The Cluster Fund is EUNIC’s primary instrument to financially support colleagues working in EUNIC clusters around the globe in delivering cultural relations activities. It was initiated in 2012 and has up to today financed 169 cultural relations projects worldwide.

The purpose of the 2021 EUNIC Cluster Fund call was to co-finance EUNIC clusters’ projects that:

• contribute to the principles of international cultural relations and to the implementation of the EUNIC Strategic Framework of 2020-2024;
• support activities which increase EUNIC's action in the field of culture and the SDGs and raise awareness of the untapped potential and role of culture in this field;
• 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.

The 2021 Call

The 2021 Cluster Fund call particularly welcomed project proposals that aim to actively address one or several SDGs. As an underlying basis for future activities, the EUNIC Strategic Framework 2020-2024 includes a commitment to the implementation of the SDGs (Objective 1). The online EUNIC Knowledge Sharing Workshop “The Cultural Dimension of Sustainable Development: Opportunities for National Cultural Institutes” in April 2021 fostered the exchange between EUNIC members and demonstrated both great interest of the EUNIC network in and the timeliness and importance of this topic. For a cluster fund application, at least three EUNIC members must collaborate on a joint proposal involving at least three local partners. A fifty percent co-financing rate applies.

For this year's call 31 applications were submitted (14 from the EU and wider Europe, 3 from Asia, 3 from MENA, 4 from sub-Saharan Africa and 7 from the Americas). The 23 selected projects involve 26 clusters (10 from the EU and wider Europe and 13 from the rest of the world), 30 EUNIC members, 17 EU Delegations or European Commission Representations and over 120 local partners in 24 countries with a total budget of more than 990,000 euros including the co-financing by members of EUNIC clusters and local partners.

The overall quality of all submitted proposals was high. The call had eight selection criteria: relevance to local context, alignment with cultural relations’ principles, collaboration of EUNIC members, partnerships, impact and evaluation, feasibility, visibility and environmental impact. Four colleagues representing EUNIC members took part in the evaluation process guided by 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:

• Felipe Basabe, Deputy Head of Budget Office, Instituto Cervantes Madrid
• Lari Siren, Project Coordinator of Creative Ports, Intrerreg programme, Goethe-Institut Finland
• Natalia Mosor, Director of Polish Institute in Romania
• Radka Rubilina, Director of Czech Centre in Ukraine

On the occasion of their presidency, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has decided to significantly increase its contribution to EUNIC's 2021 Cluster Fund call. All these projects below are the recepient of this exceptional contribution.

Selected projects

• Bosnia & Herzegovina - False Clouds: An interdisciplinary art and ecology project
• Brussels - The Future of Living – AI x ALL
• Bulgaria - Sustainable practices in fashion and design
• Colombia - “Muestra Itinerante de Cine Comunitario” – EUNIC Colombia and HEK
• Croatia - Fashion: Worker-Consumer-Activist
• Ecuador - European Week in Ecuador: “CulturAmazonia – creating bridges between culture and environment”
• El Salvador - Liquid cartographies
• Italy (Rome & Naples) - Quartieri di Vita. Life infected with Social Theatre!
• Kenya - Cartooning for Peace and Democracy in Kenya
• Latvia - Green Deal & Architecture: European expertise on timber building for challenging the sustainability-aiming and post-covid era in the Baltics
• London - European Night of Ideas and Books for Thought
• Moldova - Cultural Management Academy 2022 – Strengthening the capacities of cultural actors in the region
• Morocco (Rabat & Casablanca) - Dance Fusion 2022 (DF22)
• Moscow - Ecodoc
• New York - Eco Solidarity
• Pakistan - Heritage Live – Music in Pakistan
• Paraguay - Rehabilitation of the barrio Ricardo Brugada and the caballero park in Asunción
• Prague & Berlin - Ecological Circulation(s): Young European photography
• Romania - Sustainability Labels for Culture
• Saudi Arabia - She (Who) Moves! (SWM)
• Senegal - Raising awareness of environmental issues through culture
• United Arab Emirates - Building for the Future - Together
• Vietnam - Sustainable Community-based Tourism in Tam My Tay Commune

Projects will be implemented in the course of 2022.

Find out more about the selected projects here.