Baltic Sea Cultural Cities project: options to move beyond seed-money phase

The Baltic Sea Cultural Cities (BSCC) is a cross-border initiative that will regularly nominate cities or regions with the title “Baltic Sea City/Region of Culture”. The project aims to connect cities and regions, people, cultural organizations, and professionals by increasing the visibility of the cultural diversity within the Baltic Sea Region, putting specific emphasis on creating synergies and cooperation focusing on citizen participation and ownership.

Due to Covid-19, project partners have had to adjust their projects’ activities and apply for a specific project budget amendment approved by the Swedish Institute. Despite Covid-19, the project has prevailed and flourished, with more partners joining the consortium. Throughout the year, several fruitful meetings were conducted with project partners. On 8 June the BSCC project was brought to the 13th PA Culture Project Development Workshop, “Perspectives on Funding for Culture in the BSR”. Updates were made on new funding periods and expert feedback was received on appropriate funding options, such as Creative Europe and Interreg. In September, digital workshop was held with REM Consultancy to map funding options for the project within the region. Project partners are currently focusing on adjusting the project to specific funding options with the hope of applying for further funding for the project in 2022.

The BSCC project is seed-funded through the Swedish Institute and developed by a consortium of relevant active organizations and stakeholders within the region.