[oberlist] EaP# call: Creative Towns and Regions Initiative

[ober]

OPEN CALL: EU-EAP CULTURE AND CREATIVITY PROGRAMME - PILOT TOWNS AND
REGIONS FOR CREATIVE TOWNS AND REGIONS INITIATIVE
https://www.culturepartnership.eu/en/article/open-call-pilot-towns

The European Union-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme is
inviting small and medium sized towns in the six Eastern Partnership
countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) to
express their interest in piloting Creative Towns and Regions Initiative.

Background:
The Creative Towns and Regions Initiative highlights the importance of
culture and creativity in small and medium sized towns and regions. The
Initiative will propose a practical approach for towns and regions in the
EaP countries to use the local cultural and creative potential for social
and economic development. The aim is to raise awareness of all key
stakeholders of the potential of cultural and creative sectors, to collect
data on local cultural and creative resources and to propose concrete
action plans for developing the cultural and creative industries
potential, including development of local cultural landscape, building
clusters with local businesses, increasing the quality of offer of the
tourism sector and build stronger networks with similar towns and regions
in other countries.

Benefits and Eligibility:
Six selected pilot towns/regions (one in each of EaP country) will become
locations for the mapping exercise based on most up-to-date methodology
and carried out by qualified experts. As the outcome of the process, the
selected towns or regions will receive the following:
analysis of their current cultural and creative resources;
tailor-made roadmap for future development of cultural and creative sectors;
media coverage across the Eastern Partnership region and showcasing good
practices from the selected towns/regions;
access to capacity building package for towns/regions' representatives and
their communities, opportunity to work with specialized experts;
networking opportunities with international peers in other EaP countries
as well from the European Union countries both online and face-to-face.

The call for expressions of interest is open for small and medium sized
towns and regions in the Eastern Partnership countries. Since the notion
of small and medium sized places is different in different countries,
depending on local traditions and size of the total population, the call
is open for those municipalities that are not the capital cities of their
countries nor major industrial centres with large metropolitan areas. As a
recommendation, the size of the applicants should be (depending on the
size of the country) from 15,000 to 250,000 people.

Key Stage of the Initiative:
Open call: identifying six small and medium sized towns or regions with
cultural and creative potential ready to pilot the Initiative in their
country;
Developing methodology: developing an assessment methodology with local
context;
Preparing six detailed reports: in collaboration with key local
stakeholders carrying out the mapping of local cultural and creative
resources and proposing the action plan to develop the cultural and
creative potential of the area;
Developing a long-term network of creative towns and regions: adding value
in terms of sharing good practices and knowledge, exchanging professionals
and initiating joint projects within the region and with other creative
towns and regions in the European Union.

Timeline:
Open call for the pilot towns/regions: November 2016-January 2017
Mapping exercises across six countries: March-June 2017
Results and action plans to be presented in September 2017

How to Apply:
To express interest on behalf of your town or region in becoming the pilot
location for the Initiative, please send a Letter of Interest signed by
representative of local authority, which includes:
clear motivation why the town/region wants to join the Initiative (up to 1
page);
overview of the status quo in terms of cultural and creative
organisations, spaces and activities in the city/region (up to 2 pages);
description of how will the local stakeholders be involved in the process
(up to 1 page with names of possible organisations, institutions or
experts);
the applicants are encouraged to add links to websites or visual materials
(videos, images) to showcase examples of cultural and creative projects,
initiatives and urban transformations.
A Letter of Interest can be written in local language (or alternatively in
English or Russian). Please include a contact person, his/her phone and
e-mail for further coordination.
Please send your Letter of Interest to your country coordinator (contact
details below).

Deadline:
The deadline for expressing interest to participate is 31 January 2017.
Selection panel and criteria:
Selection of pilot towns and regions will be carried out by a panel
consisting of the Initiative Expert, Country Coordinator of the EU-EaP
Culture and Creativity Programme and a representative of the Ministry of
Culture. Decisions will be communicated by end of February 2017.
The selection will be based on following aspects:
Motivation of the applicant town/region to participate in the initiative;
Understanding how focusing on culture and creativity can bring added value
to local socio-economic development of the town/region;
Level of engagement of key stakeholders from public and private sectors.

More Information and Questions:
In case of questions regarding Creative Towns and Regions Initiative,
please contact your Country Coordinator:
Armenia armenia at culturepartnership.eu
Azerbaijan azerbaijan at culturepartnership.eu
Belarus belarus at culturepartnership.eu
Georgia georgia at culturepartnership.eu
Moldova moldova at culturepartnership.eu
Ukraine ukraine at culturepartnership.eu
More information about EU-EaP Culture and Creativity Programme:
www.culturepartnership.eu/en


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