Effective density functionals beyond mean field

I present a review on non relativistic effective energy--density functionals (EDFs). An introductory part is dedicated to traditional phenomenological functionals employed for mean--field--type applications and to several extensions and implementations that have been suggested over the years to generalize such functionals, up to the most recent ideas. The heart of this review is then focused on density functionals designed for beyond--mean--field models. Examples of these studies are discussed. Starting from these investigations, some illustrations of {it{ab--initio}}--based or {it{ab--initio}}--inspired functionals are provided. Constructing functionals by building bridges with {it{ab--initio}} models represents an extremely challenging and timely objective. This will eventually reduce/eliminate the empirical character of EDFs and link them with the underlying theory of QCD. Conclusions are presented in the last part of the review.