The deadline for submitting calls for proposals as part of the Creative Europe program – Culture subprogram regarding the categories Platforms and Cooperation Projects expires on 5 October 2016. Applications should be sent to the European Commission’s Education, Audiovisual, and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).
In order to inform potential participants/operators on how to prepare themselves for the upcoming call, to draft a quality project-idea and how to join forces with partners in Europe, the department for Creative Europe’s Culture subprogram at the Ministry of Culture organized Wednesday an info day and a workshop, which was attended by an official of the Creative Europe office in Belgium.
Biljana Prentoska of the Creative Europe’s Culture subprogram department in the country said Macedonia and Belgium had established a solid starting point for cultural cooperation adding that the Creative Europe offices in the two countries had helped in creating a network and guiding participants in the European projects. Bilateral cooperation, she said, is easier and a fresh incentive needs to be given, i.e. joint participation in projects of European significance.
Projects implemented by two institutions in Macedonia were singled out as being successful examples, namely the Struga Poetry Evenings National Institution – with its Versopolis poetry platform (Platforms category) and the Musical Youth of Macedonia and its Blackboard Music Projects (Cooperation Projects category).
“The Struga Poetry Evenings is one of the few successful organizations in Macedonia, especially since it is a partner in a platform. So far, only seven platforms at European level have been approved and it is truly a great achievement to be part of such a project and to take part alongside another 15 countries in Europe, i.e. the countries included in this program. The same can be said for the Musical Youth, which has been part of the EC culture program for years,” stated Prentoska.
In addition to the categories Platforms and Cooperation Projects, the Creative Europe’s Culture subprogram also includes two other categories, i.e. Literary Translations and European Networks.
The offices of Macedonia and Belgium have been cooperating in the past decade as part of the EC culture programs, both in Creative Europe and in 2007-2013 Culture program.
Unlike the previous programs, Creative Europe is focused more on intercultural dialogue and on exerting more influence over the public, it was noted.