Evropská kulturní nadace: granty na podporu spolupráce v oblasti umění

European Cultural Foundation - ECF
Collaboration grants for independent cultural and artistic organisations

Our grants programme stimulates transnational cultural collaboration, artistic expression and the mobility of artists and cultural actors.
Our various grants schemes relate to different ECF focus areas and to specific regions of the European continent. All of our activities revolve around the three strategic guiding principles:

i. Empowerment of people through art and culture

We want to support different communities in Europe and encourage the exchange and empowerment of underrepresented groups.

we are interested in:

• Diversity within our societies: projects that reduce exclusion and conflict by bringing people together;projects that target new audiences and create new places for showcasing culture.

ii. Connecting sources of knowledge

We think sharing and connecting knowledge is vital in terms of creating an open Europe.

We are interested in:

• Transnational, cross-sectoral and cross-generational online and offline collaborations: projects that try out innovative and creative partnerships to develop/produce new work, broaden knowledge-sharing and public participation, as well as experimenting with new technologies.

iii. Linking policy and practice

We are interested in projects that help build this open Europe by contributing to cultural policy development locally, nationally, regionally and at a European level.

We are interested in:

• Impacting on European cultural policy: projects that actively contribute to policy and practice; that connect a local perspective to the European level; that bring cultural and political players together in new ways, and raise awareness and help prove the value of cultural policy.

Who is eligible?

• Lead applicant: must be an independent artistic or cultural organisation based in Europe.

• Partnering applicant(s): organisations from the cultural or other sectors based either in Europe or the Arab-Mediterranean region.

Further explanation of eligible countries for applicants:

• Lead applicants:
Europe: The project must be organised by a cultural organisation based in one of the following European countries, if you are a lead applicant: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

• Partnering applicants:
Partnering applicants can be based in one of the above-mentioned European countries and/or in one of the following Arab-Mediterranean countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Syria and Tunisia. (We encourage cooperation with this region, as long as the content of the project clearly relates to European cross-border cooperation.)
Further explanation of applicant’s eligibility

• Legal status and sector of organisations: the lead applicant must be an independent [non-commercial], cultural or artistic organisation. We also welcome cross-sectoral cooperation: the lead applicant can collaborate with transnational partners from the same field and/or from other sectors. In other words, the leading cultural organisation can decide to develop a partnership with, for example, an environmental organisation, an activist group, an academic body or a commercial organisation.

• Number of partners and countries: although bilateral projects (in terms of the number of participating countries) are eligible to apply, they are much less likely to be awarded a grant than projects with more partners. We like to encourage collaboration between a number of different partners. However, exceptions are considered if project partners can demonstrate a potential multiplier effect. Therefore, projects with at least three partners (one lead applicant + two partnering applicants) representing at least three different countries have a greater chance of being awarded a grant in comparison to projects with, for example, four partners representing only two countries (one lead applicant + three partnering applicants).

What is eligible?

i. Partnership working methodology

• Transnational collaboration in Europe is the key phrase for this grants scheme. Projects are selected first and foremost according to their transnational and collaborative aspects. We need to see the transnational collaboration reflected in your entire application form. This means that project partners must be involved in all aspects of the project: working together on the planning, the development and the realisation. This also implies that all partners must contribute financially to the project (note that we also consider in-kind contributions as eligible).

ii. Cultural and content focus and discipline

• The project should have a strong cultural objective and concrete outcome(s). By concrete outcomes we mean a variety of activities: the creation of artistic work, media projects or cultural policy development, including capacity building of cultural actors. Please note that, in assessing the applications within this particular ECF grants scheme, the collaborative creative process is as important for us as the final outcome of the project.

• Also, please note that we are reluctant to support projects focusing on staging, exhibiting or showcasing existing works, unless this is done in an innovative way. For example, a project involving three orchestras rehearsing and performing an existing classical piece would not be eligible for a Collaboration Grant. However, a project consisting of research about the social impact of photography in a certain period of time in a certain region of Europe and the resulting touring exhibition (of existing works) would be considered eligible.

• Your project could involve one or more of the following disciplines: music, visual arts, theatre, dance, short film and documentary making, photography, fashion and design, capacity building, architecture and urban planning or multimedia.

• If your project involves artists or experts, please note that their names must be confirmed and communicated at the time of the submission of the application. We do not support projects that plan to issue an open call for artists or participants. This information is important for us in order to be able to assess the (artistic) quality of your project.

iii. European dimension

We are looking for projects that are managed transnationally across Europe, as well as focusing on content with a transnational European dimension.

Projects (re)-interpreting Europe in an original way are especially welcome.

iv. Sustainability

• The project must have a clear end result that can be evaluated.

