“It is the only funders' conference where movements have a voice”, conference participant.

One of EDGE’s taglines is “For Funders, with Movements”. It may read like a regular sentence without a verb. But when it comes to philanthropy and foundations’ networks, it makes a big difference. EDGE holds a unique position within philanthropy precisely because of its relationship with movement partners. Andrew Milner, on his article “Can funders and activists work together?”, published on Alliance Magazine, mentioned what a speaker pointed out: “EDGE deserves praise because although it’s not perfect, it’s the only forum where movements come and speak out to this extent”.

Throughout the years, the EDGE Conference has been expanding the active participation of the civil society to promote the exchange between funders and activists. Barcelona was the perfect setting for this interaction, as it concentrates an impressive number of collectives that inspire social movements from all over the world in creating different ways to organise our societies.

This year, over 75 delegates were representing social movements and the local host committee had a crucial role to shape their participation in the conference.