Migration is fact. There have always been and will always be refugee and migration movements, because people are looking for a life worth living. People are leaving their homes because of factors that render their lives miserable and deprive them of any hope for a better future – such as wars, climate change, lack of resources, discrimination and persecution. The Schöpflin Foundation supports initiatives and organizations advocating an open Europe of cultural pluralism and diversity.

Journalism is going through a period of upheaval. Old business models are becoming less and less effective. Media diversity is under threat. Non-profit journalism is one of many responses to what some people are calling the »crisis in the media«. We believe it is a necessary addition to state-funded and commercial journalism because a free press is a prerequisite for an open society and a vibrant democracy.

The Schöpflin Biotop think-tank focuses on projects that are not mainstream, but which are so interesting and promising that we feel they are worthy of further investigation. The Biotop may throw up new issues, or give rise to new cooperation projects. In short, the Biotop is where the Schöpflin Foundation can experiment with its own future.

In the right quantities, the economy and democracy go together like salt and pepper. But today the pursuit of profit dominates the taste of politics; and democracy has become too insipid. That is why we promote organisations that are working on a »new recipe« – one that will make the economy more digestible and will once again give people a taste for democracy.

More and more school children are struggling with finding the right path for them: should they succumb to the increasing pressure to go to university and get a degree? Or should they try to gain a place on one of the rare apprenticeship schemes? At the same time, the divide between what children currently learn at school and the skills they will need in the course of their lives is becoming ever wider. It is time for a rethink – and to set a new course. The Schöpflin Foundation, together with its partners, is looking for new ways of doing things.