AVE updates: 2026 Q3
This summer, we’re continuing to work across policy, advocacy, and research to increase Asian visibility in the EU. Earlier this month, we released an open letter to call out racism in the media. And for the first time ever, we hosted an in-person poster drawing workshop in Berlin in May! We’re so excited to bring our work into the community.
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📨 Open Letter Campaign: Thank you for your solidarity
On July 12th, we launched an open letter calling out the racial remarks against Asians in “Fernsehgarten”, one of the flagship television programs in the German public broadcasting ZDF channel. The campaign was a collective effort supported by community members, scholars, and civil societies across Europe, Asia, and the US. Thanks to your signatures, we were able to gain visibility across multiple platforms and spread the news. On July 24th, 2026, we delivered the open letter with the 880 signatures to the official complaint platform of ZDF.
After our multiple attempts to reach the ZDF through various different channels, the ZDF has decided to handle all of the complaints received in a collective format. Complaints concerning the July 12 broadcast of ZDF-Fernsehgarten are currently being handled through ZDF’s collective complaints procedure (Mehrfachbeschwerdeverfahren). We will continue to monitor this process and keep you updated on further developments.
The cover image of the open letter #Prime Time, No Hate Time (image credit @2020notok)
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🐣 Ongoing RISE Projects: Building resources for intersectional solidarity and empowerment
As part of the RISE programme supported by filia die frauenstiftung, AVE is currently developing multiple community-driven initiatives that focus on FLINTA* Asian experiences:
Picture Book Project
Your responses to our call for recommendations blew us away! Thanks to the community’s contributions, we’ve received more than 60 recommendations for FLINTA* Asian musicians, spanning different generations, genres, and backgrounds. We’re starting the next phase of the project— reaching out to the artists directly. We hope to learn about their personal journeys, creative practices, and their stories in their own words.
Legal Guidebook: Community Survey on Gender-Based Violence
Our community survey on sexualized and gender-based violence in Germany is now closed. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences with us! Your responses are helping us identify key legal knowledge gaps and understand which topics need to be explained in a more accessible way. Together with MeToo Asians e.V., we’ve submitted a draft awaiting legal review from our attorney, Mayor Brown.
Poster Workshop for FLINTA* Asians
At the end of May, AVE hosted its first offline workshop in Berlin! ✨ At @encounters.hongkong our member and designer Leh@2020notok guided us in creating anti-racist posters. We laughed, shared our experiences, and empowered each other along the way! A huge thanks to everyone who made this happen! ❤️
Leh giving a talk at the Poster Workshop at encounters, in Berlin, Image credit: Miyeon Choi
A participant presenting their work during the workshop, Image credit: Miyeon Choi
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🏡 Cross building solidarity: EU-Wide Network Retreat
In early August, we were invited to the first retreat of the EU-Wide Network in Brussels. There, we officially met the other in-network organizations and learned about each other’s work, objectives, and target groups. We engaged with the visibility campaign as a collective work program of the network. Afterwards, we participated in a peer-to-peer training on AI and discrimination. It was a space for each organization to empower one another through team building activities, helping build solidarity among organizations across different sectors.
🧭 The EU Anti-Racism Strategy and EU Youth Strategy post 2027
Over the past few months, AVE has continued engaging in key meetings for the EU Anti-Racism Strategy 2026–2030. After the consultation in June, we submitted a detailed policy brief, pushing for:
A shared definition of structural racism across Member States of EU
Urgency in collecting anti-Asian racism data, which is missing in the launching paper of the Anti-Racism Strategy paper.
Developing community-informed data methodologies
A central role for education and youth in anti-racism policy
More transparent civic consultation structures
The inaugural meeting of the permanent Civil Society Forum against racism, Photo credit: European Commission
Hyunjung speaking at the permanent Civil Society Forum against racism, Photo credit: European Commission
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📢 Public Dissemination & Outreach
Our advocacy never stops at closed doors. Over the past few months, we’ve also been invited to present our work publicly, including: a talk about “Activism through resilience, solidarity, and joy” at the festival resistant theatre at Württembergischen Kunstvereins Stuttgartand a presentation at the 23rd IMISCOE conference, taking place at the University of Girona (hybrid) to discuss civil society roles as a knowledge producer in the anti-racism studies in Europe.
Jiye and Hyunjung delivering a talk Württembergischen Kunstvereins Stuttgart, Image credit: Boram & Yunsun at AAD.art
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🧡 Together, We Keep Building
We’re proud of everything we’ve achieved together thus far, but the journey is far from finished. Whether it’s sharing our posts, forwarding our newsletter, joining AVE as a member, or just checking in, every bit of your support helps keep our community thriving! Thank you for being part of this story.
More updates to come. Until then, thank you for standing with us. ✊
– The AVE Team
Author: Hyunjung
Editor: Christina
Image: Asian Voices Europe
