European Commission invites Proposals for Arctic Youth Dialogues

Deadline: 20-Jun-23

The European Commission (EC) has launched a call for proposals to increase the contribution of young people to the implementation of the updated EU policy for the Arctic, bringing the Arctic to the EU and the EU to the Arctic.

There are eight Arctic States: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (Denmark, Greenland, Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

• In its policy, the EU stresses the importance to prioritising the people living in the Arctic. The Joint Communication underlines that the EU will “involve women and young and Indigenous Peoples more in relevant decision-making processes”.
• The specific objective of this call for proposals is to promote dialogues between the Arctic youth and the European youth to strengthen engagement, empowerment and participation of young people in policymaking processes addressing the challenges faced by the Arctic.
• In line with the EU Arctic policy and the Youth Action Plan in EU External Action, the priority areas of this call for proposals are:
  • Engage, empower and connect the Arctic Youth, foster connections between the Arctic and European Youth, paying attention to gender issues, to indigenous rightsholders and other inhabitants of the Arctic.
  • Promoting European Union’s values amongst young people and beyond– such as supporting and promoting democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality.
  • Work together on sustainable and inclusive development, the preservation of biodiversity and adaptation to climate change and mitigation of its impact

Aims

• Actions under this call should aim to:
  • foster dialogue and cooperation between European and Arctic young people and their organisations in general, and on the priority areas specifically;
  • generate understanding, knowledge and build leadership capacity of young people living in the Arctic to create politically engaged deliverables in the priority areas defined above (e.g. Arctic Youth Dialogue);
  • strengthen contribution, engagement and participation of young people in policy-making in multilateral fora to enable young people to convincingly advocate for their input on global issues and processes with particular attention to young people with fewer opportunities.
  • empower young people and support youth-led initiatives having a positive impact in their immediate community and the wider society. Specific attention will be given to support young people’s role in achieving the overall objectives of the external dimension of the European Green Deal;
  • build initiatives between various youth groups and organisations within the Arctic, between the Arctic and the European Union; create / strengthen / connect local, regional, national and international networks, contributing to their long term sustainability;
  • capitalise on existing national / regional relevant initiatives in the Arctic and when relevant in the international scene;
• Additional actions that would be considered an asset include:
  • facilitate exchange through new, innovative and immersive methods, recognised in the field of youth work. Artistic creation (e.g., via photo, films, theatre, writing etc.) and wider cultural aspects will be considered as important vehicles;
  • create dialogues with/and inform Arctic and EU policy decision and policy-makers (including EU institutions and also EU Member States’ national and local levels) of the views and recommendations of Arctic and European young people, through relevant and far-reaching representing organizations.
  • ensure synergies with other actions carried out by the EU and EU Delegations in this area (e.g., crossborder programmes, Horizon Europe, ERASMUS+, European Solidarity Corps, the EU youth dialogue, Creative Europe, Media, students on ice, etc.).

Sectors or Themes

• The main sector or theme is the youth living in the Arctic. Additional sectors or themes, complementing the main sector or theme (and not instead of) include women, Indigenous peoples, climate change, and European Green Deal topics.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2,300,000.
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • minimum amount: EUR 1,800,000
  • maximum amount: EUR 2,300,000
• Duration: The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 48 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant(s)
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person, and
    • be non-profit-making, and
    • be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, public sector operator, local authority/regional organisation, civil society organisation, local/community group, cultural institution, artistic school, academic and research institution, and
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in one of the Arctic States
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • The minimum number of co-applicants is one (1) and at least one of the consortium members must be established in one of the Arctic States.
  • Co-applicant(s) participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicant(s) must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • Co-applicant(s) must sign the mandate form.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).
• Affiliated entities
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to coapplicant(s):
    • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
    • This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
      • Control on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings: Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
        • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
        • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
        • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies)
      • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,) as the proposed affiliated entities.

For more information, visit European Commission (EC).