• Ideally, the project will be a starting point for sustainable cooperation between the partner organisations.

• Projects with confirmed locations/venues for final presentation of the end results are more likely to be considered.

Please note: organisations may participate once as a main applicant and once as a partner organisation within the same Collaboration Grants round. This means that an organisation maybe involved in a maximum of two different projects for the same funding round. Please bear in mind that being listed as a partner in more than two projects in the same grants round will jeopardise funding for all projects that include this partner, since all the applications will be excluded.

v. Timeframe

• Project activities must not start before ECF has made its funding decision. The decision will be made approximately five to eight weeks after the grant deadline (please check the exact planning for funding rounds on the ECF grants website section: http://www.eurocult.org/grants). It is acceptable for preparatory/ initial activities (e.g. preparatory meetings, fundraising, calls for artists etc.) to take place before the grant application is made. However, please note that ECF will only reimburse the costs of activities that are yet to take place (in other words, ECF cannot be asked to reimburse the costs of preparatory activities that have occurred before the ECF grants contract has been signed).

• The project must be completed within 18–24 months after the contract has been signed.

vi. Financial

• ECF can support up to 80% (maximum) of the project’s total budget. The lead applicant and the partnering organisations are expected to contribute to the project financially and to apply to other funders (ECF specifically welcomes the involvement of local/national funding partners, as we believe this helps to embed the project within the local/national context). This should be shown in the budget outline.

• ECF provides an average collaboration grant of Euro 15,000. The maximum grant awarded is Euro 30,000.

The grant is normally paid in two instalments: 70% at the beginning of the project and the remaining balance on receipt of the final narrative and financial reports.

• ECF may select your project, even if your remaining budget has not yet been secured when you are applying.

Payment of the grant will be conditional on the applicant securing 80% of the total budget at least one month before the activities take place.

• The budget (attached to the application) can only request a maximum of 20% expenditure on personnel costs. The exact details are to be found in the downloadable Excel spreadsheet in the online application form.

• ECF reserves the right to withhold 10% of the total grant awarded if ECF is not acknowledged according to its specifications detailed in the guidelines online (see http://www.eurocult.org/about-us/logos-and-banners).

What we don’t fund

Ineligible types of costs

• Operating costs of an organisation’s regular activities.
• Costs required for setting up or running a new organisation; (however, costs required for setting up new online or offline networks by existing organisations are eligible).
• Purchasing technical equipment (rental costs are eligible).
Nature of collaboration
• Organisations without committed transnational partners.
• Projects in which the partnering applicants do not contribute financially or with in-kind support.
• Projects lacking a European dimension.

Type of project applicants

• Projects in which the lead applicant consists of: student bodies, commercial organisations, state institutions, amateur organisations or organisations focusing primarily on education, religion or heritage.
• Independent cultural or artistic organisations applying more than once as lead applicant and/or more than once as project partner in a given grant round.
• It is not possible to apply for a Collaboration Grant if your organisation has an ECF-funded project running at the time of application, unless you have already submitted the final reports or plan to do so before the envisaged start date of the new project.
• Projects that rely entirely on ECF funding.

Focus of the project

• Activities that focus only on the academic sector or represent traditional approaches to research and education (e.g. school/university exchanges, scholarships, research or education programmes firmly located within a traditional institution).
• Institutional approaches to arts education or art therapy.
• Folkloric events and projects that focus on presenting or conserving ethnic, national or European heritage.
• Initiatives based solely on tourism.
• Artists exchange without a clear objective or plan for the end result of the exchange.
• Touring, exhibiting or showcasing existing works, such as (recurrent editions of) festivals, biennales and exhibitions, unless approached in an innovative way.
• Projects limited to the production of one time only/single occurrence events, performances or art works.
• Awards, competitions or residencies.
• Summer camps, summer schools and student exchanges.
• Independent literary works, translations or running costs of an ongoing series of publications or cultural reviews; (however, publications documenting your collaborative project may be included in your application).

How we assess the applications

After the deadline is closed, the eligible applications are first evaluated by the ECF grants team. The pre-selection is distributed among a group of external advisers from across Europe, each with different fields of expertise. Each proposal is assessed by two advisers independently of each other. After this assessment, ECF decides which projects it will support and how much funding will be granted, depending on the available budget.
Both awarded and rejected applicants are notified by e-mail around five to eight weeks after the deadline.

How to apply, application form and deadlines

You can apply online.

The Collaboration Grant scheme will only have one round in 2012. The application round for Collaboration Grants 2012 will be open from 09.30 (CET) 20 February to 17.00 (CET) 2 May 2012.