Over 150 organisations and almost 700 individuals from across Europe join forces to strengthen digital sovereignty through open, interoperable and community-driven social media infrastructure. Waag Futurelab is one of the co-founders of the initiative. Strategy director Sander van der Waal was present at the launch in Berlin at Wikimedia Deutschland.
Today, the European.Social movement has taken its next step with the official establishment of European Social Association e.V. in Germany. The not-for- profit association will coordinate work towards building a European ecosystem for open, decentralised and interoperable social technologies. It aims to provide an organised civil-society led counterpart to this ambition, bringing together the people and organisations developing, using and supporting Europe's open social infrastructure.
After its launch as shared manifesto at the PublicSpaces conference on 5 June 2026, the European.Social movement has grown to be backed by 12 founding signatories, 40 builders, 14 communities, 86 organisations and 676 individuals. Together they represent and contribute to the success of three growing complementary open social stacks to serve European citizens with social media applications that Europeans themselves collectively control.
The strength of European Social is in its diversity. It brings together civil society organisations, communities, technology developers, public media, researchers and other supporters working towards a European open social stack: a shared digital infrastructure that enables people and organisations to communicate and collaborate independently of dominant commercial platforms.
It is founded and supported by members representing various parts of the network: Michael Foster (Newsmast Foundation), Sophie Bloemen (Commons Network), Jantien Borsboom (PublicSpaces), Björn Staschen (Save Social – Networks For Democracy), Felix Hlatky (Mastodon), Sebastian Vogelsang (Eurosky), Cathleen Berger (Co-Initiator Open Social Web Alliance), and Sander van der Waal (Waag Futurelab, oso.social).
The association comes at a time when European digital sovereignty is gaining momentum. The European Commission's Open Source Strategy, part of the Technological Sovereignty Package, identifies decentralised social media as one of four key areas in which the Commission, Member States and the Digital Commons EDIC will support open alternatives.
Celebratory launch event in Berlin
The European Social Association was officially established on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, at Wikimedia Deutschland in Berlin. The founding event on the same date brings together organisations and individuals behind the European.Social initiative to introduce the Association, present its organisational structure and discuss the next steps towards a European open social ecosystem.
Building Europe's open social future together
Following the launch, the Association will focus on shared infrastructure projects, and unlocking support at scale for open social in Europe. Its first annual gathering is planned for June 2027, alongside the PublicSpaces conference in Amsterdam. The initial founders will work towards a governance structure that enables and ensures collaboration between all participants.
“Europe needs an open, interoperable and community-driven social infrastructure that reflects its democratic values and serves the public interest. The European Social Association brings together the people, organisations and technologies needed to make that ambition a reality. What started as a declaration is now becoming an organisation capable of turning shared principles into concrete action.” - Michael Foster and Björn Staschen, Co-Convenors of European.Social.
The Association invites organisations, institutions, developers, communities and individuals across Europe to join the initiative and contribute to the development of an open European social ecosystem.
