About SDEPS

What is SDEPS about, who are we and how do we work together?

We are a coalition of organisations and initiatives united in our desire to build a Shared Digital European Public Sphere (SDEPS). We share a belief that there is a need for public digital infrastructures that are based on democratic values and can be used and shaped by public institutions and civic initiatives. Ones that provide alternatives to the existing commercially-driven Internet.

This coalition brings together different types of organisations (institutions, civic initiatives, CSOs, technology projects) from different sectors (public service media, civil society media, academia, education, libraries and other cultural heritage institutions, commons projects, civic initiatives) with different ways of working (media production, technology development, advocacy). The coalition recognises this diversity in approaches and organisational backgrounds and will seek to amplify these varied voices in European policy debates.

Read our vision here.

SDEPS organization members:

The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision - Beeld en Geluid - is an institute for media culture interpreting current developments from a media-historical perspective.
The Beyond Platforms initiative is a network of people looking for a better digital ecosystem for media. Based in Hamburg, Germany.
The Cultural Broadcasting Archive is a civil society media and communication platform operating an independent technical infrastructure away from commercial interests.
Commons Network is a collaboratory for the social and ecological transition. Based in Amsterdam and Brussels. 
EPOS is a research and development project for conceptualizing a European public sphere constituted jointly by Public Service Media, public knowledge institutions, knowledge commons communities and audience organisations. Based in Berlin, Germany.
The Europeana Foundation is an independent, non-profit organisation that operates the Europeana platform and contributes to other digital initiatives that put cultural heritage to good use in the world. Represents 20 nationalities, main office in The Hague, NL. 
Eurozine is an online magazine and European network linking up more than 90 cultural journals and associates in 35 countries. Editorial office based in Vienna, Austria.
IAPMR: International Association of Public Media Researchers - Discussing the future of Public Service Media. Based in Vienna, Austria
Open Future is a think tank that develops new approaches to an open internet that maximize societal benefits of shared data, knowledge and culture. 
PublicSpaces is a coalition of over 40 Dutch public organisations in public media, cultural heritage, festivals, museums and education working together to reclaim the internet as a force for the common good and advocating a new internet that strengthens the public domain. Based in Hilversum, NL.
Das Verband Freier Rundfunk Österreich aka the 'Community broadcasters' provide ad-free programming from local communities as an alternative to mainstream broadcasting. Based in Vienna, Austria. 
Waag operates at the intersection of science, technology and the arts, focusing on technology as an instrument of social change, guided by the values of fairness, openness and inclusivity. Based in Amsterdam, NL.

SDEPS individual members: