Cohesion and Integration, Knowledge, the Sustainability of Systems and Resources: these constitute the new strategic priorities of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation that shall correspondingly reflect on all the activities undertaken in the next five years alongside the creation of new programs and projects.

Following the definition of these new strategic priorities, which seek to respond to the demands of new and complex cultural, social and economic challenges, the Foundation Board of Directors also decided to introduce governance changes: for the 2018-2022 period, a new consultation process shall take place to sound out the opinions of senior advisors in addition to representatives from the younger generations, on the one hand ensuring greater institutional openness and, on the other hand, a more dynamic relationship with civil society in terms of consultation, reflection, prospecting and producing new ideas.

In order to deepen the extent of renewal, the Board of Trustees also decided to approve the principle of a two-mandate limit on the holding of executive trustees’ functions. Furthermore, two commissions are to be set up: one Audit entity responsible for the supervision of the internal and external audits; and the other for Remunerations, responsible for analysis of the current Foundation remunerations policy. In conjunction with the Investments Committee, responsible for analysing and advising on the investments policy, these two new commissions shall first reflect on the guidelines structuring their support to the decision making of the Foundation Board of Trustees.