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Title of the call for project proposals
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Second Call for project proposals under Outcome 2 “ACCESS TO ARTS AND CULTURE IMPROVED” of the “CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, HERITAGE AND COOPERATION” PROGRAMME of the EEA FM 2014-2021
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Call number
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BGCULTURE-2.002
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Objective
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The Programme focuses on the role that culture and movable cultural heritage play as an engine for local and regional development by putting an accent on employment, social inclusion and entrepreneurship in the cultural sector.
The general objective of the Programme is to strengthen social and economic development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage management. To achieve this, the Programme will promote cultural entrepreneurship initiatives, the ultimate goal of which is to reduce economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and to strengthen the relations between the Donor States – Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein – and the Republic of Bulgaria.
In order to enhance the exchange and cooperation between organizations from the Donor States and Bulgaria, the Programme Operator – the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture – partners with Arts Council - Norway for the implementation of the Programme.
The specific goal of Outcome 2 is to enhance the access of people to culture and arts as well as their engagement through different activities. The further development of the capacity of the cultural operators in the field of attracting audiences and the transfer of knowledge through cultural cooperation on the international level between representatives of the cultural operators from Bulgaria and the Donor States are main elements for the maximum usage of the potential that arts and culture possess for greater social inclusion.
Outcome 2 is aimed at the following objectives:
- organization of diverse artistic and creative events, festivals, performances, exhibitions and initiatives which will revive the peripheral areas and bring new life to smaller towns and villages, and will attract new audiences.
- improving the access to arts and culture in remote areas and/or areas with poor access;
- promoting cultural initiatives of ethnic and cultural minorities and/or improve their access to culture;
- fostering bilateral cooperation and exchange between entities from the donor states and entities from Bulgaria.
Projects under this call will be evaluated and selected in three stages:
Stage 1. Evaluation of the administrative compliance and eligibility of the applicant/partner.
Stage 2. Technical and financial evaluation of the project proposals.
Stage 3. Selection Committee issues a final list of projects to be supported.
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Eligible applicants
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- Any non-commercial, public or private, entities as well as non-governmental organizations, established as a legal person in Bulgaria, whose principal activity is in the cultural and creative sectors as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1295/2013 on the Creative Europe Programme, including municipalities. Public organization shall be understood as “Budgetary organization” within the meaning of §1 it. 5 of the Additional Provisions of the Public Finances Act. Budgetary organizations are all legal entities whose budgets are included in the state budget, the municipal budgets, the budgets of social security funds as well are all entities whose assets, revenues and payments are included in the consolidate fiscal programme pursuant to a normative act or according to the order of Article 171 of Public Finances Act.
- Natural persons are not eligible project promoters.
- The applicant should have the administrative, financial and operational capacity to implement the project.
- The PO does not require eligible applicants/partners to have experience and/or annual turnover in similar activities as those under the project proposal.
- Each applicant may submit only one project proposal under this call. In case an applicant has submitted more than one project proposal, only the last project proposal submitted within the deadline will be admitted for evaluation. All previous project proposals will be considered withdrawn.
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Eligible partners
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- Eligible partners from Republic of Bulgaria can be: any non-commercial, public or private, entity, and non-governmental organizations, established as a legal person in Bulgaria, whose principal activity is in the cultural and creative sectors as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1295/2013 on the Creative Europe Programme.
- Eligible partners from the Donor States (Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway) can be: any entity, public or private, commercial or non-commercial, and non-governmental organizations, established as a legal person in the Donor States, whose principal activity is in the cultural and creative sectors as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1295/2013 on the Creative Europe Programme.
- Natural persons are not eligible project partners.
- The partner shall be actively participating or actively contributing to the implementation of a given project. In order to achieve balance and effectiveness during the implementation of the project activities, each project partner shall mandatory receive budget/funding. The allocation of budget to a project partner shall be described in section 5 “Budget”, part of the Application Form.
- Under this call, the partnership is desirable but not obligatory. The PO will encourage projects which are based on partnerships between the applicants and partners from the Donor States.
- Projects which envisage the implementation of activities together with partners from the Donor States will receive additional points during the assessment of the project proposals.
- There is no limit to the number of project partners and one partner can participate in more than one project proposal.
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Mandatory requirements
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The projects under this call must correspond to the following mandatory requirements:
a. The activities provided for in the project proposals can be implemented on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and in the case of a partnership – on the territory of the partner(s) from the Donor States.
b. It is obligatory for the project proposals to include activities for the realization of new cultural and art events.
c. The project proposals must include realization of cultural events/initiatives outside the urban (city) center – in areas with low accessibility to art and culture.
d. The project proposals must include realization of cultural event/initiative done on a local[1] and regional[2] level.
e. The project proposals must foresee the preparation and implementation of a plan/strategy for gathering/attraction of audiences in relation to the realization of the event/initiative part of the project; such plan/strategy contributes to the sustainability of the project.
f. The project proposals must foresee training of the expert personnel of the Project Promoter in view of enhancing their professional competences and skills, in relation to the organization and the conduct of the cultural and/or artistic events, as well as in relation to the attraction of audiences.
