Deadline: 23-Aug-21
Applications are now open for the Second Call for Project Proposals under the outcome Access to Arts and Culture Improved that focuses on the role that culture and movable cultural heritage play as an engine for local and regional development by putting an accent on employment, social inclusion, and entrepreneurship in the cultural sector.
Objectives
- The general objective of the Programme is to strengthen social and economic development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage management. To achieve this, the Programme will promote cultural entrepreneurship initiatives, the ultimate goal of which is to reduce economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and to strengthen the relations between the Donor States – Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein – and the Republic of Bulgaria.
- In order to enhance the exchange and cooperation between organizations from the Donor States and Bulgaria, the Programme Operator – the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture – partners with Arts Council – Norway for the implementation of the Programme.
- The specific goal of Outcome 2 is to enhance the access of people to culture and arts as well as their engagement through different activities. The further development of the capacity of the cultural operators in the field of attracting audiences and the transfer of knowledge through cultural cooperation on the international level between representatives of the cultural operators from Bulgaria and the Donor States are main elements for the maximum usage of the potential that arts and culture possess for greater social inclusion.
- Outcome 2 is aimed at the following objectives:
- organization of diverse artistic and creative events, festivals, performances, exhibitions and initiatives which will revive the peripheral areas and bring new life to smaller towns and villages, and will attract new audiences.
- improving the access to arts and culture in remote areas and/or areas with poor access;
- promoting cultural initiatives of ethnic and cultural minorities and/or improve their access to culture;
- fostering bilateral cooperation and exchange between entities from the donor states and entities from Bulgaria.
Funding Information
- Total budget of the Call: €1,582,353
- The maximum grant applied for should be €200,000
- The minimum grant applied for should be €50,000
- The maximum grant rate is 100% of the total eligible expenditure of a project.
- The Project Promoter has the right to an advance payment of up to 30% of the agreed project budget.
- The total value of the advance and the interim payments shall not exceed 80% of the project’s budget as laid down in the project contract. The Programme Operator retains 20% of the agreed budget until the approval of the Project Promoter’s final report.
- The planned duration of each project in respect to the grant, including the foreseen activities cannot be less that 6 months and cannot exceed 24 months.
Eligible Partners
- Eligible partners from Republic of Bulgaria can be: any non-commercial, public or private, entity, and non-governmental organizations, established as a legal person in Bulgaria, whose principal activity is in the cultural and creative sectors on the Creative Europe Programme.
- Eligible partners from the Donor States (Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway) can be: any entity, public or private, commercial or non-commercial, and non-governmental organizations, established as a legal person in the Donor States, whose principal activity is in the cultural and creative sectors on the Creative Europe Programme.
- Natural persons are not eligible project partners.
- The partner shall be actively participating or actively contributing to the implementation of a given project. In order to achieve balance and effectiveness during the implementation of the project activities, each project partner shall mandatory receive budget/funding. The allocation of budget to a project partner.
- Under this call, the partnership is desirable but not obligatory. The PO will encourage projects which are based on partnerships between the applicants and partners from the Donor States.
- Projects which envisage the implementation of activities together with partners from the Donor States will receive additional points during the assessment of the project proposals.
- There is no limit to the number of project partners and one partner can participate in more than one project proposal.
Eligibility Criteria
- Any non-commercial, public or private, entities as well as non-governmental organizations, established as a legal person in Bulgaria, whose principal activity is in the cultural and creative sectors as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1295/2013 on the Creative Europe Programme, including municipalities. Budgetary organizations are all legal entities whose budgets are included in the state budget, the municipal budgets, the budgets of social security funds as well are all entities whose assets, revenues and payments are included in the consolidate fiscal programme pursuant to a normative act or according to the order of Article 171 of Public Finances Act.
- Natural persons are not eligible project promoters.
- The applicant should have the administrative, financial and operational capacity to implement the project.
- The PO does not require eligible applicants/partners to have experience and/or annual turnover in similar activities as those under the project proposal.
- Each applicant may submit only one project proposal under this call. In case an applicant has submitted more than one project proposal, only the last project proposal submitted within the deadline will be admitted for evaluation. All previous project proposals will be considered withdrawn.
Mandatory Requirements
The projects under this call must correspond to the following mandatory requirements:
- The activities provided for in the project proposals can be implemented on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and in the case of a partnership – on the territory of the partner(s) from the Donor States.
- It is obligatory for the project proposals to include activities for the realization of new cultural and art events.
- The project proposals must include realization of cultural events/initiatives outside the urban (city) center – in areas with low accessibility to art and culture.
- The project proposals must include realization of cultural event/initiative done on a local and regional level.
- The project proposals must foresee the preparation and implementation of a plan/strategy for gathering/attraction of audiences in relation to the realization of the event/initiative part of the project; such plan/strategy contributes to the sustainability of the project.
- The project proposals must foresee training of the expert personnel of the Project Promoter in view of enhancing their professional competences and skills, in relation to the organization and the conduct of the cultural and/or artistic events, as well as in relation to the attraction of audiences.
- Each project proposal must include an activity for the formation of a project management team, and each Project Promoter is directly responsible for the management of the project and for achieving quality implementation of the proposed activities.
- Any project proposal that foresees hiring experts, external to these directly responsible for the management of the project, but participating in the implementation/realization of the planned events/ initiatives as curators, painters, art-managers, animators, set designers, directors and others similar, should clearly describe their role in the implementation of the activities including argumentation on their number within the project. It should also set minimum requirements for experience and education. This information should be provided.
- Each project proposals must include an activity for publicity and information on the aims and the activities of the project as well as on the underlining of the financial contribution of the EEA Grants. The activity shall correspond to the criteria described in the Communication and Design Manual and to the Regulation on the Implementation of the EEA FM 2014-2021.
- Each project proposal must include a risk analysis and it should be detailed by the applicant in the Application Form.
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