Coppieters Awards 2022

A delegation of the Coppieters foundation formed by its president Xabier Macias, the Secretary General Antonia Luciani, the Coordinator Michela Bramardi, project manager Iria Epalza and the 2020 Coppieters Awardee and former member of the European Parliament Jill Evans, visited the Åland Islands for the Ceremony of the Coppieters Awards 2022 in honour of Anders Eriksson.

(See video here)

Coppieters Foundation acts as a platform for dialogue between the academia, think tanks, political foundations, civil society, and the European Institutions. This is one of the reasons why we also had fruitful and interesting meetings with the Åland Peace Institute and the Olof M. Janssen foundation during the visit to the Åland Islands. Thanks to the information and contacts we gathered throughout this mission, now we are able to disseminate the political and social reality of the Åland Islands throughout Europe.

But if the Coppieters Foundation came to Åland Islands, it is to celebrate the 7th edition of the Coppieters Awards initiative, honouring individuals and organisations that, like the Flemish politician Maurits Coppieters himself used to, stand for the defence of cultural and linguistic diversity, intercultural dialogue, self-determination, the rights of minorities, peace, democracy and a united Europe. The main objective of our Awards is to give recognition to individuals and organisations like Anders Eriksson that have successfully managed to find innovative ways to advocate for and embody these values.

The Coppieters Foundation is part of a network striving for justice and equality for all people. We want to build a Europe of the Peoples. Thanks to remarkable people like Anders Eriksson, we will achieve that. We know change doesn’t ‘t happen overnight and that is why it is so important to recognize and thank those who are instrumental in bringing about that change. It takes vision, strength and often great courage. Our award winner this year has all those qualities and many more.

Coppieters Foundation has never worked in a bubble. We look outwards.

And giving this prize to Anders Eriksson in his homeland gives us the opportunity to put the focus on Åland Islands, a very interesting case of study for Coppieters, but also from a stateless nations’ self-government point of view; the only legislative region in an unitary state, with a constitutional status derived from its insularity, its different ethnic and linguistic composition with respect to its state, and its relationship with adjacent countries. As the President of the Coppieters Foundation said in his intervention; “A unique exercise of self-government with, some notable and little-known achievements of sovereignty. So much I learned with you and from you, that since then I have cited you as an example, as I deeply believe your experience must be disseminated”.

Secretary General Antonia Luciani stated that “Anders Eriksson is a builder. He has always been fascinated by human’s capacity to construct our world and legacy, whether this is trough physical buildings or social institutions. Maybe that is reason why he has worked for more than 40 years building a better society for the Åland Islands. In the several political positions he has served in the last 4 decades, he has defended the rights of the ålanders to live in a more independent, more just and more ecological country.  He built a Think tank first, then a political party, and will continue on the search of the appropriate tools to build a place to live in freedom”.

When receiving the award, Anders Eriksson thanked the Coppieters Foundation for putting the Åland case on the international agenda: “To be recognized internationally will help us in our aspiration for a better future.”

Here you can find all the speeches and pictures of the ceremony:

https://ideasforeurope.eu/activity/event/coppieters-awards-ceremony-to-recognise-anders-eriksson/

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The Coppieters Foundation is financially supported by the European Parliament. The European Parliament is not liable for the content of the conferences, events or the opinions of the authors of our publications.

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