Apply for the Western Balkans Youth Cultural Fund

Deadline: 12-Nov-23

The Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) is excited to announce the Western Balkans Youth Cultural Fund. They invite cultural practitioners and CSOs from the field of culture to explore opportunities and apply.

The Western Balkans Youth Cultural fund is a project implemented by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. The project aims to bring together the cultural scenes from across the region by supporting grass-roots cultural initiatives which will serve as a valuable contribution to foster regional cooperation and mutual understanding of intercultural dialogue, peacebuilding and reconciliation process.

Aligned with the RYCO Strategic Plan 2022-2024, the Western Balkans Youth Cultural Fund is set to make a direct and impactful contribution across three strategic priority domains: a) fostering youth opportunities, b) supporting multipliers, and c) advocating and raising awareness.

Objectives

• The general objective of the WB Youth Cultural Fund Call for Proposals is to support individuals (cultural practitioners, artists, etc.) and civil society sector (NGOs) in the Western Balkans to foster reconciliation, peacebuilding, regional cooperation, and intercultural learning by providing young people with opportunities that create space for increased understanding, dialogue and mutual learning, across communities and RYCO Contracting Parties.
• RYCO is established upon the belief that when young people are provided with an opportunity to learn, grow, and express their voices, they and their whole communities benefit over the long term. Thus, this call is specifically designed to provide decisive support to actors that can contribute to this vision, whether they wish to engage in such action for the first time or are in need of assistance to continue or expand their already existing work in this regard.
• All projects funded under this call for proposals shall promote and contribute to the values upon which RYCO was established, such as accountability, impartiality, accessibility, equality, equality and inclusion, reconciliation, regionality, transparency, partnership and co-ownership, etc. All parties involved have to ensure that all aspects of the projects do not foster further divisions, and instead contribute to mutual understanding, peace, and social cohesion.

Lots

• Lot 1: “Spark Fund”
  • The Spark Fund endeavors to empower and uplift young cultural practitioners and art activists across the Western Balkans, providing them with a platform to explore novel perspectives and artistic solutions for pressing social matters. Within this realm, cultural practitioners, be they writers, musicians, visual artists, or performers, are tasked with charting pathways through which their creations can play a constructive role in including diverse groups and communities. This entails cultivating empathy and dismantling deeply ingrained stereotypes.
  • The Spark fund will contribute to the achievement of RYCO’s vision of a better Western Balkans region by utilizing the transformative power of artists and by offering them the possibility to merge their artistic work and creative thoughts with peers from across the region.
  • Projects within LOT 1 have to incorporate collaboration with cultural practitioners and artists from other Contracting Parties, transfer of know-how, and exchange of good practices with the main goal to contribute to solving identified issues in the local community.
• Lot 2: “Cool art events”
  • Lot 2 is dedicated to cultivating meaningful connections among civil society organizations working in the realm of culture and art. This encompasses a dynamic spectrum: arts, theater, film, poetry festivals, exhibitions, etc. However, it aims to achieve a wider impact: it’s an arena for fostering networking and the exchange of artistic experiences throughout the Western Balkans 6 (WB6).
  • Within this context, through Lot 2 RYCO aims to support:
    • Youth CSOs that work in the field of culture;
    • CSOs working with young people in the field of culture.
  • Youth CSOs that work in the field of culture are youth-led or youth-centered organizations primarily focused on empowering young individuals in the cultural domain, whereas
  • CSOs working with young people in the field of culture are broader civil society organizations that include youth engagement in culture as one of their objectives.
  • Notably, a key aspect of the awarded projects within Lot 2 is inclusion of youth in the various stages of project design and implementation.

Thematic Areas

• Thematic Area 1: Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
  • RYCO believes that building true and enduring reconciliation involves processes that bring together individuals, groups, and societies burdened by past or present conflicts. It also aims to address negative representations and perceptions of ‘the other’ through shared experience, cooperation, and ongoing exchange, new pathways can be built to reconcile people who would otherwise remain trapped in the past.
  • Through projects focused on this thematic area, they are looking to support projects that tackle topics of region’s past and (mis)interpretation of past and challenge inherited narratives through guided processes, in a safe environment, that allows for constructive dealing with the past, intercultural learning and dialogue between individuals from diverse communities within their Contracting Parties and across the Western Balkan region.
  • Under this thematic area, RYCO acknowledges the following sub-areas that applicants can incorporate in their project proposals: intercultural learning and dialogue, constructively dealing with the past, and countering hate speech.
• Thematic area 2: Youth empowerment and engagement in society
  • This thematic area aims to empower youth and their civic engagement in society. The development of social capital among young people and the facilitation of their awareness, ability, and motivation to participate actively in society is a major RYCO commitment. RYCO believes that youth should be among the drivers of democratic development, social and economic prosperity, and European integration in an increasingly open Western Balkans region.
  • They are especially interested in supporting projects that amplify youth voices, allow them to openly discuss their grievances, and search for common ground and issues that young people share across communities and RYCO’s Contracting Parties. They encourage applicants to engage their target group beyond the role of participants and invite or allow them to actively contribute to all stages of the project, including project design. They welcome ideas that build sustainable platforms and opportunities for youth participation which will outlast the implementation of their specific projects.
  • Other cross-cutting thematic areas that RYCO expects project applicants to incorporate in their proposals are social inclusion and social cohesion and youth policy.

