The Cluster Fund is EUNIC’s primary instrument to financially support colleagues working in clusters in delivering cultural relations activities. It was initiated in 2012 and has up to today financed 146 cultural relations projects worldwide.

EUNIC Cluster Fund Call

The purpose of the 2020 EUNIC Cluster Fund call is to co-finance EUNIC clusters’ projects which:

• contribute to the principles of international cultural relations and to the implementation of the new EUNIC Strategic Framework of 2020-2024;
• support local cultural scenes worldwide in response to the current Covid-19 pandemic;
• strengthen cooperation amongst EUNIC cluster members and partners on the ground;
• deliver the local cluster strategies;
• raise the profile of EUNIC through improved quality of EUNIC clusters’ projects.

In June 2020, EUNIC members published a joint statement on the importance of cultural relations in a post-crisis global society. Here, they identified key actions that all actors in the field should undertake to combat the rippling effects of the coronavirus outbreak, calling to make support to local cultural scenes worldwide a priority. The 2020 Cluster Fund call therefore particularly welcomed project proposals that aim to support local cultural scenes. At least three EUNIC members can collaborate on a joint proposal. A 50 percent co-financing rate applies.

The 2020 Call

For the 2020 Cluster Fund Call 45 applications were submitted (17 from the EU, 6 from Europe, 9 from the Americas, 4 from MENA, 6 sub-Saharan Africa, 3 from Asia). The 27 selected projects involve 30 EUNIC members, 22 EU Delegations or European Commission Representations and over 150 local partners in 32 countries with a total budget of more than 800,000 euros including the co-financing by members of EUNIC clusters and local partners. The available envelope made up of EUNIC members' headquarters contributions was roughly 330,000 euros, a 50 percent increase from 2019. In total 20 EUNIC members have contributed to this year’s call, up from 14 in 2019.

The overall quality of all submitted proposals was high, as the minimum score for the selection was 80 percent. The call had eight selection criteria: alignment with cultural relations’ principles, collaboration of EUNIC members, partnerships, impact and evaluation, feasibility and visibility). For the first time, three colleagues representing EUNIC members took part in the initial evaluation meeting together with the team of the EUNIC office. The final awarding decision was made by the EUNIC Board of Directors. The following colleagues provided their expertise in the evaluation process:

• Agnieszka Skieterska, Minister’s Counsellor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Poland, former Director of Polish Institute in Bucharest, a President and Vice President of EUNIC Romania in 2018-2020.
• Felipe Basabe, deputy head of the budget office at the Instituto Cervantes Headquarters, previously served in local branches in Paris and Munich and is experienced in project evaluation at the European level.
• Ingrid Bertaux from Institut français Headquarters, responsible for the Franco-German Cultural Fund.

Selected European cultural relations projects

• Albania - Archeovision: back to the future
• Algeria - Film Critic Encounters: an Algerian premier
• Belarus - Human Library: EUNIC Belarus Edition
• Berlin - Babylon Europa 2021
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bridges between Herzegovina
• Brasilia - Media Literacy: Combating misinformation
• Brussels - The Future of Living
• Bulgaria - e-UConvArt
• Egypt - Building a virtual Egyptian European Space for Culture
• Ethiopia - Tibeb Online
• Israel - European: Israeli Podcast Project
• Italy (Rome and Naples) - Quartieri di Vita: Life infected with Social Theatre!
• Kenya - Wasanii Waomoke (Empowering Artists)
• Kraków - Renowa Huta
• London - Imagining Futures: Independent Festivals in a Post-Covid World
• Mexico - Flash ACT: Art, Science and Technology
• Morocco - Dance-Fusion
• Mozambique - Digital Platform of Visual Arts in Mozambique
• New Delhi - Hoogli Heritage Hub
• New York - UN/MUTE - 10002
• Nigeria - A Culture of Memory
• Paraguay - Rehabilitation of Caballero Park in Asunción
• Prague - Tranzit Residencies : Cultural Deserts
• Romania - New Regional Cultural Cooperation
• Singapore - Conference on Culture | Smart City
• Slovenia - Creative Boost: Empowering the Society through Cultural and Creative Industries
• St. Petersburg - VITAA: A Virtual Artists' Assembly

Projects will be implemented in the course of 2021. Find out more about the selected projects here.