Grants to support Cultural Actors Addressing Global Issues

Deadline: 21-May-24

The European Commission (EC) is offering grants to improve human development and the quality of life in the Southern Neighbourhood region through culture.

This call for proposals builds on what has been already done to better tackle cultural industry’s needs in the Southern Neighbourhood and to allow cultural workers to play their crucial role as democracy-builders. It aims to specifically focus on cultural ecosystems’ contribution to build a sense of local and regional community and on cultural workers positive role in upholding global issues such as green and digital transition. It will foster the role of culture in climate action, promoting the change of mindset towards the climate crisis, promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns, circular economy and other topics. Cultural ecosystems will contribute to raising awareness on gender equality and challenge stereotypes and social norms regarding the position of women in the society.

Objectives

• The specific objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen cultural ecosystems and enable cultural actors to address global issues such as the green and digital transition with gender-based approach via cross-sectoral cooperation with civil society and other partners
• The expected outputs to be delivered by this call for proposals are:
  • Local cultural ecosystems and their community-building role are strengthened including with gender-based approach
  • Public awareness is raised on global issues such as digital and green transition via cross-sectoral cooperation with civil society with gender-based approach.

Priorities

• The priorities of this call for proposals are:
  • The description of action should highlight the regional dimension of cultural relations, how the cooperation and transnational coordination among actors will take place and how diaspora communities from Neighbourhood South countries residing in another Neighbourhood South country will be involved in the project
  • The methodology should outline how gender equality, and environmental and climate considerations will be ensured throughout the design of the project.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 4 000 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Size of grants
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
    • minimum amount: EUR 3 900 000
    • maximum amount: EUR 4 000 000
• Duration: The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 48 months.
• The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action and the amount requested from the contracting authority) must be financed from sources other than the general budget of the Union or the European Development Fund.

Types of Activities

• Types of activity which may be financed under this call, may include, but are not limited to:
  • Financial Support to Third Parties (compulsory as defined hereunder)
  • Networking activities
  • Promotion / awareness raising, advocacy campaigns
  • Visibility tools, including website, newsletter and information dissemination
  • Capacity-building and advisory services; mentoring, peer learning, training of trainers
  • Cultural activities
  • Mobility schemes

Location

• Actions must take place in at least 5 partner countries of the Southern Neighbourhood region. Some activities such as dissemination events and North-South collaborations can take place in the European Union.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person and
    • be non-profit-making and
    • be a civil society organisation and
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or one of the Southern Neighbourhood partner countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia) or a country that is a beneficiary listed or a country that is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA); and
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary and
    • be an organisation or be in a partnership of organisation(s) with a proven experience in cultural cooperation in the countries of Southern Neighbourhood and
    • be an organisation or be in a partnership of organisation(s) with a proven experience in awarding, managing and monitoring the implementation of grants, including coaching of grantees and on-the-job training aiming at strengthening their project management capacities.
• Co-applicants
  • The action must involve a partnership with at least 2 co-applicants established in at least 2 different Southern Neighbourhood partner countries. The partnership should involve organisations with demonstrated and complementary experience in the relevant areas of the action, as well as experience at the grassroots level.
  • The partnership will have to demonstrate strong management capacities, in particular to implement grants and preferably financial support to third parties, and to monitor and coach the third parties. The lead applicant and co-applicants will have to demonstrate their expertise in the field of support to civil society organisations, youth empowerment, culture, cultural heritage, environment and climate change, as well as their experience implementing operational actions and capacity building activities in the region.
  • It is recommended not to involve more co-applicants than is needed. All co-applicants must be carefully chosen and play a strategic and an active role in the activities proposed. All proposals must demonstrate the value-added that all co-applicants bring to the programme and its activities.
  • Co-applicants 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-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicants will become beneficiaries in the action (together with the coordinator).
• Affiliated entities
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicants may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(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.