Learn More About Us

ADEF is a non-profit foundation registered in 2009 at the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidary License number 7734-2009 which aims to enable teens and youth through fostering environments for education and learning, supporting free culture, developing capacity, and building knowledge tools in Arabic language.

VISION

Independent individuals and groups, who are active expressive, and producers of knowledge for the benefit of their societies.

MISSION

Promoting creative uses of information technology while advancing the concepts and practices of free culture and supporting initiatives that seek to produce free Arab knowledge using free tools. ADEF is a multidimensional organization that creates spaces and provides environments for expression and progressive learning. It works to strengthen skills and develop knowledge tools that support and empower groups and individuals enabling them to develop their practices and deepen their participation in their communities. Its mission is to build youth communities through experiential learning promote creative uses of technology and support initiatives that seek to produce critical free and open Arab knowledge. ADEF works with adolescents youth individuals and groups who are active critically aware and able to express themselves and produce knowledge that contributes to their communities. Its work has expanded to include Egypt Lebanon Tunisia Palestine and Berlin as well as young people and young professionals from at least 13 Arab countries.

ADEF was founded 17 years ago at a time when the internet was beginning to open new horizons as a space of possibilities and opportunities around the world. Building on this space and the broader digital technologies surrounding it ADEF began a journey to explore how knowledge could be created managed and shared freely and critically through these emerging possibilities. With a primary focus on a progressive educational program alongside knowledge production across a range of fields and subjects ADEF also provides technical support for knowledge production and builds and supports communities around shared issues and interests. Through this work ADEF became a key contributor to open-source knowledge production and digital media in the Arab region. ADEF was formally established in 2009 as a non-profit organization registered with the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity under license number 7734-2009 with the aim of creating experiences that encourage self-exploration creative self-expression and critical thinking among young people in the Middle East and North Africa.

ADEF has become a key contributor to open-source knowledge production supported by digital media in the Arab region and has gained a reputation as one of the few cultural spaces that embraces free culture and works toward a more progressive accessible and contemporary educational system. ADEF takes pride in its committed community of artists and technology professionals who continue to generously share their knowledge and work with new generations with the aim of building a more diverse cultural sector where people can express themselves freely through art and technology. ADEF also responds to the emergence of a new shared Arab identity and culture shaped by the rise of the internet and the growing use of technology. This identity is not shaped through a top-down approach but emerges from the grassroots as a product of convergence shared experiences and common interests. ADEF's activities including camps residency programs trainings and workshops provide spaces for exploring and deepening this identity while fostering an environment grounded in acceptance and diversity. To develop twenty-first-century skills ADEF works to address the lack of diversity in the cultural sector and the limited opportunities for mobility and exchange by bringing together young people from diverse backgrounds.

ADEF AIMS

Promoting Arab Youth Expression: Promoting heightened and distinguished Arab youth expression in their surrounding evolving contexts.

Supporting Critical Knowledge Production: Supporting general critical knowledge production among young professional artists, journalists, researchers, and other culture actors.

Creating Spaces for Expression: Creating spaces for expression and knowledge making to unfold and thrive.

Fostering Collaborative Communities: Fostering communities where collaborations, exchanges, and mutual learning can be developed as a backbone for critical narrative making.