New pilot call for Culture programme OCTs and ORs

On the 14 September, the European Commission launched a new call for proposals worth €1 million to support artists, cultural organisations and institutions in the Outermost Regions as well as in the Overseas Countries and Territories.

The call aims to select one proposal with a beneficiary that will act as a secretariat for the implementation of the pilot project.

The proposal selected under this call will aim at testing a viable and efficient scheme to provide financial support to individual artists, groups of artists and culture organisations and institutions. Such a scheme would act as a complement of existing mobility schemes available at local, regional/territorial and/or national levels.

The implementation of the pilot project will include the launch of calls for projects resulting in a minimum of 45 projects supported with a maximum amount of EUR 20,000 each.

Selected projects will aim at safeguarding, supporting and fostering local and indigenous culture, popular arts and practices as well as the ancestral culture of the Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories, improving cultural dialogue and promoting the dissemination of cultural and creative works, especially through digital technologies.

This call intends to complement the Creative Europe programme, which provides opportunities to support the cultural sector. In the case of OCTs, our current research shows that no Creative Europe projects have been selected.

Furthermore, the COVID 19 pandemic has strongly affected the culture sector. This pilot project aims at enhancing support to cultural activities, including adaptation to the new context and limitations linked to the pandemic response such as social distancing. As such, the project should also contribute indirectly to the recovery of the tourism sector in regions and countries that are highly dependent on tourism (including cultural tourism and its sustainability).

Further information and access to the call.