g. Each project proposal must include an activity for the formation of a project management team, and each Project Promoter is directly responsible for the management of the project and for achieving quality implementation of the proposed activities (for more information see item 9, letter “g” of the Application Guidelines).
h. Any project proposal that foresees hiring experts, external to these directly responsible for the management of the project, but participating in the implementation/realization of the planned events/ initiatives as curators, painters, art-managers, animators, set designers, directors and others similar, should clearly describe their role in the implementation of the activities including argumentation on their number within the project. It should also set minimum requirements for experience and education. This information should be provided in in Section 11 "Additional information necessary to assess the project proposal" of the Application Form.
i. Each project proposals must include an activity for publicity and information on the aims and the activities of the project as well as on the underlining of the financial contribution of the EEA Grants. The activity shall correspond to the criteria described in the Communication and Design Manual and to the Regulation on the Implementation of the EEA FM 2014-2021.
j. Each project proposal must include a risk analysis and it should be detailed by the applicant in the Application Form, Section 11 “Additional information necessary to assess the project proposal” (see more information in item 9, letter “j” of the Application Guidelines).
- This Call allows the approved projects to generate revenue.
- Applicants under this Call do not have the right to submit project proposals under the current Call if the proposals include products and events in the field of culture and art, which have been already created/achieved or such which are in the process of implementation or such for which funding has been provided under another project, Programme or any other funding scheme based on the national budget, the budget of the EU or on other donor Programme.
- Ineligible for funding under this Call are activities which have started before the date of signing of the project contract.
- In order to reach the widest possible pool of stakeholders and maximize the potential for audience development, the current call does not make a difference between amateur and professional art. All project proposals must provide an equal access for participation for both amateurs and professionals.
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Deadline for submitting applications
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- Deadline for submitting project proposals: 23 August 2021, 5:30 PM (UTC+2)
- Applicants who wish to participate under this Call must prepare and submit a project proposal by filling in the web-based Application Form with an electronic signature in the EUMIS 2020 system at https://eumis2020.government.bg/en/s/Procedure/Info/7160d6b8-85ed-4fb3-a72a-4d17dc4c577f.
- Before submitting project proposals, the applicants may request clarifications from the PO regarding the grant procedure by sending enquiries via e-mail at pa14culture@mc.government.bg. The questions can be asked no later than 21 days before the deadline for submission, and the clarifications will be published within 10 days of receipt of the questions, but no later than 14 days before the deadline for submission of project proposals.
- A project proposal submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
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Selection process
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- The evaluation and the selection of the project proposals will be organized by the PO in three stages: 1) Administrative compliance and eligibility (ACE); 2) Technical and financial evaluation (TFE) and 3) Selection Committee (SC).
- For the evaluation of the applications the PO establishes an Evaluation Commission that includes a non-voting Chairperson, non-voting Secretary and experts to carry out the ACE and TFE. For the TFE at least 50% of the assessing experts should be independent from the PO and the SC.
- In case inaccuracies are detected, the Evaluation Commission will request the applicant to eliminate them only once, and it should be done within the period set by the Evaluation Commission of 7 working days. Failure to eliminate them is grounds for rejection of the project proposal.
- Only project proposals that have passed the stage of administrative compliance are allowed to be assessed for eligibility.
- Only project proposals that have passed the ACE stage are allowed to reach the TFE stage.
- An applicant whose project proposal is rejected can submit a written objection to the Head of the PO within a week (7 calendar days) following the notification.
- At the TFE stage the project proposal is assessed independently by 2 assessors, and each could score it with up to 100 points in their evaluation sheet. In order for a project proposal to be considered for funding, the average score from the 2 TFE assessors must be equal to or greater than 60 points.
- During the TFE process, the Evaluation Commission can ask questions to the applicants if it finds circumstances that require further explanations on the budget regarding quantitative and/or value indicators of the proposed costs. The same circumstances can lead to a reduction of the budget of the project proposal.
- For the selection of the project proposals the PO establishes a Selection Committee that reviews the list of the proposed for funding project proposals (in the order of their ranking and the size of the allocated funding), a list of reserve projects, list with the rejected project proposals and the reasons for their rejection, and a list of withdrawn project proposals (if any). The SC proposes the final list to the Head of the PO who takes the final decision.
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Total budget of the Call
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€1,582,353
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Maximum and minimum amount of grant per project
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The maximum grant applied for should be €200,000
The minimum grant applied for should be €50,000
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Project grant rate
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- The maximum grant rate is 100% of the total eligible expenditure of a project.
- The Project Promoter has the right to an advance payment of up to 30% of the agreed project budget.
- The total value of the advance and the interim payments shall not exceed 80% of the project’s budget as laid down in the project contract. The Programme Operator retains 20% of the agreed budget until the approval of the Project Promoter’s final report.
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Duration of the projects
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- The planned duration of each project in respect to the grant, including the foreseen activities cannot be less that 6 months and cannot exceed 24 months.
- The activities of the project must be concluded not later than 30.04.2024
- Expenditures incurred after 30 April 2024 will not be considered eligible.
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Contacts for more information
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Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria
E-mail: pa14culture@mc.government.bg, Tel. (+359) 2 9400 916.
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