Danube Small Project Fund for Culture

Application is open for the Danube Small Project Fund for Culture. In order to meet the needs of the cultural sector in the Danube region, contribute to the implementation of the EUSDR, and give a proper answer to the challenges of the Covid-pandemic, the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts Baden-Württemberg (MWK) initiated a pilot action for the Danube Small Project Fund which is to elaborate the final structure and to test the long-term function of this innovative funding platform. The partner organisations of the Danube Small Project Fund agreed to jointly establish a pilot implementation phase from 2021-2023. The pilot phase is based on simple online calls at least once per year (depending on funding possibilities). Cultural actors in the Danube region can describe their concepts and enter them into an online form to apply for funding.

Eligibility

The Danube Small Project Fund for Culture is a new funding opportunity for small scale cultural creative initiatives based on collaboration among various partners – creatives and cultural operators – from the Danube countries.

Who can apply?

• They encourage independent NGOs, small associations, groups of artists, or individuals (artists, cultural operators, creatives) to apply as a lead partner. If you apply as an organisation, you must be able to present an official registration by your local authorities, if you apply as an individual, you need to identify yourself with a valid ID document.
• They give a clear preference to initiatives from the independent cultural-creative scene of the Danube region (instead of big national institutions or festivals). Nevertheless, institutions are not excluded from the call as they may apply with new small and cooperative initiatives for the benefit of the independent creative-artistic scene (e.g. a special off-program of an existing festival).
• They invite you to apply in partnership with at least two partners from two more different countries in the Danube region. Collaboration or co-creation is a key condition for funding.
• They define the Danube area in the sense of the European Union’s Strategy for the Danube Region. In this sense, the lead partner and all further partners should be registered or be residents of one of the following countries or states: Austria, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and parts of Ukraine (Zakarpatska, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, and Odesa).
• Although they do not encourage it, you are allowed to submit more than one application or alternatively be involved with multiple proposals as a partner provided that they are for entirely different projects.

What are they looking for?

• This call supports creative and innovative cultural and artistic actions (project proposals) based on regional collaboration.
• Creativity, innovation, and collaboration are the 3 key focuses of this grant. Proposals that are rather “business as usual” or already running projects/programmes are not a priority. They are especially looking for project proposals that initiate suppletory or experimental cultural actions. Innovation can be related to the theme of the project, the genre or the type of collaboration/co-creation represented by the action. The quality of collaboration will be an important part of the evaluation.
• They do not have any preference for a specific artistic field or discipline within cultural work or the creative industries. They understand ‘culture’ as a very wide field covering work far beyond the classical arts and culture domain.
• This first DSPF call has no further thematic requirements, restrictions or specifications.
• Nevertheless, if you are looking for thematic orientation or are simply curious about what issues and topics are relevant to the Danube region or are addressed by the EU Danube Strategy, you can find information on the following websites. It is important to note, however, that these contents are for information or inspiration only and do not represent any criteria or expectations from the DSPF:
• Defined targets of Priority Area 3 (Culture and Tourism) within the EUSDR: https://cultureandtourism.danube–region.eu/priority–area–3/pa3–targets/
• Interreg Danube Transnational Programme – approved projects and former project results: http://www.interreg–danube.eu/

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Benefits

What do they offer?

• A one-off grant or contribution of up to 5,000 € is available for the realisation of your initiative/project proposal. The proposals will be selected by the international Jury (Programme Committee) of the DSPF. The results will be published on the website of the DSPF in a transparent way.

An objection against the decision of the jury cannot be accepted.

• It is necessary for you to have your own resources or co-funding in order to be eligible for funding. Own resources can be cash co-payment by yourself or your partners or other incomes you may have secured for the project from third parties. Please note that a minimum co-payment of 10% is required which needs to be indicated in the budget form. All own resources, other incomes, or in-kind contributions need to be indicated in the budget form (excel sheet).
• A balanced budget with diversified resources can significantly improve the feasibility of the project, which is one of the main components based on which applications will be assessed.
• There is no legal entitlement to the DSPF funding!
• Covid-clause: Please contact the coordinators of the DSPF immediately, if the implementation of your granted project is going to be affected by the covid pandemic (lockdowns, restrictive regulations for live events, etc.)! Any changes in the implementation (e.g. digital instead of life) or the budget distribution must be communicated to and confirmed by the DSPF coordination.

Application process

To apply for Danube Small Project Fund for Culture click here