Share this page on
Culture of Solidarity Fund Back

Culture of Solidarity Fund

In 2020 we launched the Culture of Solidarity Fund to support cultural initiatives that, in the midst of turmoil and crisis, reinforce European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space. Since then, in eleven rounds, we have supported nearly 250 projects with more than 5,3 million euros with 24 co-funding partners on board.


In this second stage of the Democracy Resilience edition of the Culture of Solidarity Fund, we invite you to submit proposals for collaborative, creative initiatives that reinforce Europe’s core values and inspire Europeans to reengage with their democracies in a hopeful and forward-looking manner.

Background information

In February 2024 we published a factsheet with short descriptions of the first nine rounds, including some data on the applicants and the leverage.

COS Round 11 – 2nd stage (2024): Culture of Solidarity – Democracy Resilience edition

In this latest round of the Democracy Resilience edition of the Culture of Solidarity Fund, we invite you to submit proposals for collaborative, creative initiatives that reinforce Europe’s core values and inspire Europeans to reengage with their democracies in a hopeful and forward-looking manner.

With pivotal national and regional elections on the horizon, we must seize this moment to advocate for a desirable European future. Culture holds great potential to unite Europeans across diverse backgrounds and beliefs. We seek creative initiatives that build pan-European alliances, promote democratic engagement, and inspire youth to reengage with their democracies.

This call closed on Tuesday, 17 September, 13.00 CEST. We no longer accept applications.

COS Round 11 - 1st Stage (2024): Culture of Solidarity - Democracy Resilience edition

2024 is an exceptional year in modern global history: over 40% of the world’s population will elect new parliaments and leaders, reshaping geopolitical landscapes. European democracies and the culture of open and transnational public debate is being put through a serious test. There is an urgent need to enhance existing democracy and cultural solidarity initiatives with rapid and flexible funding. Meet the supported initiatives, campaigns and programmes:

COS Round 10 (2023): Culture of Solidarity - Just Transition interregional edition

European landscapes like the Alps and the Mediterranean have been severely affected by climate change-related disasters. More than ever, communities need to come to a shared understanding on how to prepare for the urgent shift from the prevailing resource – intensive lifestyles to low-carbon green economies and societies. The arts and creative sectors in Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria and Aosta Valley hold vast resources that allow them to engage with the complexities of a Just Transition agendas in their local contexts. This edition of the Culture of Solidarity Fund invited and enabled them to team up with peer organisations from other regions across Europe.

This round of the Culture of Solidarity Fund is developed in partnership with Fondazione CariploFondazione Compagnia di San PaoloFondazione CRC and Fondazione CRT.

COS Round 9 (2023): Culture of Solidarity - Just transition

This edition of the fund welcomed European transnational collaborative initiatives to address the theme of just transition and environmental sustainability from a specific cultural angle.

COS Round 8 (2023): Culture of Solidarity - Eunic Ukraine Edition II

Following on the success of last year’s edition, the Culture of Solidarity Fund launched another special call looking to promote the visibility and embeddedness of Ukrainian culture across Europe, in partnership with EUNIC (the network of EU National Institutes for Culture), with funding from the Government of Flanders and the European Cultural Foundation and additional contributions from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Czech Centres.

After a succesful application ten cultural organisations from as many European countries will host festival, offer residenceis, organise exhibitions, programme public assemblies, provide trainings and offer public lectures. They received grants up to 15,000 euro to do so. All together these events will help embedding Ukrainian culture in wider European spheres.

COS Round 7 (2022): Culture of Solidarity - Eunic Ukraine Edition

We launched this special call looking to promote the visibility and embeddedness of Ukrainian Culture across Europe, in partnership with EUNIC (the network of EU National Institutes for Culture), with funding from several EUNIC members and with core financing led by the Goethe-Institut (currently holding the Presidency of the EUNIC network), and the Institut français and Instituto Cervantes, as well as the grantmaking support of the European Cultural Foundation.

After a successful application, fifteen cultural organisations in thirteen European countries organise exhibitions, host assemblies, screen films, engage in research, and offer public lectures. They will receive grants of up to € 25.000 to do so. All together these events will help embed Ukrainian culture in wider European spheres.

COS Round 6 (2022): Culture of Solidarity - Ukraine Special Edition

In the first months of its existence the Ukraine edition of the Culture of Solidarity Fund has awarded more than 80 projects with the total of just over 1.3 million Euro, not in the least thanks to the growing European coalition of funders. 

The fund supported initiatives in four categories: coordinated emergency actions; independent media countering war infodemic, safe cultural spaces; artistic and cultural expressions countering fragmentation.

COS Round 5 (2021): Culture of Solidarity - Cultural Grant for Regional Transformation

While acknowledging its historically specific position, Eastern Germany is a prime example of a region that has proven its resilience, flexibility and capacity to innovate in the face of radically transformative challenges, accumulating a wealth of practical experience and skills that would benefit all Europeans at this critical moment, but in particular, those regions similarly affected by systemic transformations. The Eastern German experience – its successes, failures, and challenges -could serve as their rallying point for culturally engaging with each other in a spirit of transnational solidarity and hands-on collaboration.

This call was launched together with Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung. The call was open to cultural organisations as well as organisations from other fields of work and public institutions that are based and/or active in Eastern Germany or in European regions similarly affected by deindustrialization, population decline, social dissolution, failing public infrastructure, and ecological crises.

 

Meet Our Fifth Round Grantees

COS Round 4 (2021): Culture of Solidarity - Infodemic

Europe needs a shared public space where a culture of solidarity can be practiced. It is there where the ongoing infodemic can be combatted. Visit SHARE under our programmes to read more about the European Cultural Foundation’s work on the development of a European public space.

Meet our fourth round grantees

COS Round 3 (2020): Culture of Solidarity - Northern Italy

In collaboration with Fondazione CRT and Fondazione CRC we invited organisations from the Piedmont and Aosta Valley regions to submit project ideas and proposals that connect local work with a real pan-European dimension. This round of the Fund sought to support imaginative cultural initiatives that reinforce pan-European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space from a regional and cross-border perspective.

Meet Our Third Round Grantees

COS Round 1 & 2 (2020): Culture of Solidarity - Covid19

With our first round we supported big and small initiatives that would grow a European culture of solidarity and support partners and grantees flexibly in the redesign of their activities in response to the Corona Crisis. The first round also supported new imaginative ways of sustaining people-to-people contacts and human interaction across European borders during travel restrictions and social distancing.

In the second round, we looked for projects which grew immediate crisis responses into more future-oriented solutions and extended from local levels to building cross-national alliances and pan-European initiatives.

Meet Our Second Round Grantees

Meet Our First Round Grantees

Additionally

“The fund will support big and small initiatives which grow a European culture of Solidarity, support partners and grantees in a flexible manner in the redesign of their activities in response to the Coronacrisis, support new imaginative ways of sustaining people-to-people contacts and human interaction across European borders in times of travel restrictions and social distancing”, wrote our director in an introductory blog.

Arts and culture will not be the same after COVID-19. The new situation requires new approaches and solutions at local, national and European level. We teamed up with Culture Action Europe to map emergency initiatives and measures carried out across Europe that address the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on culture, arts, creative sectors – with the aim to identify key challenges and possible gaps, or needs, yet unaddressed by the policymakers.

Together With

Get in Touch

If you have any questions about the Culture of Solidarity Fund, please contact Philipp Dietachmair, Head of Programmes, or Szilvia Kochanowski, Programme Manager. 

Website by HOAX Amsterdam