A year out of the ordinary: 2020 Activity Report

The year 2020 has changed our lives and our way of understanding the world. In this new context, as a Foundation we have reaffirmed our work and the will to act here and now to build a better future, exploring paths that will take us forward to a more ecological, inclusive and fulfilling society. The 2020 Activity Report offers us a journey through a year of actions in Spain and France, both in the lines of Sustainable Food and Citizen Art and our definitive commitment to tackle climate change jointly from the philanthropic sector. A retrospective look at a year that is difficult to forget through images and words.

Our Foundation, citizen and supportive in a lasting way

This extraordinary year has taught us that, on our modest scale, the Foundation has the obligation to maintain our social and civic commitment, not only in the short term but also in a more lasting way. We must react to the emergency, but anticipating and building the future with our employees. That is the meaning of our work for 10 years. The 250 grants awarded in Spain and France throughout 2020, worth more than 13 million euros, highlight the importance of our lines of action – Sustainable Food and Citizen Art – which have also been enriched by our commitment to the climate emergency as well as a financial investment strategy consistent with our social mission.

In this time we have seen how Citizen Art can be a powerful tool in situations of isolation, danger and despair. In this sense, we redouble our efforts to support those people, projects and institutions that make art a driving force for citizenship. But the pandemic has also taught us that sustainable, democratic, supportive and agroecological food is a possible model for the future of peoples and the planet. This model has the capacity to provide concrete solutions to emergency situations, while improving future prospects and better protecting us against the challenges that lie ahead.

A year for action in the face of the emergency

2020 called for immediate action to alleviate the effects that COVID-19 had exacerbated in the food, agriculture, culture and art sectors. During this year, we have worked side by side with our network of collaborators and we have verified their extraordinary resilience and ability to adapt, looking for new ways to achieve their objectives, in a changing context. Thus, we launched an Emergency and Solidarity Plan endowed with 1.6 million euros to allow the initiatives to continue their work and meet their needs in the midst of an unprecedented health crisis.

The threat of a new crisis, even more serious and extensive, requires on our part a rapid mobilization and a profound change in the face of a common challenge: climate change. With a firm commitment to act with our peers in Spain, France and Europe, we have promoted the creation of the Coalition Française des Fondations pour le Climat and the #FundacionesPorElClima initiative, making clear commitments with the signing of the Climate Pact.

New initiatives

In addition to our usual actions, 2020 has been marked by the launch of new and exciting initiatives:

• The first edition of the Committed Artist Award awarded five artists from Spain and France who face the challenges of society from their artistic practice.
• The Daniel Carasso Fellowship is a new impetus for systemic research in Sustainable Food, supporting young researchers of all nationalities and scientific disciplines.
• The Alliances for Cultural Democracy and Médiations et Démocratie culturelle calls have allowed the birth and strengthening of new cultural initiatives that establish bridges between institutions, citizens and artists.
• The TETRAA programme, endowed with €5.69 million, has been developed in collaboration with AgroParisTech to equip, support and accompany the transition to territorialised food systems in France over four years.
• La Caja de Resistencias, an initiative launched together with hablarenarte to help, from a small age, a score of artists who have seen their careers affected as a result of the pandemic, offering a grant of €2,500 to each one selflessly.

In addition to all this, we have promoted a programme to promote democracy and citizen initiatives and we have provided tools to strengthen collective action through the Social and Solidarity Economy, as well as entities that fight against food precariousness.

Towards a green, inclusive and full transformation

Today as yesterday, we aspire to a systemic transformation of our society, which puts people and the earth at the center and invites responsibility and mutual care. It is the raison d’être of our values, those that guided Daniel and Nina Carasso throughout their lives: curiosity, confidence, demand, originality and joy. We share these values and strive to transmit them every day to the people we collaborate with, to our team of volunteer experts and especially to our young members of the Executive Committee. All of them are part of this 2020 Activity Report that we are very happy to share.

The imagination and talent of the artist Luna Bengoechea poetically illustrate the pages of this memoir, filling them with vitality and evoking the necessary path to resilience. We hope that the experiences and people featured in this look back at 2020 will be as inspiring as they have been for us.

2020 Activity Report. – Towards an ecological, inclusive and full transformation

© Image credits: Luna Bengoechea, Red PLANEA, RETA – ARCA, Sindicato Mantero de Barcelona, Subbética Ecológica, EcoComedores de la Biosfera, La Escocesa.