concrete and collaborative actions. Our path to change is one of constant co-creation, where every voice and every action counts. That is why, beyond supporting projects in their financing, we are dedicated to accompanying, catalyzing growth, giving visibility and weaving narratives that resonate and mobilize. Inspiration comes from every step, every project, every dream that looks towards a sustainable future.

If we look back to see everything achieved in 2023, our purpose of “creating together” has been a daily reality. Hand in hand with every project and collaboration we have embarked on, every meeting and every shared idea is the starting point of that desirable future we seek in 2024.

From the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, together with our entire ecosystem, we are following an exciting path that in 2024 will celebrate 10 years of our action in Spain through our lines of action: Citizen Art and Sustainable Food. We could say that this stage is just the equivalent of childhood, in which it is important that people pay attention to their environment and acquire a greater critical sense.

Now, on the eve of a new year, we take a look back at this year, the bonds we have woven and the stories we have lived. Working together, we have drawn up a map of creative and sustainable itineraries that define not only who we are, but also where we are going. Now it all begins. Our desirable future begins.

TOWARDS DESIRABLE, MORE INCLUSIVE, DIVERSE AND SUPPORTIVE FUTURES

Throughout 2023, a network of agents and collaborators focused on building a fair and sustainable society has been strengthened in the ecosystem around the Foundation. In Arte Ciudadano, we highlight the work of the PLANEA network, operating from educational centers in the Valencian Community, the Community of Madrid and Andalusia. Its results, spread throughout the country, set the course towards an education that nurtures the critical sense from childhood, creating the foundations for the society of tomorrow. We remember the Art and School day at the Prado Museum, where administrative leaders, stripped of bureaucracy, immersed themselves in an ocean of good practices of artistic integration. Miquel Iceta, the then Minister of Culture and Sport, highlighted the need to intertwine education and culture, underlining the importance of this link.

Culture, as a transformative force, must flow horizontally and openly in our society. That is why mediation and cultural democracy are an essential part of our ecosystem. This 2023, the new website of the platform has been published MAR, which we promote together with the Reina Sofía Museum and hablarenarte, in which the knowledge obtained through the two years of public work and the two editions of the “Notar” residencies has been made available to all interested people, in addition to opening its third call. In November, all these novelties were publicly presented on the second day of Remediar, in which the success of participation was possible thanks to the presence of educators, mediators and resident artists to share a new year of reflection on mediation and new institutionalities. Also present were the participants of the second edition of Complement Directo, the program carried out together with hablarenarte, in which 14 mediation students are awarded scholarships to promote and consolidate their careers. 2023 was also fruitful for the Concomitentes initiative, which celebrated its five years of life, already reaching seven mediation processes between works of art, artists and civil society. In the last call, the project “ Common Land” seeks to promote innovation ecosystems to achieve artistic solutions.

Another of the objectives of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation is to ensure that art, science and the participation of society converge in the projects supported by the entity. In the 2023 call “Composing knowledge to imagine and build sustainable futures“, nine projects have been selected for support and implementation or consolidation. To improve the synergy between art and science that we talked about earlier, the ACTS network is in its second year. This initiative, promoted by the UOC, the Hac Te Association, CCCB, has the task of researching, bringing together and promoting the practices of knowledge composers in Spain, with close ties to Latin America and international networks.

IN HARMONY WITH THE EARTH

During 2023, we have consolidated our activity with specifically agricultural and productive themes. The slogan “without farmers there is no food system” has been at the heart of our actions. 12 agricultural cooperatives have achieved, thanks to the Sustentta project and the management of Red2red, roadmaps to improve their transition towards more sustainable governance, production or marketing practices. The first 6 Test Spaces have been created in Spain (in Vizcaya, Navarra, Barcelona, Lleida and Extremadura) to facilitate the incorporation of new batches of farmers. We have prepared the new Ruralitud website, which will be launched in 2024, where people who are not specialized in agricultural work will be able to find opportunities and information on the stages of the process to set up their own project.

This year, we have also been able to design, with the support of the Metropolitan Barcelona Health Agency and Barcelona City Council, the action protocols for the neighbourhoods of Bon Pastor and Baró de Viver. This project facilitates access to healthy and sustainable food for people with fewer resources.

From the Field to the Pantry call , 8 projects have been selected that will help improve the environment and Sustainable Food. We will support these collective initiatives of transformation, processing, logistics and/or food distribution so that they can make that necessary leap in scale.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH

We believe that research is a key lever for the transformation of our food systems and the transition towards more sustainable and healthy models.

With the aim of strengthening research in sustainable food in Spain, this year we are promoting a new call for the Daniel Carasso Fellowship, our postdoctoral grant programme to support young talent and research in sustainable food in Spain, which this year, in its second edition, has awarded three initiatives. Ujué Fresan, Marta Albo and Adrián González are clear proof that scientific research can make great contributions to our daily lives, to the way we eat, consume and be in the world.

IMPACT INVESTING AND PHILANTHROPY, A TURNING POINT

During 2023, the philanthropic coalition Climate Foundations has already reached more than 240 Spanish foundations and more than 500 worldwide. We participated in the initial impulse of this project and continue to support its economic development. This year we have introduced the “climate alarm clocks” and seek to establish the climate challenge as a priority.

This year it has also been possible to bring nine Spanish Community Foundations to Spain, which are also part of the international network. In the same way, work continues on call criteria and identification of priorities for the sector of the group of donor foundations. On the other hand, the Impact Foundations Fund, in which we participate, is in a growth phase and has increased over the last year by ten new foundations.

Through other initiatives, the improvement of projects has been sought by accompanying them in their processes. With the “Cartae” program we have supported 141 people and 42 entities in the Foundation’s ecosystem. At the beginning of this year we learned about the three projects selected for access to soft loans from the first edition of the Tiina program that we promote together with the Ship2B Foundation and focused on strengthening impact and business models for Citizen Art and Sustainable Food projects. In addition, we launched the call for its second edition, which has served as support for 14 initiatives in the incubation phase, of which 7 have moved on to the acceleration phase, which will end on February 28, 2024 with a Demo Day.

We like to work towards a future where collaboration, diversity and creativity are fundamental. Let’s stick together to create the world we want, knowing that every action we take matters.

Happy 2024! Towards those desirable futures Let’s

continue our inspiring journey towards desirable, more inclusive, diverse and supportive futures. In harmony with the Earth.

As every year, from the Foundation we congratulate the change of season, bringing our best wishes to our entire ecosystem. On this occasion, the graphic company Perricac, based on the premise of creating its own language for the digital greeting video, freed the silhouettes of the paper format so that it could be freely organized around the space.

We dream of a 2024 in which working side by side, sharing the knowledge that we all bring together and putting the care of our peers and the Earth we inhabit at the center of our daily lives, helps us cultivate the joy of continuing this inspiring journey together.