The Hippocrene Foundation is a charitable foundation whose primary mission is to help strengthen the cohesion among young Europeans.
The philosophy of the foundation is in line with the march towards the European Union opened since 1950. It is the meetings between men and institutions in the occasion with specific projects that are most often responsible for creation or improvement. Jean Monnet used to repeat: « We are uniting people ».
Based on this idea, the Hippocrene Foundation’s mission is to support innovative and practical projects that affect Europe and the youth and also to facilitate meetings and networking.
Support diverse projects affecting or developed by young Europeans with the ambition of keeping the flame alive through a continued commitment to the spirit of the EU’s founding fathers.
Since it was established, the Foundation has supported numerous projects.
-Higher education – the online election of a European Student Council in which more than 80,000 students across the EU member countries took part.
-Young people in management – funding for the Groupe des Belles Feuilles, an association that has been bringing together 150 young leaders from all professional backgrounds for over a decade, united by an active interest in Europe.
-European citizenship and action – the Jean Monnet Association, the European Women’s Action and the European Youth Parliament.
-Networking between young Europeans – the Summer University organised by the CCIC (International Conference Centre of Cluny).
-Social and humanitarian programmes – the fight against drug abuse, promoting initiatives for the support and social inclusion of young disabled people and funding for an orphanage.
-Performing Arts – the Orchestre Colonne, the Mozart foundation, support for a series of organ concerts for young people organised by Yanka Hékimova, funding for the Image Aiguë theatre company.
-Sports – sponsoring of the Euromarathon project and « Race of the classics » sailing event.
In 2000, the foundation created an award of 150,000 euros to recognize European initiatives. Successful projects included « Aéroguide Europe », a humanitarian initiative aimed at helping disabled people in airports; « Club Marpen », a project focusing on heritage preservation; and the sports project « Le Trophée Desman ».
– An independent and family-run Foundation, able to act flexibly
– A vision of Europe and a philosophy based on the importance of the meeting
– A special focus on art and young europeans
