Funding scheme for capacity-building through international collaboration

Funding can be applied for by professional Danish cultural operators (institutions or organizations) and Danish missions in other countries.

Formal criteria:

• The application must support capacity-building within one or more of the three strategic themes, as well as support the purpose of the program
• The application must support capacity-building, happening in other countries or in Denmark with international partners.
• The application must prove how the capacity-building will benefit the Danish cultural sector within one or more of the three strategic themes.
• The project must not be launched before the date of application

The funding scheme can be applied for to support:

• Research traveling for international and Danish partners, who in collaboration wish to develop an educational course or innovate strategic development projects.
• Constructing international networks for the Danish cultural operators situated in the strategic focus areas – e.g. expenses regarding traveling, accommodation, etc.
• Development and implementation of educational courses for professional Danish cultural operators in collaboration with one or more international partners. There can be applied for project management, production costs and documentation of educational courses, travel and accommodation costs in regard to execution.

The funding scheme does not support:

• Projects primarily located in Denmark
• Projects whose primary focus is sport or food/gastronomy

Danish missions and the Danish Cultural Institute cannot apply for project management nor holding of own expenses regarding traveling, accommodation or participation.

The purpose of the program is to support the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ strategic framework for Denmark’s international cultural collaboration. The funding scheme will support the inter-disciplinary capacity-building within the strategy’s themes in the cultural sector. This occurs through funding of capacity-building processes, networks as well as development and execution of international conferences, workshops, knowledge-sharing courses and best-practices.

Projects must be anchored and managed by professional cultural operators in dialogue with the Agency for Culture and Palaces, as well as relevant Danish missions, primarily in geographical priority areas in the US, Asia, nearby European countries and the Nordic countries.

There will be focused on supporting bigger cultural projects with wide stakeholder communities.

• The application supports capacity-building within the three strategic topics
• The application supports capacity-building taking place in other countries or in Denmark in collaboration with international partners
• The application must show how the capacity-building benefits the Danish cultural sector within one or more of the three strategic topics

Furthermore, the projects must live up to the four main principles for international cultural collaboration:

• Activities must be of a high professional quality in every respect.
• Activities must be anchored in collaborations between Danish and international partners that are based on reciprocity and local interest.
• Activities must ensure strong networks and partnerships that extend beyond the individual activity and preferably have a long-term perspective.
• Activities that ensure visibility through targeted communication.

A fair distribution of the funds among entitled applications will be taken into account.

Guiding maximum for applied amount: DKK 300,000.

We recommend that you make yourself familiar with the application form and prepare the necessary information, before you begin.

The following must be attached to the application:

• Project description and budget (we ask applicants to use the project description and budget forms that can be found via the links below). The project description must include a short summary of the project and the capacity, you wish to build up, and what the goal of the achieved capacity is. Furthermore you must include a description of how the capacity relates to the strategic themes.

Additional attached material will not enter into the assessment of the application.
Applications that do not contain the required information will not be reviewed.

The purpose of the project description and budget forms is to provide an overview of the project’s financial dimensions and local/other financing. It also gives the applicant an impression of the information we request.

It is a requirement that the application budget must contain the project’s major expenditure items and a finance plan. The finance plan must include an overview of local and Danish partners’ financial and resourceful investment in the project, any sponsorships or fund grants, as well as any self-financing. The budget must contain a clear overview of all budget items applied for through this scheme. All budget items must be stated in Danish crowns.

Download the project description form here

Download the budget form here

Download a guide to the budget form here

Grants will be paid out to the NemKonto affiliated with the applicant’s primary company registration (CVR) number.

We will report the grant to the Danish tax authorities (SKAT). Taxes are not withheld from the sum paid out.

Grants will be paid out as close to the start date provided in the application form. It is advised to match the start date for your project with the date your first expense for the project occurs.

The funding scheme has two annual deadlines in 2023 and 2024. Applications for the funding scheme will be processed two times annually.

The following dates are the deadlines for 2024:

• March 1
• September 6

Applications up to and including DKK 150,000 are processed within 4 weeks.

Applications exceeding DKK 150,000 are processed within 8 weeks.

Applications are assessed by the steering group for the collaboration agreement between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the recommendation of the Agency for Culture and Palaces.