The DD Foundation is an international private-law, non-profit social enterprise operating from Estonia, which was founded in 2002.
Since the 2010/2011 academic year, the focus of DD’s social work has been on the development of young people who have great potential to make a positive impact on the world. Over the years, this has meant that around 100 students have organised over 50 events each year (Civil Society Week, TEDxTartu, political debates, etc.), whilst acquiring a wide range of transferable skills.
Over time, this led to the creation of the DD Academy programme in 2015, which focused on offering Estonia’s most intensive and influential youth development programme. At the same time, DD also ran the social enterprise incubator SEIKU.
In 2018, the DD StratLab consultancy services were launched, and in 2022, the DD Democracy Centre was established.
A major shift took place in 2025. Domus Dorpatensis began to seek a new focus, and in early 2026, the board decided that, rather than operating in the consultancy services market itself, it should move towards creating a space – intellectual, social and physical – where young people can experiment with different forms of democracy and acquire social literacy whilst remaining alive and well.In addition to university students as the target group, the aim was also set to work with pupils from upper secondary schools and vocational education centres. To this end, the DD Active Learning Centre was established.
At the same time, the Domus Dorpatensis Council began drawing up a development plan for the new period.