Main Sectors

• Architecture
• Cultural Heritage
• Design and Fashion Design
• Literary
• Music
• Performing arts
• Visual arts

Funding Information

• Size of Grants:
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall under two Lots:
    • Lot 1: EUR 3.000 for cultural practitioners.
    • Lot 2: EUR 6.000 for CSOs.

Key Aspects

• The essence of a youth cultural project, includes the following key aspects:
  • The projects supported within this Open Call should focus on enhancing cultural cooperation within the region. They should encourage collaboration among cultural practitioners, artists, and civil society organizations (CSOs) working in the cultural field. The goal is to create opportunities for cultural exchange, intercultural learning, and dialogue.
  • Equally important, the awarded projects should strive to contribute to fostering intercultural dialogue, reconciliation, peacebuilding, and cooperation among young people being in the focus of the RYCO mission in the Western Balkan region.
  • They should strive to encourage youth agency, inclusion and empower young people to express their voices, engaging them in discussions on relevant social topics should be at the heart of these efforts.
  • They should seek to ensure social inclusion and diversity, promoting equal opportunities for individuals and groups regardless of their backgrounds, origins, capabilities, or identities. It aims to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and welcomed.

Types of Activities

• Examples of the activities that will be supported through this open call, are the following:
  • Arts, theater, film, music, photography, poetry festivals and exhibitions;
  • Networking and exchange, artistic and cultural events;
  • Mobility exchange art events;
  • Educational activities, seminars, trainings and capacity building opportunities for artists;
  • Vocational art, pottery, ceramics, woodworking, fashion;
  • Art colonies;
  • Street performance, Music, Dancing, drawing, painting, photography, animation, etc.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lot 1
  • Lot 1 is dedicated to young cultural practitioners and cultural practitioners that work with youth or youth cultural practitioners.
  • It is aimed to support creative artistic solutions for social and political issues in Western Balkans which are identified to have a negative impact on the local community. Only legal residents of the listed RYCO CPs (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) are eligible to take part in the project.
  • This Lot does not require establishing partnership, although cooperation with other cultural practitioners and their involvement as collaborators presents an added value to the project proposal.
  • Applicants:
    • Young cultural practitioners (young people from 18 to 30)
    • Cultural practitioners that work with youth or youth cultural practitioners (cultural practitioners who don’t belong to the category of youth (can be 30+ years old), but who work with youth, aged 14-30 in the field of culture)
  • Collaborators:
    • The focus of this Lot 1 is on the regional and local community engagement. Following collaborators (not partners! – as this collaboration should not have any project financial implications) could take part and contribute to the implementation of the project supported within the Lot 1:
      • individuals,
      • cultural and educational institutions,
      • CSOs
      • local authorities,
      • youth offices/centers,
      • mayor’s office,
      • festivals,
      • (social) enterprises and companies,
      • other.
    • Their engagement could provide for an added value and secure more effective and meaningful local community engagement throughout the implementation of the supported project.
• Lot 2
  • LOT 2 is dedicated to civil society organizations working with youth/youth organizations working in the field of culture, supporting creative artistic solutions for social issues in Western Balkans.
  • Applicants:
    • Youth CSOs that work in the field of culture
    • CSOs working with young people in the field of culture
    • Civil society organizations (CSOs): non-profit making organizations (NGOs) registered in one or more RYCO Contracting Parties.
    • The Applicants (lead applicant and partners) must be a CSO established in one of the RYCO Contracting Parties, before 12 October 2022.
  • Partners:
    • The focus of this LOT 2 is on sharing best practices and networking, organization of events and festivals of wider regional scope, etc.
    • CSOs (non-profit making organizations) from Western Balkans are eligible to take part in project implementation as Partners and contribute to the implementation of the project supported within the Lot 2.
    • Minimum number of partners is 1 and partners should be from different RYCO Contracting Party.
    • Maximum number of partners is 2 (more precisely, 1 Lead Applicant and max 2 partners).
  • Collaborators:
    • individuals (cultural practitioners and artists),
    • cultural and educational institutions,
    • CSOs – local authorities,
    • youth office,
    • mayor’s office,
    • festivals,
    • (social) enterprises and companies,
    • other.

For more information, visit RYCO.