European Cultural Foundation launches the Culture of Solidarity fund

The Culture of Solidarity Fund supports imaginative cultural initiatives that in the midst of the global pandemic crisis reinforce European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space.

The fund is a shared initiative of the European Cultural Foundation and partners. They state: "all around the globe we see people reaching out to each other, practicing small and often imaginative human gestures of everyday solidarity, uniting us, across balconies, social networks, cities and countries. It is exactly this culture of solidarity we have set out to capture and encourage". The fund aimes to support "imaginative cultural initiatives - big or small - that reinforce solidarity and the notion of Europe as a shared public space in response to the current crisis and its aftershocks". Ideas and initiatives that:

• Expand the notion of Europe as an open and shared public space for everybody in times of inward- looking and national decision-making;
• Express and act in hands-on solidarity with people and communities across closed borders;
• Share experiences, knowledge, skills, stories, ideas and resources of solidarity across Europe, especially outside mainstream public attention;
• Sustain people-to-people interaction beyond European borders and in times of travel restrictions and social distancing;
• Maintain cultural life and social experiences with a European outreach in times of home lockdown and prepare the ground for a cultural revival of Europe after the crisis;  
• Develop new approaches in operations of cultural work and new alliances across sectors to deal with the current challenges imposed by the crisis.  

Individuals, collectives and organisations from all sectors and civil society at large with initiatives and ideas are called to apply for the fund. There are 8-15 grants of between 5.000 and 50.000 euro's each divided into three categories of magnitude available per application round. The deadline for the first round is Monday, 27 April 2020 12:00 CET.

More details can be found via the website of the European Cultural Foundation.