With the vision for promoting education and also for supporting the development of public, cultural and scientific life in the region of Southeastern Europe, the Kokkalis Foundation sponsored numerous initiatives, aiming at the support of research, the development of human networks for the promotion of inter-ethnic understanding and regional cooperation, the promotion of effective democratic governance, the enhancement of the information society and the advancement of knowledge with an emphasis on public policy.  The Athens Forum annual lectures, which welcomed prominent personalities from all over the world, belonged to the same framework.