Video transcript
We are the Heinrich Böll Foundation – political, independent, and located in the heart of Berlin. We are not affiliated with the Green Party, but we are autonomous. We champion green values and actively participate in the struggle for freedom, justice, and a future worth living.
The Heinrich Böll Foundation is a political foundation based in the center of Berlin.
It is affiliated to the Green Party Bündnis 90/Die Grünen but operates independently of the party and the Bundestag parliamentary group. At the same time, it is part of the Green movement, which has developed through engagement with the traditional political worldviews of socialism, liberalism, and conservatism.
In line with Green core values, we stand for ecology and sustainability, democracy and human rights, self-determination and justice, as well as the emancipation and equality of all genders. Together with our partners, we work to advance the Green project.
We are committed to a strong civil society and an environmentally friendly world.
We advocate for active participation of all social groups in politics and for a culture of non-violence. To achieve this, we seek strategic partnerships with other organizations and individuals in Germany and abroad who share our values.
In Germany, we work with 16 state foundations focusing on local issues and challenges. With over 30 overseas offices, we support people and projects worldwide that promote ecology, human rights, democracy, and self-determination. We also promote the development of the rule of law and democratic participation.
For example, we support the work of human rights defenders, critical journalists, and climate and environmental organizations. Our goal is to document injustices and foster collaboration for change and counter-strategies. The climate crisis knows no borders. Many of our foreign offices promote the switch to renewable energies in their regions.
In Germany, there is still much to do for the energy transition. One example is our popular basic course series, “Energy Transition 2.0,” which addresses the challenges of transforming our energy system.
We are a place for ideas, exchange, and political education.
As a Green ideas agency, we provide impulses to strengthen democracy, promote social justice, and support the ecological modernization of the economy. Through conferences, workshops, and discussion rounds, we foster dialogue between politics, business, science, and society. We bring together relevant stakeholders to discuss solutions to future issues, share knowledge and experiences, and learn from each other.
A good example of this is the conference “Societal Project: Energy Transition,” which brought together many people from politics, business, research, and civil society, enabling discussions about practical solutions.
Located close to the German Bundestag, the foundation carries out political education work to enable people to form their own opinions about what is being debated in politics and society—and what is not. For this purpose, we publish studies, books, podcasts, films, articles, and teaching materials, and inform through various social media platforms. One particularly popular format is our atlas, which appears every January and provides informative graphics, numbers, and facts on a typically agricultural policy topic. Previous atlases have covered subjects such as soil, insects, plastic, meat, water, and economics.
We stand for a strong Europe
The European project is very close to our hearts. Through our work, we aim to show ways in which it can be further developed and its future sustainability secured. To do this, we commission studies and draft recommendations for policymakers. Through our publications and events, we want to promote positive and courageous ideas for Europe because only a strong and united Europe can solve the challenges of the present and the future.
We work domestically and worldwide.
The mentioned work on Europe is planned and implemented by our International Department. This is the largest area of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and also focuses on the regions of Africa, Latin America, Southeast Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Additionally, there is Green Campus Internal Training Programme, the Scholarship Department, and the Gunda Werner Institute for Feminism and Gender Democracy. All these areas collaborate on joint projects whenever the themes are relevant.
Our work is overseen by a board consisting of two full-time members. Our activities are guided and inspired by a 49-member general assembly, helping us stay connected to current issues and ensuring our work remains relevant in the present.
We award prizes
The Heinrich Böll Foundation awards various prizes and partners in other honors. The most important awards are the Anne Klein Women’s Prize (in German: Anne-Klein-Frauenpreis), the Peace Film Award, and the Hannah Arendt Prize. With the Anne Klein Women’s Prize, we annually support women who stand out for their outstanding commitment to realizing gender democracy.
We promote future specialists and managers
Through scholarships, we support highly talented future professionals and leaders who are committed to our values and goals. Every year, we assist more than 1,500 students and doctoral candidates from all fields and nationalities, both at universities and Fachhochschulen in Germany. Besides financial support, we offer a diverse program focused on political education and the development of key skills. We advise our scholarship holders on questions related to their studies, encourage political debate, and help them organize and network themselves.
Heinrich Böll is our namesake
Our namesake, the writer and Nobel Prize winner Heinrich Böll, represents an attitude to which we are committed: defending freedom, civil courage, contentious tolerance, and the appreciation of art and culture as independent spheres of thinking and acting. This also means providing space for art and culture to engage with social, political, moral, and aesthetic developments. We follow Böll’s call to get involved as the only way to stay realistic.
Our board, as well as our experts and directors of foreign offices, regularly speak out on our website and in the media to share their views on current issues.
We preserve history.
We also want to preserve the past: The Green Memory Archive serves as the historical record of the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen party and collects sources related to the history of the New Social Movements. It functions as the party’s memory and is also a place where transparency is maintained. The archive holdings are made available to the public and scientific research, in accordance with the necessary preservation periods.
For our work, we receive public funding and operate based on the Foundation Funding Act.
