European Cultural Foundation - Project Grants Programme
Application deadline: March 1, 2007

The European Cultural Foundation - ECF promotes cultural co-operation in Europe. It aims to contribute to an open and democratic Europe, which respects the basic human rights and cultural diversity of its people.

What projects are eligible:
Cultural - The project should have a strong cultural objective. We support the creation of artistic work, media projects or cultural policy development as well as capacity building of cultural organisations or international collaboration of arts managers, etc.
Co-operation - The project should be concerned with European cross border cooperation. In exceptional cases we also support regional cooperation that does not transgress the national level, when ECF considers it to be essential to achieve future European cooperation.
European - The project has to be organised by a cultural organisation in Europe, or from across the Mediterranean.
Outcome - The project must have a clear end-result that can be evaluated.
Read here about the other fields of interest: http://www.eurocult.org/we-support-cultural-cooperation/grants/what-do-we-like/

The ECF provides grants that support projects developed by independent cultural organisations. The objective of the grants is to encourage small to medium-sized cultural organisations to work together across geographical and cultural divides.

Candidates eligible to apply are small and medium-sized independent cultural organisations that work on cross-border and inter-regional projects.

Lead organisations are: Independent cultural organisations (NGOs) from western, central, eastern and south eastern Europe, including Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Russia.

Partner organisations are: Independent organisations from the south Mediterranean, including Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia. Organisations from these countries will be supported as partners, in projects submitted by a European NGO.
International projects will only be considered if there is a strong European component.

The avarage grants awarded by the ECF is EUR 10-15 000 and 80% of the project's total costs.

More information
Website: http://www.eurocult.org/we-support-cultural-cooperation/grants/application-guide/
http://www.eurocult.org/we-support-cultural-cooperation/grants/apply-for-a-grant/

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Neighbourhood Programme Romania - Ukraine 2004 - 2006
Application deadline: March 12, 2007, 16:00 local time

Ministry of European Integration is seeking proposals for activities in the field of:
Local socio-economic development - Priority 1 (with Measures 1.1.-Expand and strengthen tourism and 1.2-Cross-border economic cooperation)
Cross border integrated infrastructure systems – Priority 2 (with Measures 2.1.- Develop cross-border transport and border infrastructure and 2.2.-Improve cross-border environmental management)
’People to people’ actions - Priority 3 (with Measure 3.1.- Joint Small Project Fund) in the counties Tulcea, Botoºani, Suceava, Maramureº, Satu Mare, located in the Romania - Ukraine border region, with financial assistance from the Neighbourhood Programme of the European Communities.

The full Guidelines for Applicants and Annexes are available for consultation at the Joint Technical Secretariat, established within the Regional Office for Cross Border Cooperation Suceava (address: 8th Mihai Eminescu Street, Suceava, code 720183, Suceava County, Romania), on the website of the Regional Office for Cross Border Cooperation Suceava (www.brctsuceava.ro) and on the website of the Ministry of European Integration: www.mie.ro.

More information
Website: www.brctsuceava.ro
E-mail: brctsuceava@yahoo.com
phare2005@brctsuceava.ro

'Financing Metropolitan Governments in Transitional Countries'
Application deadline: January 31, 2007

After more than fifteen years of transition the issues of managing large cities has become increasingly significant and challenging. The laws on capital cities were part of the decentralization process; in countries where ‘fast decentralization’ took place new structures were introduced at the beginning of the 90s (Warsaw, Budapest, Bratislava, etc.). The emerging structure was under constant criticism, mostly because of its fragmented nature (especially Warsaw and Budapest), which is why, for instance, the two-tier system of Warsaw was replaced in 2003 by a one-tier system. ‘Latecomer’ decentralizers are looking for the best model for their capital cities: e.g. Skopje after the Ohrid agreement moved towards decentralization and adopted a two-tier system, while Belgrade is currently in search of a model.

The political weight of large cities (typically capitals) has greatly increased in the Baltics, the former Yugoslav republics and the Caucasus, as the share of the population living in the capital cities of these transition countries typically exceeds 20%, but in some cases even 30% (32% in Riga; 39% in Tallinn; 40% in Tirana). Among the many problems experienced in large urban areas is how such cities can be integrated into the intergovernmental fiscal system in order to make the capital city competitive and avoid the violation of local autonomy (a principal element of decentralization).

Eligibility and target researchers
The following cities are eligible for the research program: Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Chisinau, Kiev, Lubljana, Minsk, Moscow, Prague, Riga, Saint-Petersburg, Sarajevo, Skopje, Sofia, Tallinn, Tirana, Vilnius, Warsaw, Zagreb. In the project 8-10 cities will be selected for case studies representing EU countries, accession countries, and countries of the former Soviet Union.

Researchers are normally civil servants, members of advocacy groups or professional associations, policy researchers and policy advisers. An advanced degree or equivalent is required. Applicants should be citizens of the countries noted under the topic. As a rule, Researchers will be based in their home countries and will be required to attend two international workshops. Researchers are expected to continue with their current employment, spending only up to fifty percent of their time on the Research program.

Target Researchers:
1. Current/former municipal officials
2. Local government practitioners
3. Local government association members
4. Former local government practitioners turned consultants
5. Policy researchers

Applications must include ALL of the following materials:
1. Statement of interest (1 page maximum)
2. Research proposal (2,000 words maximum) including a well-defined research problem, topic justification, research methodology, and expected outcomes of the research.
3. Professional CV/s (which includes: full name, email and telephone number of the applicant/s, country of origin and residence)
4. English language writing sample (maximum 5 pages)
5. The name and contact information of three people familiar with the professional capacities of the applicant.

More information
Website: http://lgi.osi.hu/documents.php?id=1413
E-mail: lgprog@osi.hu (please include in the subject line ‘Financing Metropolitan Governments in Transitional Countries’)