ERGO Foundation – Creating perspectives for the future
ERGO’s (formerly Hamburg-Mannheimer’s) “Jugend & Zukunft” (“Youth & Future”) Foundation was set up to improve the career prospects of disadvantaged youngsters, primarily by awarding an annual €100,000 national sponsorship prize, presented by the foundation since 2006.
The ERGO Foundation’s “Jugend & Zukunft” sponsorship prize is awarded to outstanding projects that promote the physical, mental or social development of disadvantaged youngsters. The award will be presented to a public/non-profit organisation for the sixth year in succession in 2011. In recent years the spotlight has been on art and the theatre but this year’s prize will be awarded to innovative projects and concepts from the world of film and photography.
Threefold effect
The effect of the prize is threefold. Firstly, it gives direct support to worthwhile initiatives, so that they can broaden and enhance their work. Secondly, the prize is intended to raise the profile of the projects and inspire others to undertake key social initiatives. Thirdly, in awarding the prize, the “Jugend & Zukunft” Foundation acts as a platform that networks various initiatives, and increases the impact they each have as individual projects.
A different perspective
The world of film and photography provides fertile territory for projects supporting children and young people. Initiatives from all parts of Germany submitted entries for the 2011 national sponsorship prize, the theme of which was “Bewegte Bilder – Bilder bewegen” (“Moving images – Images moving”). A jury initially nominated 11 finalists to attend the awards ceremony, which will be held in Hamburg on 9 November. They are all winners because each of the projects nominated will receive the sum of €5,000 in prize money. The awards will be presented by well-known German cameraman Michael Ballhaus and equally famous actor and film director Hark Bohm, both of whom agreed to be patrons of this year’s contest.
Many laureates – Countless winners
The film and photography projects nominated (in 2011) are the latest in the growing line of inspirational winners. The 2010 award was won by the “International Munich Art Lab”, a Munich-based project initiated by Kontrapunkt e.V., and offering professional training to deprived youngsters. The 2009 winner was the “Platform Festival 2010” youth theatre festival, organised by the Ernst Deutsch Theatre in Hamburg, which highlights a different socio-political issue each year, the theme selected for its 2009/10 season being “Crisis”.
The Jamliner music bus (2008 winner) is a converted public transport bus equipped with instruments and sound system, which takes young people and music teachers around local neighbourhoods in Hamburg and gives youngsters an opportunity to develop and implement their creative ideas. The “Staunen und Lachen verbindet” (“Let us entertain you”) circus project from Blankenhain near Weimar (2007 winner) gives young people who are physically or mentally impaired an opportunity to organise and present their own circus programme. Finally, the “Gangway-Fußball-Liga” (“Gangway Football League”) (2006 winner) invites youngsters from around Germany who come from a variety of backgrounds to take part in a tournament held in Berlin and develop team spirit and a sense of fair play through sport. The theme of this football league with a difference is “Fairer Streit statt Straßenkampf” (“Fair play beats street-fighting”).
