With the help of more than €32 million in financing, 294 green, socially inclusive and creative pioneers will become bigger, stronger and more visible in 2021. This will enable them to play a greater role in the transition to a greener world in which everyone gets to participate in society, the common good is prioritised, and there is ample room for imagination.
2021 was the second year in which the world grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic. And, as in the previous year, DOEN greatly admired its partners' resilience and agility. With creativity and perseverance, many were able to keep carrying out their activities, albeit in partial or modified form.
On January 1, 2021, Carol Gribnau started as director of the DOEN Foundation. Together with Idriss Nor she forms our management. This year she is making herself heard in various videos and columns.
Pioneers seeking support for their creative initiatives and social enterprises can now apply to the FriendsLottery Fund. The FriendsLottery Fund is the result of merging the BankGiro Lottery Fund (part of the DOEN Foundation) with DOEN’s Social Enterprise and Inclusion programme. Since 2021, DOEN has referred to the VriendenLoterij Fonds (Friends Lottery Fund) in communications about the support it provides for artistic and cultural initiatives and socially inclusive enterprises.
The ecological limits of our planet have been reached, radical changes are necessary: ​​a switch to sustainable energy, a sustainable food system and a new and circular economy.
DOEN believes in a society in which everyone can participate, andpeople cooperate and help one another while respecting individual needs and possibilities. That is why we support initiatives that give (vulnerable) people a place in our society. For example through daytime activities or a work experience placement within a social enterprise. DOEN also wants to support the fledgling private initiative. Local residents who want to make their neighborhood greener, more social and more creative can contact the Postcode Loterij Buurtfonds ((Postcode Lottery Neighbourhood Fund) for a contribution to their neighborhood project.
Art and culture stimulate the imagination. They occupy a central place based on the conviction that a society cannot do without creativity. In the Netherlands, the VriendenLoterij Fonds supports radical imagination from the program 'Celebrate the art of change'. Internationally, the DOEN Foundation supports local organizations in North, East and West Africa that create more free space for imagination and thus strengthen the cultural sector.
In addition to grants and loans, DOEN uses convertible loans through its social investment company DOEN Participaties and invests in sustainable and social start-ups. DOEN Participaties will make 16 new investments in 2020.
Want to know more about DOEN in 2021? Read the full Annual Report.