COOPERATION PROJECTS

Cooperation Projects continues to be the Culture sub-programme’s largest funding opportunity. It encourages organisations across Europe to work collaboratively with the aim of developing capacity and reaching new audiences in the cultural sector.

In 2019 partnerships continued to flourish, as the UK was once again in the top five European countries for crossborder collaborations, with 32 UK cultural organisations awarded €3.8 million in Cooperation Projects funding. The UK was the joint most-partnered country, alongside Germany, with European nations actively seeking UK project partners from a variety of sectors such as performing arts, music and dance.

In 2020, €1.75 million in funding was awarded to 22 cultural organisations from across all four UK nations, despite the call for applications taking place during a period of Brexit uncertainty. 78% of UK organisations receiving funding were based outside London, including projects in Leeds, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Swansea. The 2020 call resulted in UK partnerships with 29 of the 40 other countries which take part in Creative Europe.

The UK is not seeking to participate in the EU’s Creative Europe programme from 2021, making the 2020 Cooperation Projects the final round of Creative Europe funding that UK organisations were fully eligible to participate in. However UK organisations will still be able to join these cross-border Cooperation Projects as Third Country ‘associate partners’, alongside countries such as Canada and Japan, from 2021. Projects awarded funding under the current Creative Europe programme (2014-20) will be able to run their activities until completion, including projects that continue after 1 January 2021.

€5.5m

to 54 UK organisations from 2019-20

Artsadmin, a producing organisation that also provides support to artists across disciplines, were successfully awarded funding across two Cooperation Projects in 2019: BE PART and ACT: Art, Climate, Transition. They have worked on four Creative Europe projects since the programme began in 2014.

“The Creative Europe Cooperation Projects Artsadmin have taken part in have been incredibly valuable to the journey that we and our partners are making towards working sustainably and ethically in the 21st century.”