Deadline: 11-Nov-22
The European Commission (EC) has announced a call for applications for the 2028 European Capital of Culture (ECOC) for Cities in European Free Trade Association and European Economic Area (EFTA/EEA).
The general objectives of the European Capital of Culture action have been defined as follows: to safeguard and promote the diversity of cultures in Europe and to highlight the common features they share as well as to increase citizens’ sense of belonging to a common cultural area, on the one hand, and to foster the contribution of culture to the long-term development of cities at economic, social and urban level, in accordance with their respective strategies and priorities, on the other hand.
Aims
The aim of this call is:
- to trigger applications from cities in EFTA/EEA countries, candidate countries and potential candidates participating in the Creative Europe Programme’ (at the date of publication of the call), which wish to bid for the “European Capital of Culture” title for the year 2028 and
- to lead to the designation of one of these cities as European Capital of Culture 2028, that may be awarded the Melina Mercouri prize (funded from the respective Union programme supporting culture at the time of its award).
Funding Information
The outcome of the selection process of the European Capital of Culture Union action under this specific call is two fold:
- The award of the title of European Capital of Culture;
- The award of a pecuniary prize of 1.5 million EUR in honour of Melina Mercouri.
Eligibility Criteria
This call for submission of applications is exclusively addressed to the cities wishing to apply for the title of European Capital of Culture 2028 from the following EFTA/EEA countries, candidate countries or potential candidates:
- Albania (except the city of Tirana, as the city already submitted an application for the competition for the 2024 ECOC title),
- Iceland,
- Kosovo,
- Liechtenstein,
- Montenegro (except the city of Herceg Novi, as the city already submitted an application for the competition for the 2021 ECOC title)
- North Macedonia.
The title applies to a city. Cities may involve their surrounding areas if they wish so, but the title is awarded only to the city itself and not to the whole area. Therefore, where a city involves its surrounding area, the application shall be made under the name of the city.
Every application must be based on a cultural programme with a strong European dimension. The cultural programme shall cover the year of the European Capital of Culture title and shall be created specifically for the title.
For more information, visit https://ec.europa.eu/culture/calls/ecoc-2028