Promotes European unity, cultural diversity, and nature conservation.
The Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. is a German non-profit foundation established in 1931 by Alfred Toepfer. The foundation is committed to promoting European unification and ensuring cultural diversity and understanding between European countries. Its focus areas include culture, science, education, and nature conservation, with a special emphasis on fostering European dialogue while preserving cultural diversity. The foundation operates as an operative foundation with its own projects and programs, and it only provides funding in exceptional cases based on external applications. The foundation has various subsidiaries, including the non-profit Toepfer Stiftung gGmbH, which is the trustee of the Innovation in University Teaching Foundation. One of the foundation's key initiatives is the Future-Oriented Land Use Fund, which aims to promote and support initiatives, projects, and individuals addressing concerns and questions related to future-oriented land use. Eligible projects can receive financial support of up to 5,000 euros, with a focus on non-profit status, transformative potential, and a recognizable connection to the concerns of future-oriented land use. Recent collaborations include making the Seminarzentrum Gut Siggen available to the HFBK Hamburg for seminars and group excursions. The foundation also has historical ties to the Alfred Toepfer Academy for Nature Conservation (NNA), which focuses on research, education, and training in nature conservation.