Cultural Cooperation EU-Russia

The Institution Building Partnership Programme (IBPP) - Support to Civil Society and Local Initiatives is a part of the EU-Russia Cooperation Programme. It was designed to support grass root initiatives in different areas, including culture.

Culture is becoming increasingly important in the EU-Russia relationship. A bilateral agreement has issued the necessity to promote a structured approach to cultural cooperation between the enlarged EU and Russia, to foster creativity and mobility of artists, public access to culture, the dissemination of art and culture, inter-cultural dialogue and mutual knowledge of the respective history and cultural heritage.

An EU-Russia Joint Working Group on Cultural cooperation and an EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council on Culture were established back in 2007. At the first meeting of the Council in Lisbon in October 2007 both the two sides emphasized the essential role of cultural operators and civil society as well as people to people contacts in cultural cooperation.

2007 saw also the first thematic call for proposals specifically focused on culture to support initiatives through partnerships among a wide range of local/regional authorities, non-governmental organisations, artistic universities and museums from Russia and from the EU Member States.

The outcome of the 2008 Call for Proposals is available at: http://www.delrus.ec.europa.eu/en/p_340.htm

Currently, the European Commission is still working on activities aimed at boosting cooperation with Russia in the cultural field and promoting innovative artistic and cultural projects with a European dimension.

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