Priorities of the Culture programme:

• Promoting the transnational mobility of artists and professionals with a view to enabling them to cooperate internationally and to internationalize their careers and activities in the Union and beyond, when possible on the basis of long-term strategies, and promoting the transnational circulation of cultural and creative works, the aim of which is to promote cultural exchanges, intercultural dialogue, understanding for cultural diversity and social inclusion;
• Strengthening audience development as a chance to stimulate interest in and improve access to European cultural and creative works and tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Audience development seeks to help European artists/cultural professionals and their work to reach as many people as possible across Europe and extend access to culture to under-represented groups;
• Fostering creativity, innovative approaches to create and new ways of ensuring spillover effects to other sectors. Developing and testing new and innovative models of revenue, management and marketing for the cultural sectors, in particular with regard to the digital shift. A particular focus shall be given on supporting activities enabling cultural professionals to gain new skills, on those having an educational dimension and on those seeking to foster intercultural dialogue and mutual understandingamong people from different cultures or backgrounds as well as to build on culture with a view to helping counter all forms of discrimination;
• Helping the integration of refugees into the EU through showcasing and co-creation activities of cultural and audio-visual nature across Europe, which are relevant for this specific target group. Enhancing mutual cultural understanding and fostering intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, and respect for other cultures. The focus will be on the cross-border exchange of best practices, valuable knowledge and experiences, and practical hands-on action involving refugees as target audiences and/or as actors. More in general, this focus will enable further building on the importance of democratic and political values and the benefit derived by citizens from a vibrant and informed political debate as an aspect of cultural activity.

Funding schemes for the Culture programme

• Transnational cooperation projects, bringing together cultural and creative organisations from different countries to undertake sectoral or cross-sectoral activities;
• Activities by European networks of cultural and creative organisations from different countries;
• Activities by organisations with a European vocation fostering the development of emerging talent and stimulating the transnational mobility of cultural and creative players and circulation of works, with the potential to exert a broad influence on the cultural and creative sectors and to provide for lasting effects;
• Literary translation and its further promotion;
• Special actions designed to make the richness and diversity of European cultures more visible and to stimulate intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, including Union cultural prizes, the European Capitals of Culture action and the European Heritage Label action.

Priorities
 

• Promoting the transnational mobility of artists and professionals with a view to enabling them to cooperate internationally and to internationalize their careers and activities in the Union and beyond, when possible on the basis of long-term strategies, and promoting the transnational circulation of cultural and creative works, the aim of which is to promote cultural exchanges, intercultural dialogue, understanding for cultural diversity and social inclusion;
• Strengthening audience development as a means of stimulating interest in and improving access to European cultural and creative works and tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Audience development seeks to help European artists/cultural professionals and their works reach as many people as possible across Europe and extend access to cultural works to under-represented groups. It also seeks to help cultural organisations adapt to the need to engage in new and innovative ways with audiences both to retain them, to build new audiences, diversify audiences including reaching current "non-audiences", and to improve the experience for both existing and future audiences and deepen the relationship with them;
• Fostering capacity building means helping cultural operators to further develop their skills and internationalise their careers in order to facilitate access to professional opportunities as well as to create the conditions for greater transnational circulation of cultural and creative works and for cross-border networking. This can happen in manifold ways. The main 3 are spelled out here below, and each of them constitutes a programme priority in its own right.
  • Digitisation
    The digital shift is having a massive impact on how cultural and creative goods are made, disseminated, accessed, consumed and monetised. These changes offer wide opportunities for the cultural and creative sectors. In order to use those opportunities, the cultural and creative sectors need to develop new skills allowing for new production and distribution methods and new business models.
  • New business models
    The opportunities offered by the new technologies make it necessary to develop and test new models of revenue, management and marketing for the cultural sectors. At the same time, the cultural and creative operators should enhance their financial and business skills, to allow them to better perform at the market and to take full advantage of the funding opportunities that are changing along with the financial context.
  • Training and education
    Enabling people to gain new skills which will enrich their professional life and embrace their chances on the labour market is one of the overarching priorities of EU action. Obviously, artistic and cultural education and training are an integral part of this effort.

Terms of funding
 

Smaller scale cooperation projects (category 1):

• max. EUR 200,000
• 60% EU grant (40% co-financing)
• 1 co-ordinator and at least 2 other project partners from at least 3 different programme countries [28 EU, Norway, Iceland as well as EU candidate or potential candidate countries]

Larger Scale cooperation projects (category 2):

• max. 2 Mio. EUR
• 50% EU grant (50% co-financing)
• 1 co-ordinator and at least 5 other project partners from at least 6 different countries [28 EU, Norway, Iceland as well as EU candidate or potential candidate countries]

Valid for both categories of projects:

Priorities are:

• Supporting the circulation of European literature with a view to ensuring the widest possible accessibility;
• Supporting the promotion of European literature including the appropriate use of digital technologies in both the distribution and promotion of the works;
• Encourage the translation and promotion of high quality European literature

Terms of funding:

• Project duration: max. 2 years
• Funding: max. EUR 100.000, max. 50% EU grant (50% co-financing)
• Subject of the project:
  • Translation and promotion of a package of 3 to 10 eligible works of fiction from and into eligible languages, including the publication of a summary of the translated body of work
• Deadline for applications: no regular calls for proposal

Objective

• Supporting actions providing cultural and creative players with skills, competences and know-how that contribute to strengthening the cultural and creative sectors, including encouraging adaption to digital technologies;
• Testing innovative approaches to audience development;
• Testing of new business and management models;
• Supporting actions enabling cultural and creative players to cooperate internationally and to internationalize their careers and activities in the Union and beyond, when possible on the basis of long-term strategies;
• Providing support to strengthen European cultural and creative organisations and international networking in order to facilitate access to professional opportunities

Terms of funding

• European networks: organisations including members from several countries (statute/charter), 15 member organisations (legal persons) legally established in at least 10 different eligible countries
• Applicant: network or member organisation, established legal entity for the last two years
• Funding: max. 250 000 EUR per year; max. 80% EU grant (20% co-financing)
• Deadline for applications: no regular calls for proposal

Objectives are:

• To foster the development of emerging talents and stimulate the transnational mobility of cultural and creative players and circulation of works, with the potential to exert a broad influence on the cultural and creative sectors and to provide for lasting effects.
• To help increase recognition and visibility of artists and creators with a strong commitment in terms of European programming through communication activities and a branding strategy, including where appropriate, the creation of a European quality label.

Terms of funding

• Platforms: Shall be comprised of a coordination entity and at least 10 European cultural organisations from at least 10 different EU countries
• Funding: max. 500 000 EUR, max. 80 % EU grant (20 % co-financing)
• Deadline for applications: no regular calls for proposal