Fifteen regional projects have been recently launched within the framework of the EU-funded Eastern Partnership Culture Programme for a total amount of €8.2 million, ENPI info centre reported.
They will be implemented in the Eastern Partnership countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, with a view to strengthening the role of culture as a driving force for sustainable economic, social and human development.
Projects cover a broad scope of themes, including areas from film and photography, to cultural education, crafts and publishing. For a full list of projects, click here.
All projects are aimed at strengthening the capacities of the cultural sector and the role of culture through the development of regional cooperation. On a larger scale, their implementation will boost the capacities of cultural institutions and cultural actors by enhancing their skills in cultural management and policy development, and supporting cultural initiatives and communities.
At the local level, these multi-faceted and diverse projects will promote the role of culture in society by developing and deepening networking ties between cultural actors, culture-related civil society organizations, public institutions, and authorities.
The projects will be implemented by 79 organisations representing 17 countries, including six Eastern Partnership countries, nine member states of the European Union (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania), and two EU candidates, Croatia and Turkey.
Implementation costs will be shared between the European Commission which has committed to covering a maximum of 80% and the project implementing partners, covering the remaining 20%.
The grant winners have been selected through a call for proposals launched by the European Commission in October 2010, which specifically targeted the cultural sector of the Eastern Partnership countries for the first time.
The €12 million Eastern Partnership Culture Programme aims at assisting the Partner Countries in their cultural policy reform at government level, as well as capacity building and improving professionalism of cultural operators in the region. It seeks to strengthen regional cultural links and dialogue within the Eastern Partnership region, and between the EU and ENP Eastern countries' cultural networks and actors. (ENPI Info Centre)