Deadline: 01-Feb-23
The International Visegrad Fund’s Strategic Grants Program is now open for applications to support projects addressing the annual strategic priorities of the Visegrad Group.
Strategic priorities are announced annually by the V4 country holding the rotating presidency over the group, which from July 2021 to June 2022 is Hungary. Projects must develop meaningful cooperation and ensure active participation of organizations from all V4 countries. Projects must clearly address one of the annual strategic priorities of the Visegrad Group.
Strategic Priorities
- Research, development and innovation; digitalisation
- Projects emphasizing the importance of mobility, networking, knowledge sharing and capacity building in the V4 & its neighbourhood
- Post-COVID Recovery
- Projects focusing on supporting the V4’s resilience/recovery in terms of health, economy and society, through innovative solutions
- Challenges and perspectives of the young generation in the Visegrad region
- promoting civic engagement and youth volunteerism; promoting technical, artistic and handcraft skills building of youth; raising young people’s awareness of Visegrad cooperation
Funding Information
- Overall digitalization up to €1,000, on an individual basis.
- For projects with eligible expenditures below €30,000:
- Documented education and professional experience or professional qualification of the persons designated to perform the contract in the area of audit/review of projects funded by grants or other public funds.
- For projects with eligible expenditures exceeding €30,000:
- Documented experience with the provision of audit services with respect to projects funded by grants or other public funds amounting to at least €30,000 in the previous three years.
- Documented education and professional experience or professional qualification of the persons designated to perform the contract in audit/review of projects funded by grants or other public funds.
- Grants cover up to 100% of project budget with 15% for overheads.
- Duration: Maximum duration of projects is 36 months, minimum is 12 months.
Eligibility Criteria
- At least 4 organizations from ALL four Visegrad countries: Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia.
- Any non-governmental, legal entity from any country can apply for support if they fulfil the partnership criteria. The Fund’s main targets are civil society organizations (CSOs), public educational, cultural, research and scientific institutions, municipalities, and local governments, but market actors, e.g., companies – especially innovation and startup-related ones – are also eligible, if their project is of nonprofit character.
- Natural persons (individual citizens) or institutions of state administration directly subordinated to the state and its bodies, e.g., ministries, government and state agencies, embassies, etc. can neither apply nor be valid project partners.
- Private entrepreneurs are not eligible to apply or be partners.
- Subjects that possess full or partial independence from state administration and possess self-government (such as universities, academic, artistic, social, educational, cultural, research and/or science organizations, municipalities, and local governments, etc.) can apply for the Fund’s support.
- If the applicant is a research or higher education institution with several organizational units (e.g. universities, academies of science, etc.), they are obliged to indicate the name of the smallest possible organizational unit (institute, department, etc.) entrusted with the project’s implementation. Without this information, the application will not be considered eligible. When choosing the appropriate unit, make sure that they are entitled, according to their internal rules, to apply for project funding independently.
- Should an overlapping larger unit (e.g. a faculty of the university) have a running grant in the same grant scheme that the applicant wishes to apply for, it is the responsibility of the applicant to make sure that the running project is administered by a separate subunit (e.g. the applicant is a department under a faculty which already has a running project – a clear separation of subunits will be necessary to make the new proposal eligible).
- Who can apply?
- 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
- Who cannot apply?
- Institutions directly under state administration (ministries, government agencies, embassies, state-funded cultural institutes, state-owned companies)
- Natural persons (individual citizens)
- Private entrepreneurs with/without a legal entity
For more information, visit International Visegrad Fund.