Deadline: 07-Jul-2025
The House of Europe has launched its Heritage Space for Work initiative, aimed at supporting cultural professionals across Ukraine. This program offers a combination of training, networking opportunities, grants, and mentorship to help participants create cultural products, educational programs, and community-focused heritage interpretation projects.
All of this is designed with an awareness of the challenges posed by the ongoing war, providing a platform for cultural resilience and renewal.
The initiative will help local cultural actors identify, reimagine, and utilize existing cultural assets such as museum collections, heritage and memorial sites, tourist attractions, and other cultural landmarks.
Participants will engage in a rich capacity-building and networking programme that includes lectures, interactive discussions, and an exchange of experiences with peers from across the country. The program culminates in a project pitching event held in Kyiv.
Key themes explored in the program include the development of local identity, the role of culture in strengthening community cohesion, and the complex task of interpreting wartime experiences.
This involves examining local narratives in the context of Ukrainian national identity, addressing processes of decolonization, and finding new ways to interact with diverse and dynamic audiences. There will also be an emphasis on participatory practices, trauma-informed approaches, and memorialization strategies through exhibitions and curatorial innovation.
Participants have the opportunity to win grants ranging from 1 to 1.5 million hryvnias to implement a cultural project focused on identity, community, or heritage during wartime.
They will benefit from expert lectures, personalized mentoring, and valuable networking opportunities that connect them with cultural professionals from various regions of Ukraine.
Up to 30 individuals will be selected through an open call to join the programme. With guidance from mentors, participants will gain both theoretical insights and practical skills to develop impactful cultural responses to the war. The program will take place in a hybrid format—online and in person in Kyiv—from August to October 2025.
The training will end with an in-person pitch session in Kyiv, where participants will compete for final funding and continued mentorship. Project implementation will run from November 2025 through June 2026. The overall programme timeline spans from July 2025 to August 2026.
The call is open to museums, libraries, cultural centres, community houses, and public organizations working in the field of culture and identity. Eligible applicants must either be located in or relocated from areas affected by the war, including Chernihiv, Kyiv (de-occupied territories), Sumy, Kharkiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, or Luhansk regions.
However, organizations registered in temporarily occupied territories that have not officially changed their registration, those not registered in Ukraine (unless approved by FCDO), entities previously found guilty of misusing donor funds within the last five years, or those listed as restricted by the UK government, are ineligible to apply.
To apply, organizations must submit an online application in Ukrainian, which includes a 2000-character project idea, details about their team and past projects, an extract from the Unified State Register, and a copy of the organization’s charter.
For more information, visit House of Europe.
