Deadline: 1-Feb-22
The International Visegrad Fund is currently accepting applications for the Visegrad+ Grants Program to support projects which contribute to the democratization and transformation processes in selected countries of the Western Balkans (WBs) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) regions.
Objectives
- Culture and Common Identity
- Projects creating/presenting common audiovisual, literary, and other contemporary art products to new audiences
- Projects reflecting on common historical and cultural heritage as well as cultural diversity by joint research and knowledge-sharing activities
- Projects establishing and fostering cooperation among municipalities, regions, and local groups through common cultural activities
- Education and Capacity Building
- Projects strengthening professional networks of educational institutions and supporting mobility of students, researchers, and educators to share best practices
- Projects improving hard and soft skills for the 21st century through formal and non-formal educational methods
- Innovation, R&D, Entrepreneurship
- Projects aiming to build up new business and cluster networks for SMEs, startups, and research institutions within and outside the V4
- Projects tackling economic challenges and improving the ecosystem for businesses and social enterprises through joint lobbying, common policy solutions and exchange of best practices
- Projects dealing with innovation, new technologies and scientific research on regional and cross-sectoral levels
- Democratic Values and the Media
- Projects promoting active participation of citizens in democratic decision-making processes and fostering democratic debate
- Projects promoting transparency and the fight against corruption by supporting knowledge-exchange and capacity-building of whistleblowers, investigative journalists, and watchdogs
- Projects improving media and information literacy, and increasing resilience towards biased reporting, disinformation, and propaganda
- Projects aiming for better media coverage of relevant topics in the V4 region and increased access to information
- Public Policy and Institutional Partnership
- Projects connecting the expert communities to find joint solutions to common policy challenges
- Projects promoting active lobbying for policy change and good governance and connecting relevant stakeholders with decision-makers
- Regional Development, Environment and Tourism
- Projects offering new solutions and activities to the fight against climate change and raising awareness of environmental protection within and outside the V4 region
- Projects aiming at sustainable tourism development on the local and regional levels by combining international expertise and shared know-how
- Projects aiming at finding and sharing innovative solutions in local and regional infrastructure development, urban planning, land revitalization and agriculture
- Social Development
- Projects promoting an inclusive mindset in society and addressing protection and empowerment of minorities
- Projects improving intergenerational dialogue and the social care infrastructure to tackle common demographic and public health challenges
- Projects promoting a healthy and active lifestyle and reduction of addictive substance abuse.
Conditions
- Projects must develop meaningful cooperation and ensure active involvement of at least 3 V4 countries and 1 entity from the EaP region or the Western Balkans countries at minimum, regardless of the applicant
- Visegrad+ Grants should be implemented in the EaP or WBs region, and/or have a strong impact on local communities in at least one of those countries
- Maximum duration of project implementation is 18 months
- Grants cover up to 100% of project budget with maximum 15% of the requested sum for overheads
Eligibility Criteria
- Consortium of organizations of which 3 or more are based in different Visegrad countries
- All types of non-governmental, civil society organizations (CSOs); municipalities and local governments; schools, higher education institutions; research and scientific bodies and public institutions are eligible as lead partner (applicant) and partners in the consortia
- Market actors, e.g., companies – especially innovation and startuprelated actors – with a legal entity are also eligible, but only if their Visegrad project is of nonprofit character
- At least 3 organizations from 3 different V4 countries
- At least 1 organization from Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia
- At least 1 organization from Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine
For more information, visit https://www.visegradfund.org/apply/grants/visegrad-plus-grants/